1. You are a small retailer in a business of your choice in a small community. The local Chamber of Commerce has just announced that a new Wal-Mart store will begin construction within the next three months. Assume that whatever you have chosen as your retail business will place you in direct competition with Wal-Mart.

2. Anybody can up and quit, but quitters never win, so quitting is not an option for you; therefore, the answer to the first question, "Should we compete?" will be an emphatic YES, WE WILL! You're going to have to develop strategies to compete profitably against Wal-Mart. Cutting prices is not a legitimate option, since they have the resources to meet or beat any price you might choose. Instead, you're going to have to find ways to improve the benefits/satisfactions that consumers receive from your retail outlet.

3. Get creative; figure out things that your firm can do that might be difficult for a large retailer to copy successfully. There are always ways for David to beat Goliath, and, knowing what you know now, it's your job to figure some of these out. Your personal pride and the family fortune you inherited to start your business are at stake here, so develop some strategies that will keep customers shopping at your store rather that at Wal-Mart.