I don’t know about you, but I know plenty of small and home business owners (including myself) who think of themselves as the “under dog”—we just cannot help it. For most of us, we have little operations, often operating out of a corner of our garage or living room and we probably do not have the resources and labor power that the bigger companies in our market or industry does. This does not mean, however, that we cannot compete. In fact, in some cases, we may be better situated to compete than those big impressive competitors.
For most of us, there is going to come a time when we go up against the big guys—either in competing for an important contract or project, or just in the eyes of our prospective clients. Some of us find ourselves face-to-face with our bigger competitors when we attend trade fairs or conferences. While we may not be able to shake our under dog self-identification, we can still carry ourselves proudly and even learn a thing or two from those bigger operations.
I think if we can view the competition in a different light, it helps. Instead of having an adversarial relationship, look to build relationships and partnerships with those other companies. You may be able to cooperate on some projects or even build a working relationship that allows you to share customers, clients, prospects, and/or referrals. We can also learn a great deal about different aspects of business from those bigger, more successful companies.
If we do have to go toe-to-toe with the big guys, I think that focusing on what you can do that they cannot is helpful. Are you more flexible? Able to work on site? Able to make deliveries at more convenient times? Are you easier to reach? What can you do as a small, home-based business that the larger, more cumbersome competitors cannot?
Also: Can you Cope with Competition?
Keeping Track of the Competition