Beat The Big Guys By Being Small

The original content is from Tom Peters, but I like John Moore's formatting better.

I've long believed that big success could be more easily attained in small business. Tom and John would seem to agree, as they posted this 16-point manifesto for microcorps to beat the bejeezus out of the big guys way back in 2005.

My favorites from the list are:
#1: Niche Aimed
Never try to be all things to all people. You can ask my friend Susan Friedmann for some great ideas on niche-focusing.

#3: Dramatically Different
Being significantly different within your community, your industry, etc. should be obvious, but this is where most companies (big and small) fall short.

#5: Emotionally Bond with Clients/Vendors
Treat your customers and suppliers like family -- maybe even better than family. Connect with their passions and find an alignment within your company's services and products that appeal and feed that passion.

John Moore created a great video primer on these techniques and called it "Jumbo Shrimp Marketing" -- I've embedded the video below.

Comments

[Steve]

Being big is not always a good thing. Think utility companies, or, large software vendors who think you have to have their product. Small companies have the advantage in many cases of being able to be more responsive and provide more personal service, which many people appreciate. Getting the run around at a larger company is no fun! Just make sure you have systems in place so that customers can in fact reach you when they need you.

[Steve]

Being big is not always a good thing. Think utility companies, or, large software vendors who think you have to have their product. Small companies have the advantage in many cases of being able to be more responsive and provide more personal service, which many people appreciate. Getting the run around at a larger company is no fun! Just make sure you have systems in place so that customers can in fact reach you when they need you.