This is the second article in an eight-part series on how to help your small business compete with the big guys. Read part one.

Your bigger competitors may have sales forces, fulfillment capabilities and a huge catalog of products. But, your business likely has a secret weapon that a large firm cannot match. According to Steven Strauss, a columnist at USA Today, you can compete and beat a larger competitor by:

• Providing exceptional service. Make service a living and breathing part of your business. Going out of your way to treat people exceptionally well brings great rewards, and it’s not something that many big companies can easily sustain.
• Offering something unique. Find the exclusive products that your larger competitors may not have; appeal to your customers’ need to feel special; offer customizations which are more difficult for larger businesses to do.
• Creating multiple profit centers. Relying on one big customer is a recipe for disaster. Just as a stock trader would never own just one stock, you should never have just one big client. Cultivate as many different, varied customers as you can to protect yourself, your employees and your business.

Next: Become a master marketer