I wanted to buy
a potted miniature rose
for my Mom.
I called up the small town florist
a block from her.
I ask for them to deliver the potted rose.
Sorry, we don’t sell those,
they respond.
A normal customer would hang up at that point.
I, knowing that they share mall space
with a grocery store that DOES sell the roses,
ask if they can simply buy one
as a favor for me, a regular customer,
resell it to me for a mark up,
and
deliver it.
Silence.
No, we can’t do that.
I then call the big chain that DOES do it.
And you know what?
Their prices on the other flowers,
the flowers I normally buy,
are much less expensive.
The main advantage of small business is
flexibility.
Lose that and
you lose customers.
An ideal small business marketing strategy will be a long-term plan that involves creating marketing tools, putting them into the appropriate places, and leaving them in place long enough to let them work.