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Don't Ever Apologize for
Your Small Business!
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson,
E-Commerce Consultant
Mar. 2, 2002
"We're just a small business,"
you mumble apologetically. In this world where big seems better,
small business owners have developed a strangely distorted self-image.
Small feels ... well, inadequate. But small business is great
business, and I'll tell you why. I want to lead a grand cheer
for small business owners and employees. You, my friends, are
the salt of the earth.
Now I don't want to downplay
the role of big corporations. We need their economies of scale
to build efficient automobiles, commercial aircraft, and a communications
infrastructure. But sometimes we overlook the fact that huge
businesses have serious weaknesses in areas where small businesses
shine.
Small Businesses Are the
Backbone of the Economy
The US Small Business Administration says that small businesses
create two of every three new jobs, produce 39% of the gross
national product, and invent more than half the nation's technological
innovation. And this kind of statistic could be repeated in country
after country around the world. Just because you work for or
run a small company doesn't mean you are unimportant. Your contribution
to your country's economy is huge.
Small Businesses Demonstrate
the Essence of Political Freedom
The ability to develop and conduct your own small business is
a wonderful expression of your freedom as a citizen. You may
complain about government regulations, but the fact is that small
businesses are less regulated than large firms. This gives small
businesses the freedom to focus on what is really important --
caring for customers.
Small Businesses Provide
Better Customer Care
I'm sure you've noticed that the larger a company grows, the
harder it becomes to provide good customer service. Just try
to find the right person to help you on the phone in a huge corporation
-- it'll drive you batty. But when you ask for the owner of a
small business, chances are you'll be speaking to her or him
within a few minutes. Marketers toss around buzzwords like "Customer
Relationship Management (CRM)," but it's the small business
not the megacorp that really excels at it. Small businesses know
that their livelihood is based on their customers. Small is great
for customers.
Small Businesses Encourage
the Passion Needed to Succeed
Apathy doesn't breed nearly as well in small businesses as it
does in big business. Small business owners and their workers
are focused and immensely proud of what they do. Small business
owners are passionate about their businesses. How many employees
in bureaucratic organizations can say the same?
Small Businesses Owners
Are Highly Skilled
In a small business, you have to excel at a lot of things to
succeed. Small business owners and their key employees are masters
of dozens of disciplines and perform their intricate balancing
act like pros. So what if they wear more than one hat? Whom should
we admire more -- the corporate manager or the jack-of-all-trades
small business owner, whose skill-set is sharpened to a razor's
edge, and who survives and succeeds and serves? My vote is with
the latter.
Small Businesses Allow Owners
the Freedom to Innovate
Small business owners learn to be risk takers and innovators.
Corporate employees, on the other hand, too often interpret their
prime directive as keeping their jobs. Risk-taking can get in
the way of career-building. Innovative small businesses are prize
targets of larger corporations that often find it more cost-effective
to acquire than to innovate on their own.
Small Businesses Can Change
Course Rapidly
Large corporations can be adverse to change, while small businesses
know that their ability to make rapid decisions and implement
course corrections is their key to success. In the ocean of business,
mega-corporations turn like tankers, while small businesses can
zip around them with the agility of a speedboat.
Small Businesses Can Be
Quite Profitable
Small business is not a synonym for small earnings. In fact,
many small businesses are extremely profitable. Their advantages
of leanness, maneuverability, innovation, and customer focus
mold them into steady enterprises that earn a significant return
on investment year after year after year.
Being big isn't a worthy goal.
But delivering top customer service, a passion for excellence,
a willingness to dream and create, and the freedom to make timely
decisions -- these are worthy of acclaim.
Small businessperson, I salute
you for your dedication, your intelligence, your business acumen,
and your contribution to society. Be proud of your small business.
Stand tall, free, ... and unapologetic. Don't offer excuses for
the size of your business. Small businesses make the very biggest
impact of all!
Copyright © 2002, by
Ralph F. Wilson, http://www.wilsonweb.com
All rights reserved.
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is one
of the world's top Web marketing and e-business authorities.
He is founding editor of Web
Marketing Today, Web
Commerce Today, and Doctor
Ebiz and recipient of the Tenagra Award for Internet Marketing
Excellence.
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