I know firsthand how difficult it is to make a profit as a small business. Buzz words like “Be Your Own Boss” and “Set your own hours” are complete crap.
When you truly own your own business, you are at the mercy of the people buying your product/service. If you don’t put out a quality product on time, you don’t get paid. Period.
That is why I always support local over national businesses. While I am thrilled when a small business like the tiny coffee shop in Seattle named Starbucks makes it big, I see my friend down the street that roasts his own coffee beans and go to purchase from him. With small business, it isn’t business, it is personal.
Just recently, I disconnected my cable service from Cox Communications. Now I realize it is the responsibility of the call center agent to try and turn over as many disconnects as possible into staying customers. However, when I shared with her my passion for supporting local/small businesses, she tried to claim Cox Communications is a local business.
What exactly is a local business? I will tell you one thing: Just having call centers in my area does not make you a local business. In fact, it is the presence of call centers at all that sets you apart from my local communications company. When small businesses get that large, what suffers is the customer service. Instead of calling and talking to someone in the office here in my town, I respond to a computerized voice and wait for the next available operator. Then, when they realize there actually is something technically wrong, they have to see when the next technician will be in my area. Waiting on hold for an operator then waiting for someone to even be in my area means you are not a local/small business.
Local/Small business owners do it ALL. Their homes and future depend on making on profit. If purchasing shoes, my coffee, my vegetables and my furniture from a local business helps someone in my town to support their families, I will gladly choose them over the national competitor. It isn’t a difficult choice. On the other hand, for businesses out there who run their daily operations smoothly, inquiring for essentials like those on Smarterbusiness.co.uk may be more than helpful.
Starting a small business requires both financial resources and a substantial time investment. Entrepreneurs often seek financial support to kickstart their ventures, and exploring options like a business loan through nav.com can be a prudent step in securing the necessary funding. For example, if you live in California, you’ll have to take out a California business loan just to afford the rent on the space – and that’s before opening the doors!
However, small businesses have a tendency to run into financial trouble. Problems such as an inability to pay back owed debt and cash flow struggles can all contribute to the risk of business insolvency. If your business is facing financial difficulties and you believe insolvency is around the corner, you can visit businessinsolvencyadvice.org.uk for help.
I prefer to support local because I know how much effort and money it takes to even open those businesses.
How do you support local? Who do you buy from? I challenge you to take 30 seconds today and comment on a local business’s Facebook page. Tell them a quick thank you for being awesome. Let me know you did!
I love this! We also try to always buy and shop local. Our local cheese company is where we get our horns of cheese (we use to sell milk to them), our local gas station is where we patronize, our local mom and pop pizza place, our local Mennonite grocer for everything we can (and then Kroger for the rest), our local orchard for peaches/apples/strawberries, when the garden wasn’t cutting it last summer we bought produce from our local Amish to can, when we used to have to buy honey (we have hives now) we would buy from a local beekeeper. I love keeping our money in our community… even if it means paying a little extra.