Forget Big Business: Start-ups Have the Competitive Edge

Forget Big Business: Start-ups Have the Competitive Edge

Oiginal post by Inc

Bigger isn’t always better. Check out the advantages that you have as a small business owner.

Sure your start-up lacks cash, but with the right mindset, your start-up’s hunger gives you considerable advantages over big companies that are larded with people, capital, and assets.

No, really. Hear me out.

That’s because big companies have public shareholders, who demand that they exceed Wall Street expectations every quarter. And the quarterly demand to beat earnings targets and raise expectations means that big companies are vulnerable. Your start-up can take advantage of their narrow range of decision routines to take their market share.

But your start-up also enjoys tremendous freedom to go after entirely new markets–only if you tap into your skills and passions. And with the right mindset, you have the opportunity to turn superficial scarcity into long-term abundance.

Here are five great resources that your start-up should take advantage of:

1. You can attack big competitor vulnerabilities.

Your start-up needs to go after big markets or create them. If you go after a big market, it’s big because there are huge competitors who are likely dominating it.

You might be tempted to think that those big companies will do anything to defend their market share. But you would be wrong. They won’t cut price below their costs because that would threaten their quarterly profits–which would crater their stock price.

Since you have virtually no costs, you can sell your product at a much lower price than they do and still make a profit. If you start to gain market share, the big company won’t match your price unless they can cut their costs enough to preserve their currently fat profit margins.

Since they will not do that, a big company’s high price and bloated costs are a resource for your start-up. Exploit it or die.

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