I can't compete with that! Or can I?

In almost every industry today the battle of big vs small, global vs local, corporate vs independent continues unabated – and the gap between the largest and the smallest?appears?to widen a little more all the time. So you’d be forgiven for thinking that small, local, independent businesses are on a hiding to nothing when it comes to competing with the ‘big boys’.

Think again. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Your destiny, and your success, is still very much in your own hands.

In no particular order, here are just a few thoughts on?how you can stand out from the crowd, and make the most of the things that characterise you and your business:

1. What’s your niche?

• You should be able to describe your ideal customer(s). This helps build specialist knowledge and credibility with your target audience, quickly. And more importantly, helps you stand out from the crowd as a result, because you build a reputation as an expert in that field.
• Ask yourself “Can I make a list of my target customers?” If you can’t, the chances are your offering isn’t niche enough – and there are many experts out there who believe that selling to everyone is selling to no-one.

2. What problem do you solve for your customers?

• You’re far more likely to be successful if you can point clearly to this. What difficulty, challenge, or pain do they experience, and what do you do that takes that pain away? Try not to simply ‘push’ products that customers may, or may not need. This may seem obvious, but it’s very easy to fall into the trap of just offering what’s ‘on the shelf’ because things seem quicker and simpler that way.?

3. Keep it simple.

• Even if you’re selling business-to-business, at the end of the day your customers are still people – so don’t overcomplicate things for them; keep it simple, and they’ll appreciate you more for making their life easier. Especially in our industry, where we have made a habit of using lots of long, fancy, or outdated words that not everyone understands. Use the “Language of an 11-year-old” test to make sure you’re not bamboozling people!

4. Think about the obvious solution, then do the opposite!

• Unless you have a ridiculously slick operation, avoid just trying to do the same as everyone else in your field but faster, or cheaper; and definitely avoid trying to do both at the same time! Trying to be both, all the time, is not only exhausting but highly likely to end up in a race to the bottom – and if your pockets aren’t as deep as your competitors’, you’ll most probably lose.
• Do something different to everyone else – even though it may be against your strongest instincts, there’s a ton of evidence that running ‘counter to the herd’ is the most effective way to compete.

5. Know who your competitors are, and everything that they offer.

• Keep yourself up to date with that, because things can change and change fast – meaning you quickly become out of date and/or irrelevant to your customers. And that’s bad news for your image and reputation. Staying at least current, if not ahead of the game, is essential to your success.

6. Involve your customers...

...in designing and developing your products and services – you’ll get valuable insight into what your customers expect now and are likely to need in the future.

7. Identify?YOUR?competitive advantage...

...and use it every day, highlighting the?benefit?of that to your customer, i.e.?what’s in it for them. This is WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT and is part of the reason people should buy from you. For example if you are very local to your customers this means you will always be available and accessible to respond to their needs, and close by if a problem should arise. Not every business can do that, so use it your advantage. Sure, this is only one, fairly obvious, example – but it’s here simply to illustrate the point. And make sure you can answer the “So what does that mean for me?” question when your customer asks you, because if you can’t, then you probably just described a feature that isn’t a benefit after all.?

Of course this only scratches the surface of what you can do to play and win against your competition – there are many successful businesses out there, using these and other tactics.

But what’s important is that you know it is possible to achieve sustained success, even in a crowded market.