Why are local businesses important?

[John Dilbeck]

Is buying local a form of protectionism or is it something that is truly good for our community?

I'm not going to denigrate Wal-Mart or Lowe's or other chain stores, but I'm not going to patronize them, either, if I have a choice. I shop at Wal-Mart as little as possible and generally only buy office supplies from them.

I've been planning a new website to promote local small businesses in Murphy and I've been talking to a number of business owners over the last few months.

Some are struggling and some are prospering, but all of them are working hard to find ways to better serve their customers and to help build our local economy by supporting other local business owners, local nonprofits, and our community in general.

I'm facing a challenge as I try to convince these business owners that the time is right for promoting themselves and their businesses online, rather than using only the traditional offline methods they've been using for so long.

Somewhere along the way, we've lost the knowledge that people buy from others they like and trust, and, therefore, it is important to let our customers and prospective customers learn more about us and what we're doing. What is important to us? Why do we do what we do?

I don't know about you, but when I'm thinking about buying from someone or getting advice from someone, I don't think first about the business, but rather about the people behind the business.

Who do I trust to do the best job? Who do I trust to provide the best product or service at a fair price? Who treats me the best when I visit them or their business? Am I appreciated? How do they show their appreciation?

If I have the choice of buying from two businesses, for example, I'm probably going to make my decision based on how I was treated the last time I shopped there.

Was I welcomed with a smile and an offer of help?

Was I greeted with a scowl and the feeling that I was interrupting them?

After the purchase, was I acknowledged? Did they contact me and see if I was satisfied?

Are they contacting me to let me know what's new and what other things I may want to come to them for?

Contacting our customers on a regular basis is important for many reasons, but it is getting ever-more-expensive to do so using traditional methods such as flyers, postcards, letters, catalogs, special offers, and anything that has to be printed on paper and delivered physically.

At the same time, it is getting ever-easier to communicate with our friends, neighbors, and customers over the Internet. Delivering electrons is much faster, easier, and less expensive than delivering paper, and this is going to be even more true as time goes by.

As I was contemplating some of these issues this morning, I read an interesting article on the Small Biz Survival blog: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Now, I'm not trying to build a shop local campaign for the Chamber of Commerce or local government, and Murphy is definitely not a city. We are a small town with quality local business owners who want to serve their customers and prosper in return for their hard work. I want to help both the local business owners and my friends and neighbors who live in the Murphy area.

Working together, we can make our community a bit better and our lives a bit more meaningful.

Why do I prefer to buy from local businesses rather than chains?

Rather than sharing my personal list, let me link to a couple of top ten lists for reasons to buy local:

From Small Biz Survival: Top Ten Reasons to Shop Local

From Staylocal New Orleans: Why Shop Local?

Did you know that a study has shown that local businesses “generate more than three times the local economic activity of their competitor chain stores on equal revenue.”

I didn't know that until earlier today.

I was reading Bill Lofquist's blog at ClarionCall.com and was intrigued by his article about The Full Value of Main Street which he wrote about a year ago.

In this article, he says, in part:

While we all recognize the appeal – nostalgic, quaint, attractive, authentic, human-scaled – of Main Streets, and while we all root for their success, their value is far more than just to our senses. Main Streets and locally-owned businesses are a critical cog in a healthy and sustainable local economy.

He goes on to talk about ways, both tangible and intangible, that our Main Street businesses and locally-owned businesses in other parts of our towns are so important to our communities. I think you'll find it to be worth your time to read what he has to say.

I'm going to give him the last word:

Patronizing Main Streets is not simply an exercise in nostalgia or a way to find that hard-to-find item. It is an investment in our communities. Without that investment, the community, in the many senses of the word, will be lost.

What do you think?

Act on your dream!

JD