BIG FISH, SMALL POND

Business Dreams and Visions include making a worldwide impact. As a result many small business owners are in a hurry to play in the big game. I am going to share a story which may get you to think differently.

“Sam Walton’s brilliantly profitable strategy for Wal-Mart was to go where no sane competitor like Woolworth or Kmart would dream of: to towns that seemed too small to support a large discount store. In 1962, Sam opened his first store in tiny Rogers, Arkansas. Two years later, he christened his second store in Harrison, Arkansas, population 6,000. He opened six more stores before he finally opened a store outside Arkansas, in little Sikeston, Missouri.

Walton claimed these towns and their surroundings for himself, and his domination in these areas produced the profits that fed Wal-Mart’s growth into more and bigger communities. Just thirty years after opening that first store in Rogers, Sam Walton died. He was America’s richest man, and his company was America’s largest retailer.”

Many other firms build upon Walton’s idea of “going to where they ain’t”. I am not advocating moving your business to a small town. I am, however, advocating that you select a small target market and become the biggest service or product provider in that market.

There are many small fish to be gathered and together they add up to much more than one big fish.

Your goal should be to find that special, neglected niche. There are many who need your product and service but for a variety of reasons no one has made them available. You will find this special segment more appreciative and more loyal. By helping them satisfy their needs they will help you achieve your dreams.

Take some time and re-evaluate your target market. Are you missing an opportunity by not offering much needed benefits to those who perhaps cannot pay as much or are harder to reach?

Become the biggest  fish in your small pond then grow the pond while maintaining your position of strength.