What can start-ups learn from big businesses

The main similarity between start-ups and big businesses is that big businesses were once start-ups. As simple as a concept like this seems, many start-ups see only the seemingly impossible task of entering the market dominated by big players. What start-ups forget is that looking at a successful company and analysing their business strategies is essentially a blueprint on how to succeed in that particular market. Start-ups cannot only replicate these strategies, but can also improve on them and ultimately offer a better product to the market.

Although big businesses have millions or billions, hire hundreds to thousands of people, can fund the most challenging R&D projects, and have tremendous market influence, this is not all that matters in the fast paced world of the internet and global marketplace. What start-ups lack in resources they make up for in flexibility and reactiveness to market changes. Unlike big businesses who have large sums of resources invested into assets, projects and employees a small start-up with an innovative idea can disrupt a market.

An example of this can be found in the battle between the online casino vs land-based casino. Online casino operators come with far less expense than land-based casinos, therefore are predicted to produce a larger return. Land-based casinos have been established in pop culture through movies displaying the glitzy Las Vegas strip where your life can change overnight. It may seem impossible for a small start-up to compete with a business like this. However online casino companies, such as Unibet have shown how it is possible to not only replicate but also improve on the casino experience by offering many of the well loved games but with the convenience of doing it from your own home. Amazon, which was in its early days a start-up that sold only books, has gone on the dominate the retail industry with large retail chains being forced to shut their doors.

Small businesses when starting out must be sure to set the foundations for success. The processes which they implement at the beginning will be extremely important when the business grows. Big businesses consist of many moving components which make up the successful organisation. Start-ups must ensure that they have processes in place which can handle the stress which they may undergo when competing against a larger company. Importantly for start-ups is that although they can learn a lot from their larger rivals, being too competitor focused can distract them from the true goal of business, which is customer satisfaction.