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Shop Small is Not Just a Saying

February 15th, 2022 by Kenneth Abrahams

There are some who say, “all business is local.” Usually, those saying it are in some way, shape, or form connected to a large national/ international chain or a giant online entity like Amazon. You certainly can consider any business local, after all they hire local workers and often pay local taxes, but if you ask me that is a stretch at best and absolute garbage at worst. How can anyone consider Amazon a local business? Have you met Jeff Bezos, former CEO of Amazon, or Andy Jassy the current CEO? When you walk into your local Lowes, does the owner come over and make sure that you are satisfied with your purchase and happy with the service?

Recently, I participated, as a panelist, in a competition for business students on the challenges facing businesses today. There were several groups, all from the same school, with a variety of different challenges that they needed to propose solutions to a group of judges. The team with the best ideas for combating the challenge won. My groups challenge was how to get people back to small, brick and mortar establishments. Even though Fun Enterprises’ brick and mortar is not open to the public, it is a subject near and dear to my heart and one that I have opinions on. As panelists, we were asked a wide range of questions that they had come up with. Some were highly predictable; How had COVID changed the way we do business? Did you see any benefit from COVID? What type of advertising did we do? Did we lose staff or clients during the pandemic? Clearly, the students were prepared. In our group, we had several business owners with different types of companies. One was a recruiter, placing high priced attorney’s at very prestigious firms all over the country, our second panelist was involved in a family owned construction company and third was me.

We all answered all the questions based on our situations as well as our experiences. Both of the other panelists had been positively impacted by the pandemic, reporting record years. FUN not so much. Towards the end of the session one student peppered us with questions. It became obvious very quickly that this was a topic he cared deeply about. He let us know that his parents owned several Chinese food restaurants and like many of us they had been dealing with lost revenue and help shortages. There was little that we could help him with. Everyone’s situation is different.

There is no question that the restaurant industry has been hit especially hard. Not only have they had to deal with a myriad of restrictions in terms of occupancy rates, mask mandates and time customers are allowed to stay, but they have also dealt with major staffing difficulties. In addition, the government sponsored PPP was not overly helpful either. Funds that were set up to help restaurants often didn’t get to the restaurants that really needed the help. With the PPP (Payroll Protection Program) 60 to 75% of the money received needed to go to payroll related expenses. For many organizations, that was a lifeline that truly saved them, but many restaurants needed help to pay rent, vendor costs, or to simply to keep the doors open. Items often not covered by the government program. With few customers coming in and only needing a fraction of their staff to cover takeout it was the other bills that were piling up. Despite stories that the government, both state and federal, had money to hand out, many of these places never got a dime. For some, the decision to lock the doors was done to preserve what little money they had left in the bank.

Small businesses of all types suffered through the pandemic while some larger box stores like Amazon thrived. For some people early on, the only way to get groceries and other items, either because their local stores didn’t have what they needed or they were uncomfortable or unable to go out, was through Amazon and other major chains online ordering and delivery systems. Small local shops, already feeling the effects of the ecommerce world, took yet another hit. They simply couldn’t compete with the price or the delivery systems these bigger organizations had in place.

There are still those of us that like to go into a store and see what they have to offer. We are shrinking in numbers, but some people like to try on clothing before they buy them, to see the quality, or lack thereof, in the way something is made. Not many people, but a few are concerned that this new gig, online economy, is going to destroy the backbone of American commerce; the small business, and once lost, it will not return. If you look closely, fewer, and fewer items on Amazon are available next day, even with Prime. I can’t wait for them to roll out Super Prime or some other higher end service with an increased price tag to match.

Those shops that are potentially closing aren’t some nameless and faceless people you haven’t met; they are your friends and neighbors. You are not powerless in this fight; individuals do make a difference. In my house we choose to shop locally. We have several CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) shares where we get our vegetables and meat from. We know the farmers and how they raise the food that we eat. They are small family run farms. Most Saturdays, we head to our local farmers market where we support other local farms and merchants too. It does cost a bit more but, to us, it is worth it. Before you place that next online order, think about supporting a small business in your community. They will appreciate it and you will be making a difference where it counts.

About the author

Ken Abrahams has been a small business owner for over 30 years. His clients are important to him. He knows them and they are a part of his very extended family. Like the theme song in Cheer’s says we all want to go where people know our name.

To find out more about the company go to our website www.funent.com you can also go to this link to sign up for our newsletter which comes out about 6 times a year https://funent.com/subscribe-to-the-funny-pages/.  Our newsletter will tell you more about the company and the products and services we offer as well as some games, things to do and the occasional cooking tip.