Those tired of the 9 to 5 grind may have dreams of running their own business one day. Yet, may be daunted at the thought of having to compete with the big boys. Fear not. When you’re running a small business, you might often look at the established brands in your industry and ponder whether you’ll ever hit the same heights, even if that’s not your plan. You may be perfectly content with the size of your company. Any thoughts of growth are both scary and unnecessary. Basically, you are happy just the way you are.
However, just because you’re satisfied doesn’t mean you don’t need to try still to compete with the big brands. Especially if you want to offer an alternative to the faceless corporations we deal with every day. You still need to look professional, so here is some advice on where to start.
Better Marketing
While you may not be able to compete with the massive marketing machine you find with brands like Amazon, Apple, or Coca Cola. You can still do what you can to appear professional, and you don’t even need to spend a lot of money to do so.
Start by creating commercials or promotional videos to display on your social media platforms and use engaging footage that sells your service to the viewer. If you want to make it even more professional, royalty free music is a fantastic way to save money while keeping up alongside your larger competitors.
It will also be beneficial to explore unique marketing options that are more traditional but less common recently, such as local events.
A Human Touch
When a brand gets too large (if there is such a thing), it starts to lose the human touch that connects it to customers. As a small business, you will likely have a hand in most of the day-to-day operations. So use this involvement to your advantage.
You can connect more effectively with customers and clients by making yourself someone always available. Become a point of contact for any queries both existing and new customers might have. By putting yourself out there, you provide a face for your brand, which customers will learn to associate with you so that they feel closer when dealing with your company.
Stand For Something
It’s fashionable for companies to stand for something, but as a small business, you don’t have the funds to donate millions of dollars to charities and organizations. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t still help those who cannot help themselves.
Pick something close to home to make the local area understand that you care about where you are. This can be everything from volunteering at shelters to launching campaigns to clean up the local area and help the environment.
All communities are different, so you know better than us where you can focus your attention, and you’ll become a brand that doesn’t just offer excellent service but also cares, too.
A Winning Streak
You may not have the budget, nor the mega marketing machine, but you do have something that the big brands cannot offer, and that is a personal touch that is too often lost along the way. By managing to maintain this touch, you can compete with established companies and get by just fine without selling out.
This article is a partnered post that contains affiliate links.