The Results Are In, Small Business Can Compete!
It seems that most people agree that, as a country, we do not trust Congress or big business. Sad, but true.
Today, an annual Gallup Poll reports the confidence rating as defined by the question, “Do you trust (Congress, big business, small business and many other institutions and categories)?” The numbers are quite revealing.
Congress – 14%
Big business – 18%
Small business – 59%
Wow! These numbers are telling us what we generally believe the problem to be. Our leadership has violated the trust of the country so significantly they can barely muster one in six people who trust them, according to the poll. Although that’s a pretty sad statistic, the flipside is our saving. According to the poll, 59% trust small business and this is what counts.
In short, there is recognized morality, honesty, integrity, quality and commitment–resulting in a high trust factor–in the millions of people involved in small business. Small business is the fiber and backbone of our country, the heart and soul of the job force, the economy and who we are as a country.
I have spent my life talking to and working with small business owners all over the country and I have consistently reported that the people I talk to and work with are honest, hardworking and good solid citizens. I read the newspapers and listen to what people say and universally, the people I speak with believe our leadership appears to be driven by greed and that they exercise their power for the wrong reasons, for personal gain without care or consideration for anyone or anything other than their own pockets and those that pay them.
This recent poll verifies this opinion! The truth comes out. Our county is great because our people are great, not because our leaders are great. While we may not be able to fix this matter individually, quickly or at all, recognizing it and capitalizing on the strength that the marketplace trusts us should point the way to our successfully competing with big business. What a huge advantage we have! The public trusts us and distrusts them.
Promote your integrity, offer a real guarantee, remind customers of the high quality goods and service and great care and concern you bring to the marketplace. Address your marketplace with honesty and integrity and reap the benefits, as well you should. At last, small business has the advantage and if we recognize this and capitalize on it we can effectively compete and enjoy the results.
Who knows, maybe we can demonstrate to big business and to Congress that integrity is more powerful and valuable and serves us better than greed, that integrity begets loyalty, greed begets nothing positive. We may be able to “vote” them out with honest commerce. We have the edge. We must recognize that as small business owners, we have power and can use it to our individual and collective advantage, beating back the greedy corporate leaders and political leaders, but only if we focus our energies on continuing to take the high road and continuing to earn our customers’ respect and support, turning loyalty into well-earned profit and true power at a grass roots level.
What we do with that power is another story for another day. But let’s stop feeling sorry for ourselves when the big box stores or giant corporations attack our client base or our profitability making us feel that we cannot compete. Remember, we have the trust of the marketplace and that should be adequate to win the day. Recognize this huge opportunity and this equally huge responsibility. Small business rules.
