How small can beat big

The competition. It’s something always on the lips and minds of private healthcare surgeons. Pricing, service offerings, Google adverts, and customer perks are all watched with scrutiny, yet most healthcare businesses get the whole concept of competition wrong.

Many surgeons leading practices worry about competing with larger players. Most medical practices, however, are micro or small businesses. A competitor to that business is simply any other product option that your prospective customer might purchase instead of your service to fill the same emotional need. If a potential patient is interested in the types of things that you are offering (the same values, service level, and quality level), your potential patients will often be drawn to other businesses who have a similar feel to yours.

After more than 15 years of private healthcare marketing, our research suggests that if you choose a niche in which to compete, many consumers won’t compare you to larger players. Instead, they’ll compare you to those in your niche.

A lot of the metaphors and ideas in marketing, like the concept of a niche, stem from watching the animal kingdom. Animals don’t attempt to compete in areas where they can’t win. Chimpanzees that try to act like gorillas won’t survive. Chimps need to eat things that grow from high trees because they can climb them: leaves and insects. Gorillas need to eat things that grow on the ground because they don’t climb well: stems, bamboo shoots, and low hanging fruit. Both win by playing to their strengths.

Small can be just as powerful as big. Small practices have many hidden advantages that larger players just don’t have. If you play to your natural business strengths, you’ll run a much more successful (and enjoyable) business.