SMALL BUSINESS COACH
Grasshoppers v. Giants: Small Businesses Can Defeat Big Competitors
When God called His people to go into the land He had promised…the land flowing with milk and honey, they refused to go forward and take the land because they saw themselves as grasshoppers. Because they saw themselves as grasshoppers, they were afraid and believed they were unable to compete against the giants of the land. Because they refused to believe in, not only themselves, but also in the promises of their God, they were left wandering for another forty years in the wilderness. They were living day by day (what we call hand to mouth or paycheck to paycheck).
Competitors Are Your Friends
I see this same problem in modern day small businesses, in their own eyes, they see themselves as grasshoppers, unable to compete against their larger competitors. You can compete with your competition by making your “enemies” your friends. How do you do that? You find a non-competitive way to make their present, past, and potential customers and clients into your current clients. Here’s one example of how to do just that:
You run a pet store that has the exclusive right to sell one popular product. For that one product you don’t have a direct competitor, but you do have bigger “friends” who offer similar products for a cheaper price, but they find that many of their customers want the product you have and ask for it by name. If you can create a relationship with those larger stores, intentional referrals to your store for that product in exchange for intentional referrals to their grooming service. When I say “intentional referrals” I’m referring to a mail out to their client base or a poster advertising your product placed in their store and vice versa.
This is how you make your competitor your partner. This is how small business “defeats” big business and gets ahead. You can be assured that if your business is God’s plan for your life, your business will prosper far beyond what you ever dreamed or imagined.