Can An Entrepreneur Take On A Large Corporation?

I'm always getting emails from entrepreneurs who are just starting out their first company and they always tell me their ideas, but many of them tag a question at the end similar to this- "...So that is my idea, but I think I might have a tough time competing with _______..." I always get so irritated when entrepreneurs think less of themselves just because they are starting or because they aren't a "big giant" and might not have as much capital to "toss out" with experimenting like a big company does. I usually respond like this: "If you don't think you have a great product, then who will use it? I don't think a big giant corporation will be a threat to your success in that case."

The response might be a little bit bitter, but it's true. Anytime an entrepreneur thinks they can't compete with a bigger competitor, it usually means that they truly don't believe in their product. Just to make a quick example here- Tesla Motors is definitely throwing a curve ball out there with their cars, obviously they aren't as big as GM, Ford, or any other giant automaker, but I know they are smarter. So what do big companies have: A lot of capital (or lack thereof, in the example), a big workforce, and no knowledge or desire.

A lot of large companies I work with have two major problems:

• A bunch of newly hired, "show-off" to my boss-type, egoistic and not desirable employees
• And second, a lot of bureaucracy.

The situation almost always plays out like this: When a major corporation wants to do something, they have to push around a bunch of paperwork, get a ton of people to sign on it, sit on the idea for a bit, then "test" the market in some random place where they can bury the whole concept if it fails, without letting word get out. And the people behind these ideas are usually playing it safe because they probably just got hired and don't want to construct a disaster, but at the same time want to show off and get ahead in the corporate food chain.

So what does this all have to do with you, as the entrepreneur and dynamic business you are trying to kick-start?

Chances are you have very few people working with you. And if you want to launch an idea, it won't take nearly as long enough as it would take a large company to do so. On the other hand, you might ask- what about burning through capital, for "test" and trial periods? To that, I ask, don't all entrepreneurs just launch their projects and wait for public feedback from their whole consumer base, instead of just some 1/2 baked launch in some test market? The correct answer: Yes.

Entrepreneurs shouldn't fear big companies because they aren't worried about screwing up publicly. If a new venture is launched and the public feedback shows something needs to be altered, it usually can be done, quickly. Instead of running away from the idea, an entrepreneur will face it and walk through to the end with the venture. A big company will bury it and never speak of it again.

Having a lot of control over what a business does, is just a small benefit of launching a project as an entrepreneur and comparing it to a large company launching the same project. A lot of entrepreneurs can take on large companies because after all, it is your hard work that is put into the business. When a company does something, how much of the staff actually cares about the success of the project, unless their bonus or paycheck is on the line?

(I'm not discarding all large corporations, but I've personally had experience with large companies who want to play it safe and in the box, instead of being innovative, adapting change and exploring new horizons. But even still- an entrepreneur has less bureaucracy to dodge through.)