Why Big Is Not Beautiful: Your Small Business Advantage

A Tale of Two Experiences

Let me share a revealing story from one of my clients who recently said goodbye to his second Tesla.

He’d been a Tesla fan since 2016, impressed by both the cars and the company’s innovative approach.

When he purchased his Model 3 in 2021, he bought it through the ‘Electric Car Lady’ (a legend in the Entrepreneurs Circle family).

His experience perfectly illustrates something I often discuss with my coaching clients – the remarkable advantage smaller businesses have over large corporations.

When Systems Fail Customers

The story that landed on my desk during a recent coaching session involved my client returning his leased Tesla – what should have been a routine process turned into an eight-hour nightmare spanning multiple departments, endless phone calls, and a simple tyre replacement that took over a week to resolve.

Here’s what happened: A routine pre-return MOT identified a bulging tyre. Simple enough to fix, right? What followed was a masterclass in how large companies fail their customers:

• Multiple departments, none communicating effectively
• Endless security checks and repeated explanations
• Promises of callbacks that never materialised
• A week’s wait for a tyre he could source himself in a day
• Two separate mobile tyre fitters showing up unnecessarily

The Inside-Out Problem

This situation perfectly illustrates what I’ve observed through years of business coaching: Large companies typically build their systems from the inside out.

They focus on internal processes, departments, and cost centres, often forgetting about the customer’s perspective entirely.

My client spent over eight hours navigating through a maze of departments, each operating in isolation, none taking ownership of his problem.

As he told me during our coaching session, “No one seemed to care about solving my problem – they only cared about following their process.”

Why Small Businesses Win

This is where you, as a small business owner, have a massive advantage. You can:

1. Own the entire customer journey
2. Create seamless experiences
3. Make quick decisions
4. Adapt systems rapidly
5. Maintain personal relationships

Consider the Electric Car Lady’s approach – she’s positioned herself as the continuity piece in a complex supply chain.

She doesn’t just sell cars; she provides the seamless experience that larger companies can’t manage.

In fact, my client admitted he regretted not using her services for the lease return, having used it as an “experiment” to see how the bigger companies handled things.

A Powerful Truth About Systems

Here’s something Nigel Botterill taught me that I share with all my clients: “A great system with average people can yield a great result, but great people with an average system will always produce poor results and high staff/customer turnover.”

Your business operates at the level of your systems, not your people. But here’s the key difference – as a small business, you can design those systems around your customer’s journey, not your internal structure.

Exploiting the Big Company Gap

In our coaching sessions, I often help businesses identify where they can outmanoeuvre larger competitors. Look for:

• Communication gaps you can bridge
• Process complications you can simplify
• Decision points you can streamline
• Touch points you can personalise

Making It Work in Your Business

This isn’t just theory – I’ve seen countless small businesses thrive by focusing on what big companies can’t do well.

Another client recently transformed their business by simply mapping their customer journey and fixing the friction points that their larger competitors ignore.

Your Action Plan

1. Map your complete customer journey
2. Identify points where larger competitors typically fail
3. Design systems that solve these pain points
4. Train your team to own the entire customer experience
5. Regularly review and refine your approach

Ready to Build Your Advantage?

If you’d like help identifying where your business can outmanoeuvre larger competitors, let’s talk about it. Book a virtual coffee with me, and we’ll explore how to create systems that put your customers first and give you a real competitive edge.

Best wishes,
Jamie

P.S. My client ended his story by mentioning he’s now ordered a BYD – through the Electric Car Lady this time. Sometimes you have to experience poor service to truly appreciate excellent service. Let’s make sure your customers never need to learn that lesson.