As a small business owner or independent distributor, supporting locally owned businesses just makes sense. You are one of them!
Below are ten reasons to support locally owned businesses in your community. Have more? Please, do share!
1.
Keep Dollars Local - For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45.00 stays in the local economy supporting local jobs for your neighbor and friends. For every $100 spent at a national chain or franchise store, only $14.00 stays in the community.
2.
Embrace the Uniqueness of Local - Shop at those one- of- a- kind boutiques where we connect over coffee or share a story with a neighbor. Many of these shops offer items not found anywhere else and certainly not made in another country.
3.
Foster Local Job Creation - Locally owned businesses create more jobs and in some cases, better wages for those in your community.
4.
Help the Environment - Many of these local businesses are within walking, or biking, distance of the downtown area. Many also see the benefits of recycling and keeping their town clean and the landfill empty.
5.
Nurture Community - Studies have found that independent businesses are owned by people living in the community and who are committed to investing in the community through donations or charitable causes. They know it takes a "village to raise a community".
6.
Conserve your Tax Dollars - Small neighborhood or "work from home" businesses require less public infrastructure. They often operate from existing buildings or homes, and make the best use of their space without creating the need for bigger and better.
7.
Have More Choices - With local business and work from home distributors, the customer is offered more choices, innovation and competition with lower prices over the long run. The products are based on need and desire not national sales averages.
8.
Benefit from Local Owners' Expertise - Small business owners or work from home entrepreneurs often possess a level of expertise and passion for the products they sell. They have a greater interest in getting to know their customers who are, in fact, their neighbors. There is special price in their trade and the knowledge they offer.
9.
Preserve Entrepreneurship - Entrepreneurship fuels America's economic innovation and prosperity and serves as the key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle and upper class. People can choose their own path and that is an inspiration to those in the community!
10.
A Special Relationship with Your Clients - Just like the theme song from
"Cheers", a place "where everyone knows your name"! Customers are treated like friends, because they are!
**Experts from the Buyers Guide, "The People Paper", April 5, 2009, Volume 55 - No. 26, Lowell, Michigan.
