Imposter Syndrome: How Small Businesses Can Strategize, Sell and Win Against the Big Companies-Without the Big Company Resources

“My revenue was off 700 grand last year,” my friend the small business owner said. “And because of that, not only can I not afford to put more money into sales and marketing, I can’t even keep doing what I’ve been doing. It doesn’t pencil out this year.”

“Yeah, it’s brutal. If a revenue shortage happens to you when you’re some publicly traded company with thousands of employees, you just lay off a few sales reps and tighten the belt a little, but you still have an actual sales force,” I replied.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the sales manager for the foreseeable future,” he sighed. “Hopefully my two reps left can produce without a lot of oversight, because I’ve got enough going on and don’t really know how to help anyway.”

I know a lot of small business owners, and these types of conversations are common: it’s not that they don’t comprehend the importance of selling, it’s just a fundamental lack of resources from both a financial and time perspective that prevents them from achieving the growth that they need to stay afloat.

Generally, this is even more existential as revenue stagnation and volatility can make the difference between staying in business and not. And unfortunately, much of the “help” in the form of resources or technology is geared toward bigger businesses, and many of the solutions just aren’t practical for small-revenue (I’m defining it here as under $10 million annually, and often far less than that) organizations.

?And yet, these companies often need help the most. And as customers, we all benefit from the choices that these businesses give us. Could you imagine if there were no local businesses to patronize how much worse off we’d all be? I’d argue it benefits all of us-and even their corporate competitors-to have thriving small business options in our marketplaces.

Here are some tips and considerations for going to market and selling as a small business:

1.????? Know who you are. Big companies can succeed by being all things to all people, little companies generally fail when they try the same, especially when the stakes are high. Define your ideal customer profile and adhere to selling to those customers first and expand from there. If you’ve had success in a certain niche, there’s likely a reason and exploiting that can be a quick ticket to more wins. You’ll also be able to offer these customers more value and generally at a higher price.

2.????? Leverage your existing customers. If your customers are happy, they’ll be very much invested in your organization continuing to thrive. Don’t be afraid to ask them for introductions and referrals to their peers. They’ll open doors for you and are your best advocates.

3.????? Build your strategic partnerships. What other vendors are selling to your customers? Can you leverage their relationships with your ideal prospects to open up new channels? Generally local businesses can work closer with like-minded companies and utilize each other both formally through tips groups and networking and informally through warm leads and introductions. Take advantage of it all.

4.????? If you don’t know it and can’t afford it, outsource and go fractional. One thing that I’m always surprised by is business owners thinking they need to have all the answers and people in-house to do everything. Outsourcing is often the most efficient way to get good outcomes, and this can be done with a fractional if the workload justifies it.

When it comes to selling, a lot of companies may not need to or can't afford to put a six-figure sales manager on board, but would benefit from a fractional set up in which they can get an experienced pro to commit a few hours a week to coaching their reps and reporting for less than half that. Marketing can be done in a similar fashion, and very few companies really know how to manage in-house marketing personnel (me included!).

All of these solutions allow business owners to spend more time on their strengths while bringing some much needed experience to areas of weakness for the least amount of money.

5.????? Avoid the race to the bottom on pricing. Too often small companies attempt to compete on pricing with large ones, and even if they can there is usually a cost to operations and efficiency that is not considered. Going back to point #1, if a prospect is outside of your ICP, then moving heaven and earth from a profit standpoint to acquire them may not make sense. And most small businesses can't be in the business of performing their business or making their products without profit.

You may not be able to compete with corporations on price, but they likely can’t compete with you on service, responsiveness, flexibility, and partnership. Like-minded customers will acknowledge and appreciate that, and those who don’t likely won’t be right for you. Play to your strengths, and it’s OK to acknowledge that price may not be one of them.

6.????? Remember that big companies can suck, too. It’s easy to look at some corporation with their slick marketing, massive workforce and flashy website or whatever and assume they have it all figured out. In my experience, that’s not remotely true. In fact, they’re commonly hamstrung by bureaucracy, indecisiveness, inaction, and incompetent leadership. Remember that you are likely to have higher customer satisfaction, retention, and more engaged employees. These things are invaluable and leverage as you compete.

Ultimately, this is just some educated advice, and I acknowledge the challenges are real. It’s always, probably, going to feel like an uphill battle competing against big companies when it comes to sales and growth.

And to be clear, I’ve never owned a small business, and even though I’ve worked with and for them, this advice is not designed to be all-encompassing or presumptive that I fully understand the struggle. But I can say that I believe that they can and should flourish and I’m passionate about seeing them do so.

We’re all better off-as consumers, vendors, and employees-if small businesses sell and grow.