Each to his own

There is little doubt that a well organised independent can run rings around corporate competition and is better placed to provide a good product selection, excellent service and good overall value, attributes which Jerry Lewis sees as the prerogative of the corporates. He may be right about an explosion of Internet business, but I have my doubts. He is certainly right in saying that the independent cannot match the advertising budget of the corporate sector. But they should not even attempt to. Independents should promote what is best about themselves and leave the groups to fight each other in the high street. The future for independents must lie in membership of well organised marketing and support groups such as Sight Care. To suggest that the greatest opportunity lies in franchising or joint ventures is to ignore the public demand for independent service. The truth is that both corporates and independents are here to stay. In both sectors the strong will survive and the weak fail.