THE OWNER OPERATED SMALL BUSINESS VS BIG CORPORATE: David or Goliath?
What are the differences between a small, privately held business and a big corporately-governed business? With whom would you prefer to do business?
There are exceptions to these generalities, but think of your own experiences when doing business with an independent owner or a corporate representative. See if you agree with this comparison of Small and Big.
[1] Company Objective:
Small Customer Satisfaction
Big Return to Shareholders
[2] Key Performance Indicator
Small Customer Satisfaction
Big Profit or Revenue
[3] The Owner or CEO interacts with
Small Customers
Big Employees (assuming the owner or founder is still active)
[4] Policies & Procedures
Small Written towards customer satisfaction and can be modified, if and when necessary
Big Written to protect profit & revenue and that must be adhered to
[5] Employees are focused on
Small Customers
Big Customers, but also on their boss, the operations manual, their comp plan and profit & revenue
[6] Guarantees and Warranties
Small Can and must be honored (the owner usually lives in the neighborhood)
Big Beware the fine print
[7] Special Requests
Small Most likely, yes
Big Most likely no or the local representative will ask their boss who will ask their boss and . . .
[8] Payment Terms
Small Flexible
Big Per the policy which is focused on profits and revenue
[9] Returns and Allowance
Small Flexible
Big Per the policy which is focused on profits and revenue
[10] Community Support
Small Sometimes yes and the support is usually less than huge
Big Sometimes yes, and the support can be huge
[11] Listening to Customers
Small Yes, most likely the owner wants to know
Big The local representative will tell their boss who will tell their boss and . . .
[12] Expertise
Small Typically, small business owners are experts in their field and have the freedom to share
Big Corporate representatives can be experts, but are constricted by policies and procedures and the pursuit of profit & revenue
[13] Happiness
Small A recent Yodle business sentiment survey found that 91% of small business owners would
define themselves as “extremely happy” or “happy.”
Big A recent survey completed by Gallup and reported by CBS News found that 70% of the total workforce is unhappy with their jobs.
The essential difference between small and big is the influence of the founder. Most every business begins as a small business and most begin because of one person’s passion and drive to make a difference (the pursuit of the dollar comes later).
As small businesses grow, the founder moves further and further away from their customers. When small, and the founder is serving customers directly, the motivation is customer experience, word of mouth, referrals and positive reviews. When big, money becomes essential: [1] Lower prices for customers [2] acceptable return to shareholders, and [3] paying competitive salaries to executives to better serve the board (and the shareholders).
There are exceptions to these generalizations, but for the most part, the smaller owner-operated business is more concerned with customers than the big corporate entities.
In your industry, or in your community, do you know who the owner-operated businesses are? If you are seeking a better customer experience, perhaps you should.
Dale Brodsky, Founder & Owner of Fundus Photo — provides a broad range of ophthalmic imaging equipment and Fundus Photo’s “NewVision Ophthalmic Imaging Suite”, software designed specifically for ophthalmic imaging and image management.