With the current economic outlook seeming rather bleak for so many, we are all faced with hard decisions and tough times that don’t always put a smile on our faces. Regardless of where you live, it’s always important to support your local businesses. And right here in Berlin, I have seen 3 stores close down within one week’s time. They were all unrelated, and one was part of a major chain that went bust. But the other two were local business owners who ultimately decided to close their doors after a long time of operating in our neighborhood.
When times are tough all over, there is no better time to get to know your local business owners and support them. We all belong to a community and making an effort to shop at food, clothing, gift and other stores, plus frequenting fun places that are still owned locally, is a huge help to everyone around you and your community as a whole. But there is more that you can do besides just leaving your money with these business to show your support which doesn’t cost a dime.
photo credit: Peter Blanchard via photopin cc
- Get to know the local business owners and employers that you have in your community. When you go into each business, ask the names of the people working there and establish a relationship with them. If you know them better, you can refer business to them more easily as well. And you can rest assured that the referrals you send to those businesses will be treated well because you’ve taken a few minutes to dig deeper into the company.
- Are you tech savvy? Why not use your expertise to give a bit of guidance to your local businesses? Show them what the net can do to help them in marketing or just help them to learn what sort of service options are out there for them to utilize (FourSquare, FoodSpotting, Google Places, etc).
- Leave a positive review online. There are tons of online platforms to leave a few works about our positive experiences with local businesses and it only take a few minutes. By sharing a rating and review with others, you’ll give those businesses a bit of social proof and build trust, which will encourage others to go visit those businesses themselves.
- When you host an event or party, let the local businesses which have helped make the party possible leave some cards or fliers out for your guests to pick up. This allows you to get the message out quickly to your guests with all the needed contact information, without you needing to be intrusive.
- Send out some social media promos for your local businesses, even if it just means that you “share” your FourSquare checkins with friends on Facebook or Twitter. A lot of people are on social networking sites these days and that should be a wonderful venue to promote and bring word out about local businesses.
- Avoid imports. A lot of people have established a habit of buying imported products, whether online or not. This is because these imported products have become widely known to the public and are readily available. But if you take the time to research and look around, you will discover that there are a lot of locally made alternatives to the imported goods that we purchase which are better quality, have better effects on the environment and keep tax money in your community.
- Forget about the huge chain stores. You have to know that the money that you spend at large franchises rarely trickles down to the local economy. But when you buy from local businesses, the money tends to circulate locally among local businesses. This is because large franchises get their supplies from a central source that is less likely to be in your community. Local businesses, on the other hand, are more likely to purchases supplies from other local businesses. And they go to lunch locally, host events locally and so forth.
- Look for local online. There are many places you can locate local products online, like Etsy.com or even through Google Places. If you’re looking for food-related goods, LocalHarvest.org is also a great resource to check out.
- If you own a local business yourself, it does not hurt to also promote and support other businesses. In fact, you are in a very good position to do so. Buy your supplies locally and when you need other people to help you out with your business, you can do so by hiring someone within your community. Local businesses are also usually more willing to give friendly discounts or do some bartering with you to help cut costs on both sides of the table.
- As we all know, word of mouth is the most powerful tool that we possess. You can make good use of this by recommending local products you use to family and friends and talk about the local businesses you’ve recently been to which you had a great experience at. This gesture can create a great effect as news can spread fast.
- It is better to value the quality of the product rather than concentrate on the price. Many people are immediately attracted to lower prices but the problem is, there are many times when price compromise’s quality. Local businesses might have a slightly higher price but oftentimes, you are assured of quality and you are more confident because the items are produced in your own community.
This is just a short list of things you can do to support your local businesses. What are your favorite ways to give your local business some luv??
photo credit: Independent We Stand via photopincc
