There are both traditional and nontraditional ways a small business can successfully enter their competition market. The constant advent of new technology solutions and platforms mean that a small business has a better fighting chance against larger, well-established companies in their market.
Personalize
Small business owners can personalize their brand and the buying experience. Small business owners will need to learn how to cultivate positive relationships, because anyone they meet could be a potential customer. They will also need to create and leverage a personal brand that will connect with the target demographic group and the community. For example, a small business can immediately increase their competitive edge through offering superior service.
Adding a unique and personal touch will connect with the customers who favor in-store shopping with a human being instead of online shopping through faceless retailers. When you are trying to be personal, don’t go overboard. Be sure to first set expectations for yourself. This means that you should over promise what you can do, then under deliver your products. Avoid committing to unrealistic time frames and deliverables because this will actually end up losing customers.
Business Agility
Small businesses naturally feel intimidated by global retailers, such as Amazon and Wal-Mart, which generate more annual revenue than many small country’s economic GDP. However, small businesses can actually leverage their small size to remain agile and flexible. Small businesses may have limited assets and revenue, but they also don’t have to manage hundreds of giant stores scattered across the globe. As a result, a small business can easily change their business’ goals, location, output and general direction.
To illustrate, a small business owner that is faced with rent prices that double every year can temporarily move their storage to their home and operate out of a smaller office until adequate space is available. Agility must go hand in hand with comprehensive research, well-thought out decisions and quick action. Develop processes that reward quick decision making.
Innovation
Agility goes well with innovation, market research, product execution and social media management. Entrepreneurs who discover that their entire product line or business direction is wrong can make a quick pivot to reinvent themselves without major impacts. Large companies may actually be burdened by massive inventories, diverse demographics, complex supply chains, hundreds of vendors or thousands of employees. The best way for a small business to find success with innovation is through niche markets.
Small businesses can focus on just one to two niche markets in the beginning, and then expand later when business is booming. Keep in mind that niche markets may also come with small customer bases. Therefore, focus on client engagement through blogging, word-of-mouth advertising and engaging social media posts. Sun Zi, the famous Chinese strategist who wrote “The Art of War,” famously said that one hundred percent battle success is only for those who know their enemy and themselves. Proper market research through primary and secondary sources is the answer.
Once the business is working well on the national scale, business owners can look at entering global markets, according to Forbes. Widening sales base to an international market will expand reach and create an unlimited growth potential. With the role technology plays in business development today, international markets are not as difficult to maintain as they once were.
Related Resource: What is an Informal Investor?
One of the other ways a small business can successfully enter their competition market is through translating their passion to actionable objectives. Tapping into personal passion will help keep business owners motivated, positive and successful.
