Can small business learn anything from big business? You bet.

Let's face it — big businesses have resources we do not. Whereas the typical small business is run by a passionate entrepreneur with a noble vision, your classic big business is typically run by executives who simply know how to run a business efficiently. Sometimes, boring old experience trumps passionate naiveté.

Of course, big businesses also have financial assets we can only dream about, but the differences are far deeper and more profound than that.

One key difference is that large corporations have scores of experts. Whereas a small businessperson may wear a variety of hats on any given day — president, head of marketing, HR director — big businesses have access to in-house specialists such as lawyers or ad execs.

Moreover, because they do have so many employees with different areas of expertise, large businesses can identify and implement initiatives in a far more methodical manner than can small entrepreneurial ventures, which tend to do things in a more haphazard, seat-of-their-pants manner.

All of this means that small business should not be shy about identifying and borrowing great ideas stemming from their big business brethren. Those businesses paid plenty for those great ideas.

Which brings us to the decision of Ford Motor Company to replace CEO and namesake William Clay Ford Jr. with not only a Ford outsider, but an automobile industry outsider to boot.

Ford Motor Co., as you no doubt have heard, has been bleeding money for several years. Yet even so, the decision to bring in an outsider with a different perspective and some fresh ideas caught many off guard. Ford, after all, is usually run by a Ford.

Score one more good idea that small businesses can borrow from big business.

Of course, I am not telling you to replace yourself with some unknown outsider from a different industry. But there is definite value in hiring people you may not usually hire or simply getting the perspective of an outsider. Doing so can shake up your business in a healthy way. It allows you to get a viewpoint other than the one you are used to and may generate ideas and opportunities you had never before considered.

I recently hired a consultant to help me with my marketing and branding efforts. She is so terrific, so full of great ideas and creative suggestions, that I cannot believe I did not do this sooner.

If a company like Ford, with its battery of well-paid experts, understands the value of bringing in an outsider, who are we to argue?

So the next time you are hiring for a position of some importance, consider worrying less about finding someone with experience in your particular industry and concentrate instead on finding someone with transferable skills from a different industry. You can also obtain a fresh perspective by putting unexpected people on your board of directors or board of advisors. True, these people may offer some new ideas that are inapplicable, but I bet you get some real gems, too.
Business Intelligence

By Steve Strauss
AllBusiness.com