You know, its pretty easy to complain about how crappy big companies can be (see, for example, my “recent post” on Apple).

On the other hand, there are some really good things about big companies too. Take for example, convenience. A few years ago I had my laptop along stolen while I was living in Paris. I was paniced. To replace my laptop, my insurance company needed a police report. The file a police report I had to provide a sales receipt. Of course, I had nothing left except my passport and some clothes so I wasn’t much in a position to provide this paperwork to my police.

Then I called Apple. They have 24-hour customer support, including the weekends, and even an international line. The helpful assistant on the other end was able to find my purchase and fax me a new receipt within 15 minutes. Suddenly my insolvable problem was solvable.

What if I had instead bought my computer from a local retailer in Kansas? I would have to wait until American business hours and even then I may or may not be able to get a new receipt from this local business.

Imagine how impressed I would have been if I had bought from a small local business and they had been able to provide the same kind of service I received from Apple.

Despite all the bad things big companies do, we continue to buy from them for all sorts of reasons. Things like convenience and lower prices come to mind.

On the Internet, where big and small companies compete side-by-side, we small businesses need to recognize the good things that big companies do provide and learn how to do the same thing. In short, we have to learn how to “act big.”