The freedom in avoiding an empire in business
Sam McFarlane
Your Go-To Expert for Small Business Marketing | Specialising in Blogs, Emails, & Social Media Success
Why staying small is perfectly acceptable (and great for marketing)
Have you noticed how many people are online sprucing the latest trend of 'How to build your business empire'?
That's all well and good if you're aspiring to expand and take over the world like Zuckerberg.
But if you're running a small business and you're happy to keep it that way, you should be proud of that. You've built your business to suit your lifestyle, and it works for you.
So, does this make you any less entrepreneurial than a colleague building an empire? No!
Everyone can define success on their terms. You set your goals, dreams and aspirations and when you meet them, be proud. You don't need to feel pressured to build your empire like the big wigs if that won't suit your dreams.
There's great freedom in staying small
Some businesspeople thrive on building an empire. They're driven by success, and they know how to create the best support team possible. Heck, some may have even secretly worked out human cloning!
And if this works for them, and they can keep up with being in-demand, that's great.
However, there is freedom in staying small in business. You can still achieve great things, share your knowledge, become a go-to, write books, create courses etc. But you do it on your terms.
When it comes to advertising and sharing your knowledge, I'm a big believer that small business marketing works the best.
Why is small business marketing better?
Because it's fluid and dynamic. You want to be able to adjust your marketing to suit you, your business, your offering and what's trending in the world. Being able to keep up to date with your online marketing is one of the best things about being in a small business.
And you're you! You are your brand and your voice, and you can tailor your marketing 100%.
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You know your audience, and you can truly personalise their experience:
Your customers and clients will come to know you – the person in the business, not merely 'the business'. Use your charm to create loyal, return customers, and you'll see that you don't need to be an empire to build a healthy business.
As a small business, how do you compete with an empire?
Honestly, you don't. You need to admit that sometimes, you won't be able to compete with the giants who have built their empire and have a massive advertising budget and brand rep.
But you do need to believe in yourself.
Have confidence that your customers or clients will keep coming back to you for the personal attention, the quality of your product or work, your nature and your business ethics.
Stick to your goals and your business model if that's what works for you. Never undersell yourself.
Coming out of a global pandemic has revealed that many people are now trying to support their local small business. This is perfect for you to embrace your role as a small business owner and work with the trend.
Start by making sure your 'about' page is rocking! People will check you out on your website and online. So update all your bios and profiles to reflect the real you. Show your personality and don't make it all about your business.
People are after real human connections. And being small is powerful.
Want to make sure your small business marketing is working?
If you're after a review of your social media marketing efforts or want to make sure you start 2021 with a bang, I'd love to have a chat about your current efforts and see if we can improve it.
I'd love for you to get in touch. Do you have opinions on business empires vs staying small? Please feel free to share your thoughts below.