Why Do You Need to Support Your Small, Local Neighborhood Business?

Almost every area in a city comes with its own grocery shop, barber shop, meat shop, etc. These shops cater to the needs of the people in that particular area – they understand the requirements in that locality and strive to meet those demands. These local businesses are now facing increasing competition from bigger supermarket chains.

As customers, many of us might not even think much before shifting loyalties to a new supermarket that comes up. But these seemingly insignificant moves on our part have bigger repercussions. Read on to know why your neighborhood business needs your support.

Serving to Please

• Local businesses have to compete with the bigger supermarket chains in their area. This competition is what pushes them towards providing us with what the bigger supermarkets can’t – personalized, friendly service.
• As many of us would have already experienced, local businesses always receive customers with a smile. Though we may not realize it at the time, this itself makes the buying experience a pleasant one.
• If the desired products are unavailable, these shopkeepers are most of the time willing to source it for their customers. Disinterested service is something we will not encounter as doubts and queries are given polite answers.
• For these businesses, every single customer counts and it will show in their service. Being a part of the community, they often become familiar over time and a feeling of bonhomie prevails.

Bolstering the Community

• Many local businesses often support other local businesses. For example, a restaurant in the locality might be buying its supplies from the markets in the vicinity.
• It might also be employing people who live in the area. Thus, it boosts the local economy.
• Local businesses also add a unique flavour to the region, making the area attractive to visitors and tourists.

Local Business Owners Make Good Bosses

• The employees of a local business are invariably happier compared to employees of large enterprises.
• The employer understands that happy employees translate to a pleasant experience for customers and keeps their job satisfaction in mind and listens to their input and suggestions.

The Environmental Impact

• Local businesses do not involve major renovation or construction for their setting up. Thus, the change made to the surroundings is minimum.
• Compare this to a new supermarket which invariably involves some amount of construction and hence a level of pollution.
• Customers too prefer walking or cycling to a shop that is just around the corner instead of driving down; traffic is bypassed and air pollution too is brought down. Thus, in a way it indirectly supports environment friendly practices.

Job Opportunities

• Local businesses employ local people.
• Looking at the bigger picture, out of 3 available jobs, 2 are created as a result of a local business. People often move from villages and tier 2 & 3 cities to metros in search of jobs.
• When jobs are available locally, there is no need for people to shift base. The money will stay in the community and benefit the people.

Paving the Way for More Small Businesses

• The success of a small, local business will encourage other budding entrepreneurs.
• A small business is usually a single man’s vision and the success of the venture will be good motivation for others who are looking to set up their own business.

Constant Innovation

• Small businesses are constantly competing with larger ones to survive. This keeps them on their toes and drives them to constantly innovate and adapt.
• While the larger stores will only focus on the fast-moving products, smaller businesses will try to understand the customers’ needs and stock their products accordingly.
• They even have special offers for their loyal customers in a bid to keep them happy and to make sure they return.

Contribution during the Pandemic

• This article would be incomplete if we forget to mention the immense support small businesses provided during the hard pandemic times.
• We all had that one shopkeeper whom we could rely on to supply us with essentials – a person who kept aside provisions for us so we could make a quick pick up or sometimes even dropped it off at our doorstep so we wouldn’t have to step out.

How Can We Help the Small Businesses in Our Area?

Other than actually buying from them, is there anything else we can do to help them? The answer is yes, there is. These might seem like small things, but every action counts.

• If they have a social media page, we can like and comment on their posts and maybe even share it.
• We can give them a good review and rating online.
• We can encourage our friends in the neighborhood to buy from them.

In this time of economic recovery from the pandemic, we need to keep supporting them. Let us start today.