Look around you. What is your company’s weight class?
In competitive sports, weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. This reduces the exclusion of smaller athletes in sports where physical size gives a significant advantage.
Much like competitive sports, your small business is operating in a specific weight class.
For example, do you find that larger competitors are taking notice? Or perhaps, you are operating at levels that supersede local competition? If so, it could be said that you are “punching above your weight” and in business — that can become an incredibly good thing.
How to Compete in a New Business Weight Class
Some small businesses tend to complain about their size. The argument usually starts with, “I don’t have enough resources!” or “We are just too small to make an impact!”
But successful leaders realize that being small yields benefits — including agility, flexibility, creativity, speed and more. Couple these attributes with the ability to punch above your weight and you have a winning combination — a crippling blow to competitors large and small.
In fact, to land that enterprise client or go after a large account you will have to punch above your weight — appear big when you are small. So, if you are ready to enter a new weight class in business here are five simple ways to get started:
1. Define the process.
Defining the daily processes of your business is important for many reasons. However, when it comes to competing at a higher level the first step is to define the process and then work your way out of it.
This simply means: get creative and pass along the process to someone else. If you are stuck in the details for a prolonged period it is hard to compete at higher levels because you are still managing “baby business” 1.0. However, once you define the process you can confidently pass it along to a team member, new hire or intern and focus on higher level business development.
2. Outsource like a pro.
Do what you do best and outsource the rest!
Why are you trying to reinvent the wheel? Instead consider this: If you focus on your strengths (core competencies) and partner with others who can skillfully improve upon your weaknesses — isn’t that a win-win?
If you are unsure what to delegate – start with daily operational tasks and group similar tasks together. For example, if a large portion of your day is spent on fulfilling orders, start researching “local fulfillment companies” that can take this role off your plate and free up your time to do more important things — such as growing your business.
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