While Toronto is the economic capital of Canada, there are thousands of businesses across the country that are leveraging small city strengths to compete with national and global corporate giants. Here's how:
Focus on your niche. By taking a boutique approach, you can turn your competitor's size into a weakness. Flexible, responsive, class-leading technology and direct access to the most senior executives can position your business as the go to company in a specific field.
Global positioning. Take on that first out-of-town piece of business to gain experience on how to manage remote projects. Our firm developed a website for Japanese Guest Houses, an online hub for travellers to make reservations at 600-plus inns across Japan. The exposure we received from this project opened doors across North America.
Building relationships. Join your local chapters of international business associations and volunteer with non-profit organizations to make those important first level connections that can carry your message.
Cost efficiency and adaptibility. A smaller footprint makes it easier to take a 'lean' or continuous approach to improvement. Lower taxes, lease rates and quicker commutes are all economic advantages of being located in a smaller city.
Talent and corporate culture. With fewer local companies vying for top talent, your organization faces less competition and less large city costs to attract, maintain and develop the best team. Growing a corporate culture of joint success will result in lower turnover and higher efficiency.
Link personally with clients. Smaller communities mean you have a better chance of running into your clients at local events and community meetings. Attend events and make contacts across industries and professions.
Reach out to national organizations. Become a part of a Canadian, U.S. or global association with like-minded experts. Those organizations are your source for professional development for your staff as well as representing opportunities of acquiring peer to peer recognition.
Unique geography. Figure out how you can use your location to your advantage. For DMG, that meant leveraging the cross-border nature of Windsor-Detroit. The Detroit Metro Region is home to nearly five million people. By establishing a beachhead in Detroit the potential client pool increased tenfold with no large capital investment required.
Create partnerships. Partner with businesses in your area to find synergies and cost savings.
Use technology to expand your reach. A small business's perceived success used to be dictated by the size of their brick and mortar. Now, having a superior web presence is a cost effective way for any size firm to compete with the corporate giants.
Today, the location of a company is not the most important factor; it's the capability of delivering quality results at a great value that matters most.
Kay Douglas is the president at Douglas Marketing Group, a full service marketing agency serving clients across Canada, the U.S. and internationally. DMG specializes in brand strategy and design, partnership development, public relations and online solutions.
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