My Local Services UK
My Local Services USA
Business Discussion
Marketing Advice & Assistance
and some business banter...


Go Back   My Local Business Forum > The Business Forums > General Business News, Help and Discussion

General Business News, Help and Discussion General business news, discussion, help, advice and information.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 25-03-11, 06:19 AM
MontiC's Avatar
Growing Business
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 52
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Default Small companies more innovative than large companies?

What do you think are small companies more innovative than large companies? How do you differentiate your company to larger scale companies? Why do you think you have good and innovative services/products as compare to large one?

Reply With Quote

  #2 (permalink)  
Old 25-03-11, 08:42 AM
hdm's Avatar
hdm hdm is offline
Senior Entrepreneur
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: London
Posts: 721
Thanks: 85
Thanked 102 Times in 85 Posts
Facebook Profile Twitter Profile
Default

There's certainly a lot to be said for the personal service and customer care offered by a smaller company.

Unfortunately, in this current climate, to avoid having all your business swallowed up by the "big boys", it is essential to find a niche in your market.
__________________
The complete Direct Mail Company service

Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 14-07-11, 11:57 AM
JessicaS's Avatar
Growing Business
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: 1305 Campus Parkway, Suite 100. Wall Township, NJ 07753.
Posts: 30
Thanks: 3
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Facebook Profile LinkedIN Profile Twitter Profile
Default

Hi,
I think, being innovative in ideas is not a property owned by small scale companies.
If you want to grow your business, you have to be innovative and your services should satisfy the clients.
__________________
For all kind of Real Estate services and solutions you can visit at http://www.alexburns.ca.

Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 14-07-11, 12:36 PM
CareersPartnershipUK's Avatar
Entrepreneur
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Leicestershire village
Posts: 425
Thanks: 56
Thanked 93 Times in 82 Posts
Default

I think one of the benefits of small companies from the customers' point of view is the consistency of work and the relationship value they get from dealing with a known individual. Clients seem to like the fact you remember them from your past dealings with them, sometimes even being able to recognise them by voice.

Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to CareersPartnershipUK For This Useful Post:
hdm (14-07-11), sjr4x4 (14-07-11)
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 14-07-11, 03:56 PM
hdm's Avatar
hdm hdm is offline
Senior Entrepreneur
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: London
Posts: 721
Thanks: 85
Thanked 102 Times in 85 Posts
Facebook Profile Twitter Profile
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by CareersPartnershipUK View Post
I think one of the benefits of small companies from the customers' point of view is the consistency of work and the relationship value they get from dealing with a known individual. Clients seem to like the fact you remember them from your past dealings with them, sometimes even being able to recognise them by voice.
Quite right!
__________________
The complete Direct Mail Company service

Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 15-07-11, 11:08 AM
Dreamraven's Avatar
MLF Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: South Africa
Age: 36
Posts: 525
Thanks: 76
Thanked 116 Times in 107 Posts
Facebook Profile Twitter Profile
Default

I worked on the same - ish principles when I was in retail. I got to know my customers in such a way that when they came to my counter, I practically had everything they needed ready, (cigarettes, lotto tickets etc..) It's definitely the small things. If you can treat a client as if they are an old, respected friend it can definitely boost your company reputation and make it unique in its niche. Many times, the popularity of your business is built on how you work with your clients, and in my case, friendlier is always better.

Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Dreamraven For This Useful Post:
hdm (15-07-11)
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 15-07-11, 01:50 PM
kapilv's Avatar
Banned
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: India
Posts: 20
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Hi,
In my point of view small companies are more innovative than large companies.Sometimes it is difficult to maintain the productivity and the customer relationship in large companies. But small companies do the task

Last edited by tomsk; 16-07-11 at 06:54 AM.

Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 15-07-11, 11:31 PM
highlandspring's Avatar
Established Business
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 200
Thanks: 1
Thanked 30 Times in 26 Posts
Twitter Profile
Default Something funny

I was reading a Google report about the US market - sorry I can't find the link or I would post it. And in their definition a small company is one with less than 500 employees - a medium one with up to 25,000 and a large above that.

Can you believe - how many UK companies even have 500?

Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 16-07-11, 11:04 AM
CareersPartnershipUK's Avatar
Entrepreneur
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Leicestershire village
Posts: 425
Thanks: 56
Thanked 93 Times in 82 Posts
Default

I worked on various government-funded projects to do with improving training support for business and carried out a fair amount of self-initiated "market research" to guide how I approached them.

From memory, the statistics then said about 80% British companies employ 1 - 10 people (including the boss). When I did my "random sample" of regional businesses to visit, these stats held true for the area in which I worked. I don't think the percentages will have changed that much in the intervening period.

As you know, I'm mainly interested in career guidance, career development and workplace problem-solving (when the problems relate to the human-organisation interface). Some recent research that interested me said most small companies don't take on additional employees (ie government shouldn't throw money at the whole small business sector if its aim is to provide new jobs).

The small businesses that do grow and take on new staff are usually those which set up and use good management systems to measure all the key aspects of their business (profitability, sales growth, etc). There's a lesson for all of us here - if we want to be successful, we'd best adopt a professional approach to the way we manage our businesses!

Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 16-07-11, 10:25 PM
fourth-monkey's Avatar
Growing Business
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire
Posts: 96
Thanks: 6
Thanked 30 Times in 26 Posts
Facebook Profile Twitter Profile
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by highlandspring View Post
I was reading a Google report about the US market - sorry I can't find the link or I would post it. And in their definition a small company is one with less than 500 employees - a medium one with up to 25,000 and a large above that.

Can you believe - how many UK companies even have 500?
According to Wikipedia, in the European Union, a small business generally has under 50 employees and a medium sized business has under 250 employees.

25000 employees and still medium sized? If that's true, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Ebay, BBC are all medium sized businesses.

Now I feel so proud calling mine a small business.
__________________
Eligible for signature. But that's not the reason I am here.
Small Business Web Design Solar PV installer

Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
An easy way to start evaluating web design companies helenfairley Computers, Coding, Websites or anything techie 14 24-03-11 12:17 PM
SEO Companies - Your Experiences Innocent Advertising Online Marketing using SEO, SEM or PPC 21 25-12-10 05:05 PM
27.04.2010 Water Companies fined. bonsai passion HR, H&S, Insurance and all things Legal 0 29-04-10 11:29 AM
Earn Money for Refering Freinds and other Companies Kevin.Wiles The Village Market 6 19-02-10 10:24 PM
Could you handle the stress of running a large business? sjr4x4 General Business News, Help and Discussion 4 01-02-10 11:59 PM

PublicLiabilityInsurance.org - Public Liability Insurance    List your business for free with Qype  Try KashFlow accounts for free


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:32 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
This Business Forum is owned and run by Lowi Ltd | Minerva Mill | Station Road | Alcester | Warwickshire | B49 5ET | UK | Reg: 5542028 | VAT: 871389294