They are the lifeblood of any small community, and without them, towns and villages across this great country would die off in a heartbeat.
They’re small businesses. Or, the original businesses, if you will.
They long pre-date today’s big box stores and multinational chains. And when the huge conglomerates go the way of the Dodo, the small businesses will still be there.
Like they always have been.
Here in Barrhead, we are blessed with all manner of small and local businesses. These are people who woke up one day and decided that they wanted to start a business, and haven’t taken their eyes off the prize since.
These people have placed their trust in their friends and neighbours to help them be successful, and we haven’t disappointed.
Sure, there were bumps along the road. False starts. Dead ends. The things that would make weaker individuals give up and say, “This is too hard.”
But for those who persevered and knew that with a little elbow grease things would work out, that feeling the first morning they flipped that sign on their front door to read “OPEN” was euphoric. They’d made it. They were business people.
However, even for the successful new business owner, simply having a shop on main street, or a major web presence, is not enough.
There’s still a lot to learn.
You want to expand. How do you do that?
Thieves have targeted your store for some reason. What can you do to prevent that from happening again?
People are still going into the big box stores. How do you get them to turn around and come inside?
These are all questions business owners face. And they’re all questions that have multiple answers.
This is where the Barrhead Chamber of Commerce’s small business networking luncheon last week was a wealth of knowledge for new and established business owners.
No business owner would admit he or she knows everything about running a business. And those who say they do are lying. Everyone needs to have someone to bounce ideas off. Where better to do that than at a networking event?
If you’re an animal shelter and you want to let more people know which animals you have up for adoption, who better to help than someone who works in the communications industry?
Everyone’s connected in some way. You might not know it yet, but there is someone out there who has exactly the information you’re looking for.
You just need to find them. Let the Chamber of Commerce help.
