5 Surprising Ways Small Businesses Beat Big Brands – Secrets Revealed by Yelp!

Key business takeaways

• Your passion as a small business owner is a big reason your customers will keep coming back. Show them why you love what you do—enough to have made a career out of it.
• Being small means you can be nimble, take risks, and implement change in ways that gigantic corporations can’t easily or quickly execute. 
• Act in ways that reflect the values you want your business to portray, whether it’s by being an active member of your community or placing emphasis on social responsibility and inclusivity in your workplace.

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Picture this: A woman walks down the street, looking for a place to satisfy her breakfast craving. She peers into the window of a quaint and warmly lit bakery advertising freshly baked bread made with only natural ingredients. The staff is smiling and conversing with each customer as they share their order. She looks down the street at the big box grocery store that stands just down the street of the bakery. It doesn’t look as welcoming, but it’s sure to offer better prices. Which should she choose? 

For many small business owners, survival means going up against more than just other small businesses. In a post-pandemic era where many businesses are scrambling to expand after experiencing a standstill during the COVID and customers can purchase from companies around the world, small businesses may find themselves facing steep competition from big brands with even larger budgets. 

The prospect of competing with massive corporations with instant name recognition, a huge marketing budget, and large volume of manpower can be extremely daunting. However, there are many advantages small businesses can use to gain the upper hand. For example, business owners can implement change more easily, form deeper relationships with customers, and place emphasis on social responsibility in ways that big brands can’t.

Moreover, consumers are showing an increased awareness of the importance of shopping small. Your customers want to support you. A Quickbooks survey found that 93% of shoppers believe supporting small businesses is more important than ever because of economic challenges resulting from the pandemic—all the more reason to turn first-time customers who believe in shopping small into regulars by playing into the strengths you have as a small business owner. 

So how do you win against a household name? Here are five small business strengths with tips from fellow small business owners that you can implement in your day-to-day operations. 

1. A deep relationship with your customers  

One advantage that small businesses have over bigger competitors is their level of care—the ability to form deeper relationships with their customers through authentic interactions, as described by April Armstrong, CEO of AHA Insight, a company that offers coaching services for business executives. Very rarely is the owner of a big corporation the one actually interacting with all their customers—meanwhile, a small business owner can offer a level of care and personalized service that comes from something very simple: passion for what they do. 

At Botanical Cafe—a quaint Chicago coffee shop that doubles as a plant store—excellent customer service gives the staff an edge against coffee chain competitors like Starbucks. Co-owner Delaney Ballard makes sure that her passion for her job comes through in every customer interaction. “We wanted to [run a coffee shop] because we thought it’d be really cool to be able to pay our bills and work somewhere we enjoyed where we can form relationships with people and have a sense of community. That’s not something you really get from most places that are bigger,” she said. 

Kosta Douvikas, owner of D&D Finer Foods, said that personalized customer service is a big differentiator for his family-run grocery store. Kosta not only makes pleasant conversation, but also provides everything a customer needs for the few minutes they’re in the store. “When someone asks me something, I take them to where it is,” he said. “I don’t just point and say ‘Somewhere in aisle two.’ You make the experience fun and ask them: ‘Were you looking for anything else? Can I help you with your shopping?’” 

As a small business owner, excellent customer service can make or break a small business. A survey by Zendesk found that 71% of respondents expect better service and care from a small business, and only 4% of respondents are willing to forgive a smaller store for poor customer service. It’s worth your time and effort to make sure your employees are providing an experience that customers will remember and enjoy—in fact, the same 71% of respondents from above said that with better service and care, they’re willing to reward small businesses accordingly. 

For example, Yelp reviewer Jenny X. said better customer service is a reason she chooses to shop small. “I think local businesses are great because the owners are just so much more invested in meeting the customers and making sure that they’re happy. You don’t get that feeling that they’re there because they think it’s a job,” she said. 

What small business owners can do: As Delaney shared, it’s important to provide an interaction that goes beyond just taking a customer’s order. “We always try to get to know people. With regulars, we know their names and orders, and we want to make sure that they know we appreciate them,” she said. 

Similarly, Kosta’s strategy is to make the customer want to tell their friends about his store—and one way to do that is to provide customer experience that goes above and beyond what bigger competitors can offer.

2. Unique, high-quality products or services

When it comes to quantity, small businesses can never keep up with big retail brands—but small business owners can use this drawback to their benefit. Instead of stretching yourself too thin and trying to offer a wide variety of products, you can focus on a few and make them really, really good. 

Aaron Seriff-Cullick, owner of Paper Route Bakery, said his first mistake as a small business owner was to try and accommodate every customer’s needs by making whatever dessert they requested. The result was an exhausted owner and production obstacles that prevented the business from growing. 

Ultimately, Aaron had to pivot. Instead of making 20 different products like he was initially doing when Paper Route Bakery first opened in 2018, he made the crucial decision to narrow his scope and concentrate on making only cakes. “The thing that I have control over is our production,” he said. “It’s about focusing on a single product or style of cooking and then streamlining that production process for efficiency so that you can grow with it.”

This pivotal change in his business allowed him to concentrate on experimenting with different recipes to find the best tasting cakes. According to Aaron, the quality of his baked goods come from a genuine passion for the art of baking—another strength that big brands can’t replicate. 

What small businesses can do: Make sure the quality of your products and services makes the customer want to return to your business—whether that’s through all-natural ingredients, unique design, or packaging that shows off your passion. Then, tell your customers all about it—make sure they understand the reason why you love what you do enough to start a career out of it.

As Aaron said: “I’m still very much in love with the magic of baking. For me, that’s taking natural ingredients and combining them in a way that you’re able to create tremendous flavors and symphonies of texture. Our cakes are special because we pour so much labor into each element. As a small business owner, my number one priority has been creating a product that is so worthwhile that it will bring people back no matter what.” 

3. Being the face of your business 

As the face of your small business, you have the power to control how your brand is portrayed and perceived. One way of doing this is by being an active part of your community. This helps you make valuable connections and gain exposure for your business. 

According to Aaron, owner of Paper Route Bakery, small businesses have a unique ability to foster a genuine community: “Big brands try really hard to foster community, and I think it almost always comes across as cheesy because that effort is coming from a team of business people—it’s not coming from a single individual human being. Small businesses can create a sense of community with a lot of authenticity to it.”

What small business owners can do: There are many ways you can connect with your community, whether it’s sponsoring a local children’s sports league or donating a portion of your proceeds to charity. For Botanical Cafe’s Delaney, it’s as simple as going out to a small restaurant for dinner, shopping at a local grocery store instead of a big chain, or donating to schools by the Chicago River. These small actions she takes as a consumer might not directly impact her business, but it’s never just a give-and-take relationship. 

“It’s important for a business to have ties to the community especially because we wouldn’t be here without their support… In general, the more you give into the community, the more they give back. But we never do anything with the mindset of hoping it benefits us. We do it to do it,” she said.

4. A focus on social responsibility that your customers trust

Consumers today are more conscious about where their products are coming from and what the businesses they shop at stand for. According to Forbes, close to 90% of Gen X consumers said they would spend more for sustainable products in 2022—this number was less than 35% three years ago. For big businesses, it often takes significant effort to act on social responsibilities, whether it’s adding a sustainable element to their production cycle or rerouting dollars to a charitable foundation. The beauty of a small business is that similar shifts can be made with more ease—and the communication of those efforts can be made swiftly and authentically.  

“With a large business, it’s like moving a dinosaur when you have to install policy. With small businesses, it’s really grassroots,” said Viviana Langhoff, owner of jewelry store Adornment and Theory. She added, “People can smell when something is not sincere, when something is just ‘Okay, we’re just going to slap on this diversity education course’ as opposed to it being a really deep seeded value.”

What a small business owner can do: Being vocal about the social causes you support and being transparent about your business’s impact—such as labeling products that are ethically sourced—can help you attract like-minded customers. Viviana does this by making an effort to uplift BIPOC designers when deciding what to sell at her store.

Especially working in an industry with historic abuses, Viviana said it’s important to not only be clear about where she sources her gemstones, but to participate in discussions about sustainability in the jewelry industry. “The issues in our industry really come from mining practices, which a lot of that has been cleaned up, but we still have a long way to go,” she said. “There are a lot of initiatives now… to purchase mainly from small scale miners, which I do. [I purchase from] local people who own their own mines in Zambia and Colombia, who try to take care of the earth, and I’m very much within a lot of those discussions so I can make an impact.”

Plus, there are plenty of other ways to make your business more inclusive or eco-friendly, whether that be updating your non-discrimination policies or participating in community efforts to reduce food waste.

5. More room to grow means more risks to take

The size of your business is actually one of your biggest strengths. Small businesses usually have a smaller reach due to less resources and manpower compared to big brands, but this can be a good thing—your small mistakes may have less of an impact, so trying out new things can be less risky. 

Social media is the perfect place to start with this. Try experimenting with different voices and vocabulary to find the one that best conveys your brand personality. Use your website and social platforms to show your customers exactly what they’re getting from your business: a stellar product or service powered by personal passion.

What small business owners can do: Digital marketing is one of Adornment and Theory’s main revenue streams, but owner Viviana understands that building a strong online presence for any business is never easy. Her advice? Don’t be afraid to test new things out. 

“I think people sometimes are afraid to fail,” she said. “But that’s the thing—when you’re so small, you can make a mistake. Put it out there, A/B test it, and then delete it if it doesn’t work. If you don’t have a natural eye for branding, you can invest a little bit of money to have someone give you a strong start. If you get someone who’s already technologically literate and brand savvy to set you up, you can then move it forward in-house.”