Beat BIG Competitors Jan 2 2014

Beat Big Competitors!

© 2014 Business Thinking Institute

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DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE CHALLENGES?
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Is your biggest competitor a BIG company?
Is your competitor a better known brand?
Does your BIG competitor have more ‘budget’ to beat you?
Does your BIG competitor have more resources than you do?

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MARKETS YOU ADDRESS

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BigCos prefer large segments & big price tags

Find niche markets big guys won’t bother with

4

Only 1000 companies - out of 6,000,000
businesses in America - are in the Fortune 1000.

Sell to small & midsize companies that many BigCos.
won’t bother with

5

Big Companies tend to ‘cherry pick’
big and high margin customers

Be a ‘pilot fish’ –
serve smaller
customers
(profitable with
your lower costs)

6

Your niche is one of many businesses for BigCo

Your niche is your business –
focus, focus, focus

7

Big Companies prefer mass markets (large
quantities) – good at scale & productivity

Specialize - niche products,
small batches


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MARKETING

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Big Companies look

BIG(duh!)

Look big

– technology, partnerships


10

Big companies(brands) build broad
market appeal - across country/world

Build your brand only in your focus markets

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BigCos. very active in social media

Be active where your customers are – many
may not be on social media

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Big Companies spend a lot on
marketing

Courtesy: melissagalt.com

Leverage their spend – extend their
message, ride their ‘spending’ coat tails

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Big businesses tell ‘generalized’ stories
Tell your personal
story, share your
perspective, be
available (phone,
chat, email in-person)
and be consistent

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“When it comes to using the internet, your discomfort with it is
irrelevant. If a competitor is leveraging the internet with tremendous
effectiveness, you have to respond – go online!”


www.expandOnline.biz
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BigCos. have informative websites

So can you…..get some great templates and
build a great website – not very expensive

16

BigCos. target prospects well - have
hotshot MBAs, market research($$$)
Hire freelancers,
hire consultants,
find market
research on an
SMB budget ($)

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PEOPLE

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Big companies attract the ‘best’ talent
and pay better

•Hire ‘best’ talent that wants SMB atmosphere – right for you
•Hire seniors and part-timers locally (most big companies won’t)
•Start a ‘Best SMB to work for in YOURTOWN’ to draw attention

19

Big companies have tremendous
talent, and lots of them

Hire good temporary or part-time talent – stayat-home moms, SCORE execs, consultants,
freelancers (www.odesk.com, www. Fiverr.com)

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Big companies have many leaders to
fight many battles

Develop good leaders who can ‘battle the big’
for you (www.nextCEO.com)

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CUSTOMERS

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Big companies have lesser
customer intimacy, esp.
with smaller customers

Focus on customer intimacy (take
good care of your few customers)
(see Best Practices of the German SMBs – Mittelstand)

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COMPETITION

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Big Companies not agile;
change is expensive

Be agile and adapt

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Big Companies are ‘risk-averse’ to protect brand

Make waves- be daring

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BigCos. have BIG overheads and operating costs

Stay ‘small’, spend ‘small’
& stay ‘hungry’(motivated)

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Compete ONLINE (if you don’t already)!
“When it comes to using the internet, your discomfort with it is irrelevant. If a
competitor is leveraging the internet with tremendous effectiveness, you have to
respond – go online!”
- Check out www.expandOnline.biz

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SALES

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Big companies can take a loss on one product for a
long time while small competitor bleeds to death.

Compete on service & value with bigCo., not price

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Big companies offer broad range of products/ services

Partner with other SMBs (or with
a large company) to offer broad
products/services

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Big Companies usually sell complex & expensive
products that solve many problems

Sell one simple &
inexpensive product for
a specific need (happy
customers!)

32

BigCos. use resellers/VARs to sell to SMB customers

•Sell Directly to differentiate yourself
•Partner with the competitor’s competitor (another
big company) to reach more markets

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Conquer ONLINE!
Take your
business
EVERYWHERE!

www.

.biz

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Big Retailers have sophisticated eCommerce
platforms

You can leverage ‘readymade’ platforms with
sophisticated features – Amazon Webstore,
Magento templates, Shopify, Volusion – add apps.

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INNOVATION

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Big companies innovate on a schedule

Customer Intimacy + Incremental Innovation = Frequent releases

37

Big companies decide in
committees and operate
on schedules

zzzzzzz…….

Take the plunge while the ‘dragon’ sleeps

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List of Links for the SMB/Midmarket Companies
Resources Lists

Consultants Lists

• Content (articles, presentations,
videos) on ‘Competing with Big
Companies’
• Market Research Resources
• Leadership Development
• Best Practices of German
Mittelstand
• Expanding Business Online

• Competing with Big Companies
Consultants
• E-Commerce Consultants
• Marketing Consultants
• Partnership Consultants
• Pricing Consultants
• List of all consultants
• List of Capital Providers


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CONTACT US
Ram V. Iyer
President

Princeton, New Jersey
+1 (609)275-6300
info@businessthinking.com
Ram V. Iyer is the Founder & President of the Business Thinking Institute (www.businessthinking.com), a
Princeton, NJ-based organization that focuses on helping midsize companies, SMBs and those that serve them –
identifying important challenges and sharing solutions, tools, providers and events to help businesses overcome
their challenges.
Ram has traveled to over 35 countries and worked at client sites in 16 countries. He has experience in
manufacturing, operations, sales, strategy, marketing and entrepreneurship. He has worked at startups, small,
medium and large multinational companies. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan
School of Management. You can reach him at info@businessthinking.com.

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Competing with Large Companies

You can download the
presentation at
www.beatBIG.biz


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Beat BIG Competitors Jan 2 2014

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