Small Businesses are the Heart of Our Community

Living in a small community like Liberty County means visiting locally owned businesses like clothing shops or even restaurants and office supplies stores almost on a daily basis. It is true that some small businesses cannot always afford to be the lowest price in town, but there are countless benefits to shopping local. How about the friendly familiar face that greets you behind the counter with a big smile inquiring about the family and your latest whereabouts. Or the waitress who knows your order before you even sit down. Those kinds of things make small businesses true treasures for every community.

Small business owners can provide personalized customer service that many corporations cannot. After all it’s the small store around the corner that often sponsors local sports teams, community events and non-profit organizations.  Small business owners are the heart of local communities because they have a vested interest in it.

If half of the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion dollars in revenue. Can you imagine how many schools/libraries/parks, etc. could be built with those billions? Supporting small business means investing in your local economy, supporting your neighbor, and helping your community thrive.

 

 

There are about 1 million small businesses in the state of Georgia, most of them with a 100 or less employees. Small businesses employed over 43% or 1.6 million of the state’s private workforce in 2015 (according to the U.S. Small Business Administration). Many of the jobs created by small business also offer better pay and benefits than corporate jobs. Supporting small business means creating jobs right in front of your door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Internet Retailer, online shoppers spent $2.3 trillion in 2017 and its expected to double to $4.5 trillion in 2021. With the rise of e-commerce, it is becoming even more difficult for small, locally-owned brick and mortar stores to be successful. Businesses now have to do more than just provide great customer service to stay in business; they must do things like develop a digital marketing strategy and consider e-commerce possibilities to get ahead of the competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be nearly impossible for a small local retailer to create advertising or marketing campaigns that rival big-box competitors. Many small businesses depend on satisfied customers to spread the word (word of mouth was and still is the best form of advertisement). So next time you shop at a local business, remember to recommend it to friends/family/co-workers, etc. Or even better take a few minutes to write a review on Facebook or Google+. It can help keep your favorite store around for many years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Chamber, we support small business by using local small businesses to cater events, purchase office supplies and more. The majority of our Chamber members are small locally-owned businesses and we only recommend members to visitors or residents who stop by or call looking for a particular service or product.

 

 

We love supporting small businesses because we love Liberty County and we understand that shopping locally means more resources for our community! If you aren’t familiar with the small businesses in Liberty County, you can check out many of them in our Membership Directory here. Make sure to also check out the pictures and videos from Small Business Week on our Facebook page. And don’t forget to Shop Local, Shop Liberty!

 

Andrea Conyers Communications Assistant Liberty County Chamber of Commerce and CVB

The Right Blend Blog is written by two different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able, we rotate weeks and each writes about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.