With so many small business owners losing the fight for business survival because they try to compete with their larger competitors on price, it’s time to consider offering some sort of unique benefit or extra value that the big guys just don’t do instead.

But because competing on price is so difficult, here’s an alternative you might want to consider.

It doesn’t matter what you you sell, take a look around your local area and find a range of other business people who offer complementary (but not directly competitive) products or services to yours, then work with them to refer customers to each other. Find out the greatest fears, challenges and problems their customers have, and then help them to put together a range of Free Reports that highlight these problems, along with the solutions your partners could provide to help over these hurdles.

For example, a motor mechanic could help to come up with Reports on -

1) What to do if your vehicle suffers a flat tire – a step by step guide for safely removing and replacing a flat tire quickly and easily, along with ideas for reducing tire wear and extending tire life. This Report could include a discount voucher for 12% off his customers’ next set of tires. This could be valued at between $80 – $150, depending on the make and model of the customer’s vehicle.

2) How to care for your car’s interior and exterior so it holds it’s value for as long as possible, and doesn’t require major body or interior trim repairs due to lack of maintenance. This Report could include a voucher for a discounted exterior cut and polish from the local spray paint and panel repair shop, along with an interior vacuum and upholstery shampoo, which could increase the cars value by hundreds of dollars at trade in time. This could be valued at $100 or more.

3) How about a Report on how to drive more defensively to reduce the risk of you or your family being involved and hurt in an motor vehicle accident. This report could include a 20% discount voucher from for lessons from your local defensive driving school, or a free driving lesson for one of the customer’s family members from the local driving school instructor.

These are just three ideas for low cost Reports that have high intrinsic value, but I hope they get you thinking.

Once your Reports are ready, you just collect and upload them to your website where they provide great content that not only gives your customers extra value, but also attracts other local visitors free from the search engines looking for advice on car service related topics.

You could also give a printed and bound copy of these Reports to your customers, and encourage them to go to your website and sign up for your Free Newsletter. Mention other special deals available from your partners and other local merchants that are only available to Newsletter subscribers, and you’ll find a large percentage of your customers may decide to subscribe to get these extras.

Then each week or month, you follow up with your readers offering them tips and advice, and reminding them that you are there to serve their needs whenever they are ready. How many of your local competitors are doing that? Not too many I’ll bet.

I think this article should give you enough ideas to get you thinking of ways you can provide greater value to your local customers, and generating more sales and profits for your business, without it costing you too much money. This simple strategy will help you to stand out in your local area as somebody who goes the extra mile and will reduce the need for you to compete on price. You will be able to get new customers and keep your current customers coming back more often, and after all, that is what every business owners wants to achieve.