News.com.au:
Next time you nervously eye the dazzling window display of the competition or groan in disbelief when another business beats you to offer a deal you've been cooking up for months, don't panic. Instead, accept that competition is a fact of business and – when battling the might of corporate competition – joining forces with other small to medium businesses could help you win.
Small business is a powerful sector in Australia. The Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) estimates there are more than 1.8 million small businesses employing around 3.6 million people.
Yet that 'force-to-be-reckoned-with' sensation hardly exudes from the cluttered workshop of your local mechanic. Nor the humble shelves of the family-run corner store.
Nonetheless, the sector has a combined worth of $4.3 trillion, four times that of the Australian stock exchange.
But is it possible for individual small business owners to tap into any of that combined power?
General manager of COSBOA, Robert Mallett, believes it is. First, however, small businesses need to shake off their fear of each other and start talking.
"SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) often feel like they're the only ones with certain staffing or IT predicaments, says Mallett. "In reality, these issues are usually identical to others in the same field."
Naturally, Mallett suggests a good way to draw on the strength of numbers is to join an association such as COSBOA, which not only lobbies on behalf of small businesses but also offers networking events and mentoring.
Local Business Clubs or Business Enterprise Centres are also good places to start for those new to the game and struggling with certain areas such as bookkeeping or human resources.
Often small business owners get so competitive that they forget that they’re still only a small business. That doesn’t mean it can’t be powerful. That’s why it’s not bad to become friendly with someone who might have been thought of as competition before. In the end the bond created by different small businesses teaming up can bring on a power that can be almost as stong, if not more so, than big business.