Whilst small businesses may not have the manpower or resources to provide everything offered by larger competitors; they continue to flourish. We may not have the resources to attract the same number of clients or even to offer the same product or service; and have to work far harder for our share of the action – yet this is perhaps the very reason that small businesses continue to thrive. Small businesses value their clients and work harder to attract and more importantly to keep them.

The events industry is no exception. Unlike larger competitors we do not have a huge advertising budget (I frequently see pop-ups from industry giants appear on Google) –so we have to be far more attentive to securing repeat business from existing clients. This approach is reflected in that 70% of our clients come from repeat business. Because small businesses have to work hard for their clients they’re far more likely to return.

Whilst small businesses may not enjoy the client numbers of larger rivals, we are able to give far greater attention to those that use our services or buy our products and more attention to the products themselves. As a micro provider of corporate events, we frequently choose to focus our services on a smaller number of hospitality facilities, still providing our clients with options but enabling us to pay far more attention to detail and also to mingle with all clients in attendance, providing a personal touch and receiving direct feedback from clients at the event. We are also far more diligent in taking client’s feedback on board – and acting upon this in the future.

A further distinction is the willingness of smaller businesses to go further to provide both new and existing clients the service they are looking for. Larger businesses with the promotional resources and reputation to attract greater volumes of enquiries are able to cherry-pick the most lucrative clients to do business with, whereas SMEs are more willing to go the extra mile to meet enquiries, even if this means providing a service to clients with a lower budget or meeting more particular specifications.

What’s more, business clients especially are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of services from smaller businesses. They know that they are far more likely to receive personalised service from a company which remembers them and is aware of their requirements rather than a larger operator where they are more likely to be a mere number on a long list of clients. They are also aware that they are most likely able to speak to the same person as last time. This is especially relevant in the service sector where product standardisation is far harder to achieve and makes trust and strong personal relationships all the more valuable.

Whilst battling the industry’s big boys for a slice of the market is never easy, micro businesses must remember that being small can have its advantages and play to these strengths. And if success enables expansion don’t lose sight of what got you there – or your clients will!