THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVANTAGE

Years ago, I attended a series of workshops to 

help small businesses become World
Class Businesses. They were fantastic and I hope they'll
offer them again. One of the key pieces I got was the
reminder that small companies have huge advantages over
large competitors, and that, sadly, most entrepreneurs
utterly fail to leverage their advantages.
Small companies can respond instantly to new opportunities.
As the owner or manager of a small company, you can take
advantage of a new opportunity in as little as 15 minutes,
while a large competitor may take months to form a
committee. Seize the moment!
Small companies can form alliances with their customers and
suppliers that are simply impossible for larger companies.
You KNOW your customers! Ask them what they want. Ask them
to help you serve them better. What customer would refuse
to help you develop a better product at a lower price? Use
your alliances!
Finally, small companies benefit from small changes in ways
that large companies simply can not. For a small business
owner, a new product or new customer who increases sales by
$100,000 per year is a big deal! You can afford to get
interested. You can afford to respond. You can leverage
that! General Motors literally can't afford to care or even
notice a $100,000 deal.
World Class Businesses use their strengths. They use
technology, mobility and creativity in ways that large
bureaucracies simply cannot match.