The Solution

In the course of reading this article, you might be led to believe that I’m not a supporter of small businesses. I love small busineses. In fact, I started and ran a small business alliance in my community (Tooele, Utah) for two years. Although I'm am a huge fan of small businesses, in the last few weeks I’ve about had it with them. Like nearly anything else, there is good, bad and ugly about small businesses.

The Good:

According to  Local First Utah:

Locally owned, independent businesses reflect the character of our communities. Owners of local businesses live here. They are our neighbors. Their products and services support and sustain the needs of our residents, and they play a vital role in our social networks. In fact, local businesses mirror who we are and what we value as a community. They help to create a sense of place. Emerging research demonstrates that local and independent businesses generate more than three times the return to our local economies than do national chain stores. This is because business owners typically purchase support services (marketing, accounting, legal, design) from local firms and are often better employers, who pay living wages and offer benefits. Additionally, profits from local businesses tend to stay in our communities. Local businesses offer the greatest opportunities for jobs, innovation, and other community contributions, which improve the quality of life for local residents. Over the last several years, global trends and market forces have resulted in consolidation, mergers, and acquisitions in many business sectors. Growth among mass merchandisers, internet retailers, and big-box stores, ultimately reduces the selection and diversity of products and services available in our communities.

The Bad:

In the last few years of attempting to use independent local businesses whenever possible, between husband, my son and myself, we have:

• Been delivered an expensive printer that we bought specifically for duplexing that didn’t have a duplexing tray. This was nearly a year ago and we still don't have the duplexing tray.
• Ordered (and paid for) overpriced makeup and kitchen supplies at home parties that did not arrive for weeks. Weeks! Seriously!
• Arrived during the posted business hours to find a shop dark and locked up, with no note or anything about why the owner (apparently) decided to close early that day.
• Had printing jobs not completed on time because of broken equipment.
• Had photographs taken and paid for that should have been available on a web site, but the photographer’s web site has been out of commission for three weeks and no alternative delivery has been offered.
• Had a phone line unrecoverably disconnected when trying to switch to another provider

The Ugly:

In most of these cases, when we confronted the owner of the business, we were offered apologies and excuses but never any kind of recompense or alternative solution to the problem that we were now confronted with. “Sorry,” they say, “but I’m just a little guy so I don’t have the inventory/resources/people to work for me/ or whatever it takes to solve your problem.”

I’m not belittling the obstacles here, because I’ve been there myself. In one case, we were the proprietor involved- and when we couldn’t resolve the issue with our suppliers we made the difficult decision to quit the business. Fortunately, it was our own phone number that got cooked while we were “independent reps” for the company that messed up our line. (Leading to another key hint- make sure you use the product or service yourself for awhile before trying to sell it to others!)

I understand these are never the “fault” of the small business owner. But sidestepping the “blame” only makes the problem worse. Whatever happens that prevents you from delighting your customers may not be your fault, but it certainly is your responsibility.

How To Make a Small Business Better Than a Big One.

• Have a viable business model. This involves answering hard questions. Explore the competition and make sure the value proposition you’re offering really can be supported by the infrastructure you can afford. If you can’t support to hire the people to keep your shop open from 8-5, change the hours posted on your door. If you can’t compete with other businesses already in your community, you need to do yourself and everyone else a favor and find something else that you can honestly do.
• Automate whatever you can. Be up on current technology. Use phone answering machines, email, and other automation to make the most of your time so you can spend your time helping customers. If you have a website, know enough about it so that you’re not at the mercy of a single provider or vendor of services.
• If you hire people, hire the best you can find. Make sure they are properly trained and empowered to solve problems. This one is expensive, but if you give people the latitude to solve problems up to a certain size without consulting you, you will have happier employees, happier customers and fewer desperate phone calls.
• Spend time troubleshooting things that can go wrong for customers and try to prevent them if possible, or offer alternatives if that’s not possible. The lady that does my printing (who is also a friend of mine) once drove to another city to have another printer complete my job, since she knew how important it was to me to have it when I needed it , and she knows I'm a loyal customer for life. .
• Do preventative maintenance so that your equipment, your vehicles, your building, and your family aren’t always coming between you and getting the job done. If you’re always running things at or above capacity, you shouldn’t be surprised when a wheel comes off in the middle of an important job.
• Do what you say you’re going to do! Being a small business may cause some people to cut you some slack if you have a problem delivering the goods, but don’t count on it.
• Corollary to the last point- Don’t tell people about your sick kids, your flat tires, broken equipment, or your frustrations with suppliers who have sick kids, flat tires and broken equipment and therefore don’t meet your needs. We’ve all had our share of drama, and we still find ways to get things done. Which might include not working with small businesses that can’t keep their promises.

The Solution

As a small business owner - you should be better than the big guys, not “just as good,” and certainly not worse! You know your customers better, you can be more flexible, more customized to your demographic. Customers should seek you out because of positive customer references, not because of big budget ads. Take advantage of your advantages, and find ways around the disadvantages.

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