We’re a small business, or to apply just the right amount of industry spin a ‘bespoke consultancy’. Recently there has been a noticeable trend of some larger corporates edging in on areas of influence that perhaps they best avoid. Examples such as ‘get yourself a digital marketing strategy’ or ‘connect with your customers more’, to us at least, sit outside their collective wheelhouses. One large nationwide oil company seems to be a repeat offender. So what’s this all about? A land grab for customer sentiment? An engagement strategy devised by the corporate executive to make them more accessible as brands? We think it’s down to a misguided attempt to help, while coming across as generic fodder that clogs busy inboxes.
As a small business that works with a range of other small and larger operators, we get to mix and mingle with a lot of business owners. By that, I mean the people at the coal face who take on the burden and opportunity to build a business. These folk tend to be highly motivated, engaged and curious about what other business people are doing. So it’s a collegial place to operate in and around. Dare I say it, it makes work ‘fun’ to work alongside other business owners to try and do a better job of business.
Large corporates need us and of course we need them in many cases. But there are limits to how much ‘advice’ or ‘insight’ you can get from a multibillion dollar listed company with their take on your cashflow needs. Perhaps these guys should focus more on things like cheaper fuel for small business, or even more importantly considering their next phase of environmental, sustainable corporate governance (ESG) delivery. Corporates really fail the sniff test here. Lining up their ‘product or customer expert’ to talk authoritatively on what small businesses should be focusing on comes across as total pap. So give it a rest. You’re making us Zzzz.
