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When Being Small Equals Big Advantage

By: SmallBizClub

 

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Too often, being a small business is not seen as an advantage. This is for the simple reason that size matters when it comes to many principles of conducting business. For instance, when you go to the bank for a loan, you only get as small an amount as you do business, while large companies have the luxury of running with loads of cash on their balance sheet.

 
Actually, some of that cash is never theirs—or at least it is not generated organically. For the small businesses though, they have to provide a certain proportion as an indication that they and their owners are committed to the cause. Many customers also tend to opt for the established brands of big multinational companies when it comes to subscribing to services or purchasing sensitive products.
 
Small Businesses Strike Back
 
However, according to recent technological developments, small businesses are now beginning to strike back at their huge counterparts by attracting a niche cluster of population, thanks to freelance websites. Large multinationals have complicated systems that also attract various security requirements, thereby limiting their extent of exposure to potential security threats.
 
Additionally, their large sizes also means that various operations cannot be run entirely from a cloud-computing platform, unlike is the case of a small business. A small business can run a majority of its operations on a virtual platform especially software and service providers. Additionally, they can also get access to services at cheaper rated due to the competitive nature in the freelance market places.
 
On the other hand, large corporations have to stick by large counterparts such as LinkedIn for their talent solutions, which do not come cheap. Interestingly, freelance websites have shown that they command as much talent as whatever employers can find on main recruitment platforms and companies.
 
For instance, many freelancers also have profiles on LinkedIn, but when approached for that platform, they tend to charge higher rates as compared to when approached from a freelance website. This is one way of small business getting at their large counterparts, as they are able to cut significant payroll costs.
 
Another advantage is the use of international virtual offices. Large multinationals must set up physical offices at the various locations where they have operations. On the other hand, small businesses have the luxury of being able to set up a virtual office and operate on an international level.
 
Of course, setting up a virtual office costs only a fraction of what it would cost in the case of a physical office. This is yet another cost-cutting measure that small businesses can exercise, knowing that their larger rivals are already out of the game in that respect.
 
Furthermore, it would be wise to note that while the large multinationals like Cisco Systems, Oracle, SAP AG and Microsoft make innovative technologies that help in unifying business operations, small businesses tend to embrace the technologies more than the large multinationals. For instance, small businesses encourage the use of BYOD and cloud based software more often as compared to the larger players, primarily due to the complexity of the large businesses, as well as the significance of damage if a security breach happened.
 
Small businesses have their own security issues as well, but due to their size, it is easy to identify threats and consequently mitigate them expeditiously before much damage. This gives them bigger freedom to take up higher risk with regard to such issues than their large multinationals.
 
Conclusion
 
The bottom line is that while the large multinationals tend to laugh all the way to the bank, small businesses will continue to play their game behind the scenes. They will slim up their expenditures by utilizing various products and services invented by the big guns, and in the near future, their platforms might be smoother than ever imagined.
 
Author: Nicholas Kitonyi is a financial analyst by profession currently working at QuantShare.Com, a trading software provider. He is a tech enthusiast with a specific interest in trading software, business applications and gadgets.
Published: November 21, 2014
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