The Advantage (and Disadvantage) of Small Business

the small business advantage

When customers are choosing between a small business and an established brand for similar products or services, the burden of proof often lies on the small business to differentiate themselves meaningfully from the established brand.

As I see it, there are two major factors in favor of the small business:

1. the uniqueness of the offering
   • this can increase value
2. the personal connection to the customer
   • this can increase trust

Not every small business will be able to rely on both factors, but the faster and more strongly a small business can communicate at least one of them in the mind of the customer, the better their chances are.

So . . .

If you look at your website, how long would it take to identify a personal connection to your business or a uniquely beneficial quality of your offering?

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P.S. Notice that price is not included as a differentiating factor. Small businesses often can’t compete for price—nor should they have to. Taking advantage of the uniqueness and/or personality factor can help maintain or even increase your prices in the face of competition.

the small business disadvantage

As we saw yesterday, small businesses have an advantage over large corporations in two areas: unique offerings and personal connection.

But where they have to fight a little harder is for trust.

The simple fact of brand recognition can often be enough to establish trust and credibility for a national organization, but small businesses often don’t get that benefit of the doubt. Instead, the ability to make a personal connection with customers is the small business’ biggest advantage when it comes to trust building.

Here are a handful of ways that small businesses can communicate trust through their media (in order of least to most effective, in my opinion):

personality / vibes

This is the implied strategy in a lot of social media content that I come across. It can be useful for “clicking” with people who are naturally drawn to people like you, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into customers, more likely it translates into consumers of entertainment value.

demonstrate knowledge / technique​

This doesn’t convince the customer that you can solve their problem necessarily, but it does show that you know what you’re doing.

offer something of value to the potential customer

This is my favorite method because it puts you in the position of initiating a mutual value transaction by being the first to offer an open hand. Bonus points if what you’re offering through your content can be put to use right away.

demonstrate vulnerability / start a dialogue

This one is tricky because you don’t want to come across as needy, but a true authenticity that makes the customer feel like they are as influential in your success as you are in theirs can be a powerful emotional connection. If you are able to open an actual two-way communication with the prospective customer, then you have drawn them out of the status of simple content consumer and begun a real relationship.

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If you can effectively implement one or more of these techniques in your content, especially in the early stages of the buying cycle, then you are well on your way to overcoming the biggest disadvantage of the small business.

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P.S. This list is not exhaustive. What other methods can you think of or have you seen to be effective? I’d love to hear your thoughts!