{"id":702,"date":"2017-07-18T13:03:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T18:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fundusphoto.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2017-07-18T13:03:03","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T18:03:03","slug":"the-owner-operated-small-business-vs-big-corporate-david-or-goliath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"THE OWNER OPERATED SMALL BUSINESS VS BIG CORPORATE: David or Goliath?"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE OWNER OPERATED SMALL BUSINESS VS BIG CORPORATE: David or Goliath?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the differences between a small, privately held business and a big corporately-governed business? With whom would you prefer to do business?<\/p>\n

There are exceptions to these generalities, but think of your own experiences when doing business with an independent owner or a corporate representative. See if you agree with this comparison of Small and Big.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[1] Company Objective:<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customer Satisfaction<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Return to Shareholders<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[2] Key Performance Indicator<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customer Satisfaction<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Profit or Revenue<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[3] The Owner or CEO interacts with<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customers<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Employees (assuming the owner or founder is still active)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[4] Policies & Procedures<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Written towards customer satisfaction and can be modified, if and when necessary<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Written to protect profit & revenue and that must be adhered to<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[5] Employees are focused on<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customers<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customers, but also on their boss, the operations manual, their comp plan and profit & revenue<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[6] Guarantees and Warranties<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can and must be honored (the owner usually lives in the neighborhood)<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beware the fine print<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[7] Special Requests<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most likely, yes<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most likely no or the local representative will ask their boss who will ask their boss and . . .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[8] Payment Terms<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flexible<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Per the policy which is focused on profits and revenue<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[9] Returns and Allowance<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flexible<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Per the policy which is focused on profits and revenue<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[10] Community Support<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes yes and the support is usually less than huge<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes yes, and the support can be huge<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[11] Listening to Customers<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, most likely the owner wants to know<\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The local representative will tell their boss who will tell their boss and . . .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[12] Expertise<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Typically, small business owners are experts in their field and have the freedom to share<\/p>\n

Big Corporate representatives can be experts, but are constricted by policies and procedures and the pursuit of profit & revenue<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[13] Happiness<\/p>\n

Small\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A recent\u00a0Yodle business sentiment survey<\/a>\u00a0found that\u00a091% of small business owners would <\/strong><\/p>\n

define themselves as \u201cextremely happy\u201d or \u201chappy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Big\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A recent\u00a0survey completed by Gallup<\/a> and reported by CBS News<\/u>\u00a0found that 70% of the total workforce is <\/strong>unhappy<\/strong> with their jobs<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The essential difference between small and big is the influence of the founder. Most every business begins as a small business and most begin because of one person\u2019s passion and drive to make a difference (the pursuit of the dollar comes later).<\/p>\n

As small businesses grow, the founder moves further and further away from their customers. When small, and the founder is serving customers directly, the motivation is customer experience, word of mouth, referrals and positive reviews. When big, money becomes essential: [1] Lower prices for customers [2] acceptable return to shareholders, and [3] paying competitive salaries to executives to better serve the board (and the shareholders).<\/p>\n

There are exceptions to these generalizations, but for the most part, the smaller owner-operated business is more concerned with customers than the big corporate entities.<\/p>\n

In your industry, or in your community, do you know who the owner-operated businesses are? If you are seeking a better customer experience, perhaps you should.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dale Brodsky<\/a>, Founder & Owner of Fundus Photo \u2014 provides a broad range of ophthalmic imaging equipment and Fundus Photo\u2019s \u201cNewVision Ophthalmic Imaging Suite\u201d, software designed specifically for ophthalmic imaging and image management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE OWNER OPERATED SMALL BUSINESS VS BIG CORPORATE: David or Goliath? What are the differences between a small, privately held business and a big corporately-governed business? With whom would you prefer to do business? There are exceptions to these generalities, but think of your own experiences when doing business with an independent owner or a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.fundusphoto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}