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Competing with Big(ger) Business

Written by: James R. Lucas

Article Overview: How do we compete with big business? Given the size advantage, how can we win? The first key is being the right size—right for your customers, right for your market positioning, right for accomplishing your vision, mission and strategy.

Competing with Big(ger) Business

GO BIG!

GE trumpeted this new motto in its annual report-an appropriate slogan for one of the biggest companies on the planet.  The message? We're big, and we're going to exploit our size. We're big, and we intend to get bigger. We're big-and you're not.

There's no question that size matters. But the problem is equating "size" with "durable" or "competitive." Just looking at General Motors and American Airlines is a reminder that size can be a liability, a millstone around the economy's neck.

Ultimately, no pleasure or success comes from growth alone. Only cancer grows just to be growing. Using that as a model, many organizations are both large and cancerous, malignantly destroying wealth and careers.

How do we compete with big business? If we're small, how do we compete with other businesses that are small but bigger than us? Whether you're competing with a company making $5 million per year or $5 billion, the question is the same: Given the size advantage, how can we win?

The first key is being the right size - right for your customers, right for your market positioning, right for accomplishing your vision, mission and strategy. Many customers would rather be a larger account of a smaller firm than the reverse. Being too small to exploit an opportunity is a problem, but growing faster than you can support the growth is no less tragic.

How to Compete with Size

Many large organizations mention their needs: flexibility, speed, aggressiveness, fresh ideas, everyone thinking like an owner. In other words, they need to be small. They want to think small, act small, and come across as a neighbor regardless of their gargantuan size. They want to GO SMALL.

If you are small, they want to be like you.  But since you're already small, if you're leading well they can't beat you at your own game.

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Article Tags: 5 million, american airlines, annual report, avis, competitive advantage, general motors, li li, market positioning, millstone, motto, overseas operators, personal service, problem resolution, service speed, size advantage, size matters, slogan, success comes from, those guys, vision mission



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