Why Local Business Matters

This is my very first post on a blog I've been thinking about starting for a long, long time. I have been a small business owner for the past 10 years and I've picked up a lot of knowledge along the way. When I think about how little I knew when I started, it pains me. But I'm grateful for that because, had I known then what I know now, I might have been to scared to even try. We all have to start somewhere. Even if you think you know nothing about business, or if you really do know nothing, you can learn along the way. I encourage anyone who is interested in starting up a small business to go for it - but please go for it with your eyes as wide open as you can so that you can avoid as many of the pitfalls as possible. I thought a great place to start this blog would be with answering the question of why you should start a small business in the first place. Why would anyone want to do this when it is so risky, takes so much work, and is fraught with tons of competition from the big guys. This is why. We need small, local businesses. In this time when the corporations seem to be swallowing everyone and every city and town you drive into looks like an exact blueprint of another, locally run business are in danger of becoming extinct. It's so important that this doesn't happen. The big box stores and chains are certainly convenient but if we let them take over completely, we are risking some serious losses. This is what small businesses give to us: 1. Choice! You may think that a huge chain store will be able to offer so much more range than you ever could as a small business but that is actually not the case. Big chains have their product lines and they will choose a selection from each category for them. They will rarely deviate from that. Often, if it's a franchise, they are not even allowed to deviate from that line. It is a rare thing to be able to walk into a big chain store and have them custom order a product that they do not carry in stock. Small businesses, on the other hand, have much more control over their product lines and are often able to bring in exactly what a customer is looking for. 2. Service! The big stores have a large customer base and they know that if one customer walks out, another one will walk right in. They aren't as hungry to get and keep that customer as a small business owner is. A small business owner is much more likely to give a customer personalized service - to help them understand products and pick the right ones for them, to cater the services they offer to their customer, and to help them when things go wrong. Big chain stores often don't have the time for that or they don't have the designated staff for it. If your request deviates from their standard protocol for customer service, you're probably going to be out of luck. As well, staff as big chain stores are often there just for a job. Although some of them are they because they love the product or service they offer and they know a ton about it, it's really a crap shoot as to whether you'll get someone like that or not. Small business owner have almost always opened their business because they love the topic they are dealing with (if you don't, you should probably think twice about getting into that business). We know our stuff and we love to talk to people about it. Nothing makes me happier than someone walking into my store and asking me detailed questions about toys and toy line - because I LOVE toys and I love to talk about them. If we lose all the small businesses, we lose the people who have the time, knowledge and interest to really help us meet our needs. We are left having to settle for the product and service we could get rather than the one we really wanted or needed. 3. Community! A small business owner lives where s/he works. S/he hires locally (in most cases). S/he pays business taxes into his/her home town and supports the local economy. Many small business owners are invested in supporting their local community because they live there and they use all the services too. They are often the businesses that give to the local charities and get involved in area activities. When you start a small business or when you support a small business, you are keeping money in your home community. Running and supporting small businesses is am important part of our local economy. Don't ever think that you shouldn't start up because you can't afford to compete with the chains. Chains are so ubiquitous now that people are actually starting to seek out something different. And don't think that you need to be big to be successful. There are a lot of small local business owners who make a very nice living for themselves without all of the hassles of starting franchises or huge corporations. Big may be beautiful but small is stupendous.