Competing Against a Larger Business

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When you own a small business, competing against a larger company means that you have to work twice as hard to stand out. As professional designers, my husband and I realize that personalized service, lower prices, and creative advertising gives us an edge over the competition.

To market our business, we don't bother with traditional advertising. Instead, we take an alternate approach by donating time designing print publications and spot designs for several charitable organizations. Donating our skills gets samples of our work out in public where it can be seen, plus it generates free word-of-mouth advertising.

Volunteering our time in the community is one way a small business owner can compete against a larger company. Three other strategies that can give you an edge against the competition include:

Donate to a local fundraiser. Having been on the soliciting end of fund raising, I know from experience that many small businesses are hesitant to donate gift cards or merchandise to neighborhood schools and local non-profit organizations. What these businesses don't realize is the amount of free advertising and goodwill a simple donation can make. Showing community support with a donation is an easy way to set your business apart from the larger companies who aren't so vested in the neighborhood.

Offer classes. Some of the more successful small businesses in my community compete with bigger stores by offering free classes covering a wide range of topics from ethnic cooking to gardening, basic pet care, crafting, building ponds, and more. Small class instruction combined with coupons for merchandise keeps customers happy and coming back for more.

Answer the phone in person. None of us likes reaching an answering machine during business hours, and we especially dislike reaching phone trees where we have to press half a dozen buttons before reaching a real person who puts us on hold once again. Answering the phone in person is an easy way to provide personalized service that customers want and gives a small business owner the edge he or she needs to compete against the big guys.

More from this contributor:
Four free innovative marketing techniques.
Estimating revenue and cost for a small business.
Positioning a small company for growth in 2011.