Business with Small Businesses
I’m a real romantic when it comes to small businesses. I like little shops with a handful of employees who recognize me. I’ll buy from big, fancy places too, but I prefer someplace with character.
So I’d like to do business with small businesses. Mainly, I’d like to make them easier to find, because I want to be able to find them more easily myself. I want them to do well, because I want to see more of them.
But it turns out that doing business with small businesses is a lot harder than it seems. Here are some of the problems my company has run into.
1. They’re happy the way things are.
Many small businesses just aren’t interested in getting more customers. This has been the biggest — and for me, the most surprising — obstacle we’ve faced. They don’t really want to make any more money than they’re already making.
I’m guessing they started with very little, worked hard, and now do well enough to provide for themselves and their families. And that’s good enough for them. In fact, they might even see a bigger business as more hassle.
I’m not saying this is good or bad. To each his own. I’m only saying that one reason it may be hard to find many small businesses is that they don’t particularly want to be found.
2. They’re harder to convince.
Even the ones who are interested in getting bigger often take a long time to persuade. The larger companies we’ve spoken to are concerned about whether we can do what we say we can do. But they tend to see immediately how what we’ve proposed might benefit their business. They may haggle over the numbers, but if they’re interested, you know it pretty soon.
Smaller businesses seem different. We’ve often had to chase them, working hard just to get them to see the value of what we’re proposing. They’ve taken some coaxing.
3. There’s no budget.
Part of the coaxing has been getting them to spend any money at all. The minute they hear there’s a cost involved, they get antsy. Larger businesses plan to spend money on different parts of their operation— especially marketing — and dedicate budgets for them. Many small businesses seem to play their finances by ear.
4. They’re harder to work with.
Then, once you have them on board, it isn’t all smooth sailing. Their internal processes are much more likely to be deficient or plain non-existent. Their attitude is more likely to lackadaisical. Operationally, they’re harder to integrate with.
That makes your business harder to run.
5. The returns often don’t justify the effort.
And for what? You wind up putting more time and energy into smaller businesses — meeting with them, convincing them, and working with them. And in the end, you may not make that much money with them because, well, they’re small. Each only contributes a little to your bottom line.
So, it often doesn’t make economic sense to pursue mom-and-pop type operations. This is especially true in the beginning, when you have to be very careful about your time and money. And especially in Barbados, where it’s harder to rely on volume to make up for thin margins. It just makes more sense to go after bigger fish.
That makes me a little sad. But if you’ve ever wondered why you can’t find some great little place selling unique things you might love, now you know.
