About UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast
Small businesses have been underestimated for decades. That turns out to be their greatest advantage.
Underestimated is the small business podcast for entrepreneurs, owners, and marketers ready to win without pretending to be bigger. Hosted by ‘The Buyer Insider’ Shawna Suckow, the show explores practical small business marketing strategies, customer behavior, sales tactics, and growth ideas that actually work—leaning into what big brands can't: trust, transparency, speed, and human connection.
Through sharp insights and candid conversations with experts, Underestimated breaks down small business marketing, customer retention, leadership, and operations—without big budgets, bloated teams, or corporate nonsense.
Because small businesses don't need to act big to win. They just need to use what big companies can't.
How Can Small Businesses Attract More Gen Z Customers?
If you want more Gen Z customers, complaining about Gen Z probably isn't your strongest marketing strategy. I was recently on a podcast where the conversation turned into bashing this generation, and it got me thinking about how much business we can miss when we confuse unfamiliar behavior with a character flaw.
In this solo episode of Underestimated, I talk about how small businesses can attract Gen Z customers and build relationships that bring them back. We get into showing the real people behind your business, asking younger customers for input, letting happy customers tell your story, and making social media feel less like an endless sales pitch. You don't need to become a different person or chase every trend. You do need to give people a reason to pay attention and trust you.
I'm Gen X, I have two Gen Z kids, and I still learn plenty by listening instead of assuming I already know what younger customers want. A college reunion and a conversation with current students brought that home again. There's a lot we can learn from the people we're hoping will buy from us, if we actually invite them into the conversation.
I share practical ways to do that, including customer testimonials, behind-the-scenes videos, employee spotlights, and a customer advisory group that includes the people you want to reach. We also talk about giving a Gen Z employee or intern room to contribute ideas, while keeping clear expectations and approval of what represents your business.
What You Will Learn
• How to make younger customers feel represented in your marketing.
• How to ask for useful input from Gen Z customers and employees.
• What to show in behind-the-scenes videos without a production budget.
• How customer stories can help people picture doing business with you.
• Why your platform choices should follow your customers rather than your own habits.
Final Takeaway
Ask one younger customer what they wish businesses like yours understood. Then show one real person or process behind your business this week. Start with curiosity and something useful to share, and give people a reason to respond.
Help Me Grow?
Nothing helps a fledgling podcast more than subscribing, downloading episodes, and leaving reviews.
Transcript and Episode Resources: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-36 (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-36)
Non-Snoozeletter: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter)
Free marketing resources: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault)
Book a call: https://tidycal.com/suckow (https://tidycal.com/suckow)
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Why Understanding Gen Z Matters
01:13 Moving Past Generational Stereotypes
02:14 Gen Z and In Store Shopping
03:25 Authenticity and Customer Input
04:43 Earning Attention and Trust
08:13 Let More People Tell Your Business Story
10:50 Talking About Your Values and Fairness
12:06 A Speaking Introduction Request
14:32 Behind the Scenes and Real People
16:00 Humanizing Your Business and Reducing Pitches
16:51 Customer Stories and Shaping Your Messaging
19:04 Choosing Platforms for Your Customers
20:44 Giving a Gen Z Intern Room to Contribute
22:59 Episode Resources and Connecting With Shawna
#GenZMarketing #SmallBusinessMarketing #CustomerTrust #SmallBusiness #UnderestimatedPodcast
11 Oct 2026
How Do I Stop Doing Everything in My Business? | Guest: Jake Thompson
You started a business for more freedom. Somehow, you became the person who answers every email, fixes every problem, and can’t take a vacation without checking in. Congratulations on your promotion to Chief Everything Officer.
My guest Jake Thompson, founder of Compete Every Day, knows that trap. We talk about why being busy can feel like progress when it’s actually keeping you stuck, how doing everything yourself limits your business, and what it takes to hand off work without grabbing it right back. Jake shares a simple way to start documenting tasks before you hire help, plus the expensive lesson he learned trying to make his small business look bigger.
Jake built his 7-figure business, Compete Every Day, by selling T-shirts from the trunk of his car. Along the way, comparing his business with better-funded brands led him into debt, and doing too much himself kept him focused on work that someone else could handle. His lessons are useful for any small business owner who has a packed calendar but keeps wondering why the important stuff never gets done.
We get into the five types of drift Jake sees in leaders, especially “busy drift,” that sneaky feeling that answering emails all morning counts as moving your business forward. We also talk about why take-home matters more than impressive revenue numbers, how to move from doing everything to coaching the people who help you, and why a task done differently isn’t automatically a task done wrong.
One of my favorite suggestions is wonderfully manageable: the next time you do something you’d like to hand off, record yourself doing it. You’ve just started building instructions instead of waiting until you’re overwhelmed to explain everything from scratch. We also compare notes on the tasks we still struggle to let go of, including my graphic design and Jake’s travel booking.
Episode page with resources & transcript: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-35 (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-35)
CONNECT WITH JAKE
Compete Every Day: https://www.competeeveryday.com/ (https://www.competeeveryday.com/)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakethompsonspeaks/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakethompsonspeaks/)
CONNECT WITH SHAWNA
Website: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com)
Non-Snoozeletter: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter)
Free Small Business Marketing Resources: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault)
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnaSuckow (https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnaSuckow)
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Always Busy but Missing Your Priorities
01:50 Building Compete Every Day from a Car Trunk
04:33 Stop Playing on Someone Else’s Scoreboard
06:39 Debt, Take-Home, and the Cost of Doing Everything
09:43 Five Types of Drift That Keep Owners Stuck
14:02 Are You the Bottleneck in Your Business?
15:30 Learning to Coach Instead of Doing Everything
18:07 Letting Go of the Work You Still Love
19:00 Record Your Tasks and Give Clear Instructions
22:02 Why Your Help Can’t Read Your Mind
22:36 Selling Christmas Cookies in April
24:07 Meet Jake’s Four Rescue Frenchies
25:05 Closing Thoughts
5 Oct 2026
How Do I Make My Small Business Stand Out in a Crowded Market?
If your website says you have great customer service, quality work, years of experience, friendly people, or that you're family-owned, you may sound exactly like everybody else.
In this solo episode of Underestimated, I'm tackling one of the biggest marketing problems small businesses have: differentiation. I call the sea of generic claims the Blandscape™, and escaping it doesn't mean getting louder, weirder, or slapping a new logo on the same old message. It means giving your Exact Right Customer™ a meaningful reason to notice you, trust you, remember you, and choose you.
You'll learn how to look at your business through your customer's eyes, uncover what actually makes you different, and turn those differences into marketing that matters. I talk about why “anybody with money” is not your ideal customer, why your customers may explain your value better than you do, how to find the hill you're willing to die on, and how to use micro-stories to prove your claims instead of simply making them.
I also share a simple competitor test you can use today: write down the top five claims you make in your marketing. If your competitors can honestly say the same thing, cross it out and find a more specific, meaningful way to communicate it.
Resources:
Find Your Exact Right Customer™ worksheet: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/downloads/exact-right-customer-finder.pdf (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/downloads/exact-right-customer-finder.pdf)
How to Differentiate Your Business from The Blandscape™: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/differentiate-your-business (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/differentiate-your-business)
Blog: “Our People Make the Difference” Is a Statement That's Hurting Your Business: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/blog/our-people-make-the-difference-is-a-statement-that-s-hurting-your-business (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/blog/our-people-make-the-difference-is-a-statement-that-s-hurting-your-business)
Episode page: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-34 (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/podcast/episode-34)
Connect With Shawna:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnaSuckow (https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnaSuckow)
Website: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com)
Non-Snoozeletter: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/newsletter)
Free Small Business Marketing Resources: https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault (https://www.thebuyerinsider.com/vault)
If this episode makes you realize your marketing has wandered into the Blandscape™, subscribe to Underestimated and share it with another small business owner whose “great customer service” deserves a much better story.
Who has been a guest on UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jennifer Darling
Molly Ketcham
Monica Graves Garcia
Lisa Ryan
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Contact UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast
Who hosts UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast?
Shawna Suckow and Shawna host the show. Published by Shawna Suckow.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does UNDERESTIMATED: The Small Business Advantage Podcast take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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