Most all businesses are one of three types:
Solopreneurial – the one person or “mom and pop” entity.
Owner Operated – typically the founder is running the show and they might employ many or few employees. The critical factor is the owner is in charge.
Corporately Governed – the founder has hired professionals (a C suite) to run the show.
If you have a choice of which one to do business with, here are three reasons to choose Owner Operated:
[1] THE OWNER’S PASSION
The owner is the driving force of the business. The owner started the business because it is something they love to do. They have the ability and the drive and the motivation to make a fully committed effort. They love doing it. They love teaching others to do it. And they love doing it for their clients.
“Corporately-governed” businesses are mostly driven by money. When a company’s annual report includes, “. . . to optimize the return to shareholders . . .”, then making money has become their #1 objective rather than passion.
Owner Operators are still driven by passion.
[2] PRICE FLEXIBILITY
Given the owner’s passion and being the thing that they prefer to do above all other things, the pricing at very small businesses is flexible.
When owners have excess capacity, they will frequently do the work at more favorable client pricing, preferring to be half-employed than idle.
And given the owner’s daily involvement, it is easier to negotiate alternative terms.
Corporately governed businesses have a more definitive structure that includes variable compensation to sales people and others. This internal cost and compensation structure allows, and encourages, prices to be adjusted upwards for employee incentive sake.
In owner operated businesses incentive based compensation is yet to be needed and the pricing tends to be more customer friendly rather than profit or incentive oriented.
[3] REPUTATION IS KING
Owner operators are striving for a market foothold and great Google reviews and quality testimonials are almost as valuable as sales.
Customer satisfaction is critical to owners, because the reputation at stake is not just the business. Also at stake is the reputation of the owner who is serving customers, family, friends and neighbors.
Big business will serve anybody and everybody as fast and easily as possible. In big business it is a numbers game and every customer certainly has one – a number – and they will be dealt with as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Owner operators know their clients and want them to be more than satisfied. Small businesses will live or die because of “word of mouth”. Every client shall be over- served.
When seeking business providers and partners recall these three benefits and add some owner operated businesses to your short list of approved providers.
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Steve Gatter shows owner operators how to acquire clients more effectively using niche marketing strategy, copywriting and Linkedin.