The Secret To Competing With Large Established Businesses

As a small startup, it’s often difficult to compete with the giants of industry. In many cases, the established players have been in the game for over a hundred years.

How do you present a challenge to these experienced corporations?

Well, today, I’m here to show you that it’s possible. It’s only by competing with established companies that the economy keeps moving.

Some of the biggest companies on the planet started just a few years ago in a college dorm room. (Facebook, Google etc.) With the right planning, there’s no reason you can’t catch consumer attention, and compete with the big players.

 

Use Your Size to Your Advantage

How can you possibly rival an enormous company when you’re just a small team? Well, the answer starts by using your size to your advantage. The biggest companies might be big, but they’re also slow as a result.

Like a giant ship, it takes a long time for them to change direction or adapt. Meanwhile, you’re small speedboat can quickly change direction, follow trends, or latch onto new consumers. Use your size to quickly adapt to the market, and exploit the gaps that open up.

My company does this all the time.  We are constantly looking at what works and what doesn’t work.  More than that we are constantly getting feedback from our customers all the time.

As a smaller business you have the advantage to talk to to customers face to face and get to know them more personally.  This is something big companies can’t do as easily.

 

Do Something They Can’t (or Don’t)

It’s often easier said than done, but it’s crucial if you want to compete with the big players. All of the biggest companies have a weakness. They all have a design idea missing or perhaps they’re missing a key part of the market.

Find out what it is, and do it yourself. There’s a famous example in business when a small company started producing earphones.

Surely they couldn’t compete against the likes of Apple, Sony, and Beats? Yet they did one thing the others didn’t; they made their earphones sweatproof. It was exactly what runners and athletes needed, and they carved their place in the market.

So take a step back and look at your company what is something that other companies just aren’t doing?  This is something we do all the time.

The thing I’ve found is that companies are always changing.  They are either growing or dying and if you aren’t constantly looking for that edge someone else will be.

 

Appearances can be Deceiving

One of my favorite tricks in the book is making yourself look bigger than you really are. You can compete with the biggest players by puffing up your chest, and making your company look larger.

Let’s say you currently run your startup out of your bedroom; instead, invest in a virtual office. The advantages of a registered office address are numerous.

Firstly, you appear bigger, as you have a central office in London. You may also be able to hire meeting rooms to meet clients, distributors, and investors. This makes your company appear bigger, and much more likely to compete against the biggest.

 

Price Yourself Competitively

Most small companies have a tendency to price themselves too low in the market. They think that because their company is small, their prices must reflect that.

They couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it’s much better to price yourself alongside your rivals. Make it look like you belong in the same category.

Even better, price yourself higher. Make it look like you’re the premium, quality option above the others. Customers will pay for quality.

We recently started doing this.  We looked at all of our major competitors and found our product to be more well constructed and last longer.  As a result we are increasing are prices every single month and quickly becoming the premium company in our niche.

 

Can You Compete with Larger Companies?

It is possible to compete with the larger businesses. All it takes is some smart thinking, and clever marketing. Best of luck!  

As someone who is personally growing an up and coming company myself I can personally say it’s not as hard as it seems.  So take some time and strategies on ways you could compete against these larger companies and I’m will ing to bet it’s possible.

Do you own a small business and want to compete with the big dogs?  Share some of the things you’ve done to make your business compete against bigger businesses in the comments below.