The advantage that small businesses have over the big boys is that they can make quick decisions in response to changes in the market place. Large corporations have to have a meeting about a meeting before they can have the real meeting to agree a change in direction!
Create Partnerships
Why not create partnerships with other businesses that are in a complementary business but do not compete with your own? Say you are a web designer. You can partner up with someone who provides SEO work. You benefit because you can get your customers websites higher on the search engines and in return they can provide you with leads of people they help that have shoddy websites.
Why Not Merge With Your Main Competitor?
By combining your businesses your buying power increases and you will be able to make both businesses leaner and fitter. If your competitor is smaller than you, why not take him over and remove him from the equation? This will allow you to increase your prices and therefore make higher profits.
If you want to increase your offering why not merge with or acquire a business that can enhance and increase the variety of your offering.
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