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Why can't big business meet all consumers' needs?

They'd certainly like to be able to claim that they do. But these mega corporations simply do not have the ability to meet all our diverse needs on their own - especially when their chief focus is on profitability or market share. There are simply some things that big business does well and some things that it does less well.

Big corporations can do the following well:

• Producing large quantities of standardised goods and services
• Controlling costs and prices by exercising big economies of scale
• Supplying what the market wants at a basic level

In the pubs owned by the large companies, you know what you'll be getting pretty much every time - but where's the originality? Copyright: Frank van den Berg, from stock.xchng.

Small businesses can do better than big firms at the following:

• Producing greater variety and specialising in what they do well
• Being flexible and adaptable
• Identifying and serving local demand
• Filling niches that big business overlooks

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