The other day I was having dinner with a friend and our partners, and we were discussing work. My friend piped up about an IT project that is going wrong and how many millions his company had invested in the project…
I promptly told him that the solution was all wrong and that next time he should give me a call and I could give him some pointers.
We both knew what I was doing, trying to get him to get some advice from Cloud Heroes, an established SME, next time with a hope that they may spend their next millions with us!
My friend, being very diplomatic, said that unfortunately, while he appreciated any advice I could give him (and knew it would be good advice), his company wouldn’t be able to work with us as we were considered too small. He also pointed out that his business function actually turned over more than our entire business.
This made me question whether there really is as much opportunity for SMEs to work with larger corporates as we think? Is the ecosystem of higher tier companies just not meant to include the smaller businesses among us?
I told my friend that was a shame and that we had a lot to offer, and he said:
“I know that Andy, that’s what SME means – Subject Matter Experts!”
While this was not my understanding of the three letter acronym, it certainly rings true, doesn’t it? Small and medium sized businesses often provide specific product and services and actually this makes them experts in their fields.
So next time you pitch to a larger firm for a piece of work that is within your company’s specialist field, tell them that you are indeed an SME, a Subject Matter Expert!
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for Hosting or Cloud Technology experts, please feel free to give our SME a call on 01225 776 555 or contact us
