SME Advantages Over Larger Corporations

Bigger budgets. More staff resources. Enviable client databases. These are simply three of many advantages that bigger companies have traditionally enjoyed over the smaller business. If you’re at or near the helm of an SME, you’ll enjoy this article – it goes over some of the advantages that SME’s can leverage over the big boys…

  • Greater flexibility. Large corporations often depend on and work on the back of strict and robust systems which allow for little flexibility or initiative.  Whether it’s providing customer support or showing initiative by adding a few off the cuff extras to get that new client, smaller companies can often apply more flexibility and initiative within every part of their business.
  • Offer customers the personal touch. Have you ever felt loved by a BT salesperson? The truth is larger companies employ hundreds if not thousands of people who often care little beyond meeting their faceless targets and working a 9 to 5 shift. In contrast, your smaller business can often enjoy a strong USP by being more personable and engaging with clients. It’s good to talk.
  • Use the internet to enjoy a cheaper global and local presence. The internet may well increasingly be the domain of larger corporations, but thanks to the multitude of different sites and low cost traffic strategies available, certain areas of the web are great low cost opportunities to advertise for small and local business.
  • Create a tightly knit corporate culture. Employees in a large multinational rarely care about the corporate vision of the company as a whole – most probably don’t even know what the vision is. It’s also more difficult for larger companies to create a close knit, almost family like atmosphere within their organization. Too many offices and people, all doing different things and many of whom will never even see each other during their time at the firm. In smaller companies, perhaps with a few workers at most, it’s easier to create a tighter Robin Hood type of culture where workers know and work closely with one another. It equates to a better workplace for all to enjoy.  
  • Employees can feel more valued and important in the overall company performance. Each employee plays a greater part in small companies compared to larger ones. Consequently, this can be a good motivation point since each SME employee can tangibly see the effects their work has on the firm as a whole.
  • Elephants don’t gallop. This quote is often used in the financial investment world for picking shares. The idea is that a large FTSE 100 giant is not set-up to multiply and grow in the way a small company is. SME’s are small but that just means that with the correct strategy and people behind it, there is a greater scope to multiply size and profits, and that can mean great things for everyone associated with it.
  • Easier to respond to opportunities and threats, and apply strategy. A smaller company with fewer layers is better geared to respond quickly to challenges, and to hop on to new opportunities as and when they arise.  Larger companies are often extremely sluggish in this regard – you only have to see how the internet wrong footed many large corporations, while smaller ones quickly jumped on to the opportunity to set up new online streams of business.