“Family Run”? “Locally Owned”? Why does this matter?

                You may often see businesses advertise that they are local, family owned and operated establishments and you may wonder what that means to you.  Well, it means a lot. There are some reasons you may already be aware of, and possibly some you are not. Hopefully you will be able to gain new prospective when it comes to where you shop based on some of this information.

                One key point about shopping at a local business is that you are supporting someone in your own community.  Sure the larger corporations are employing members of the local community, but the money earned by the company is going elsewhere. Money earned by a local business is staying local, which helps fuel the local economy (and they are also employing locals.) The revenue earned by the local business owners is going to help them raise their children and support their families. Often the local charities, sports teams, and families in need benefit more from the locally owned businesses because they want to see their community grow and improve.  The local owners have a deep connection with the issues that surround everyone in their community. Local business owners also often support other local entrepreneurs, selling products or services of other locals in their shops. They want to see continual benefits to the town they love.

               Being family run is also an important feature of a business that should matter to you. A business that is operated by a family has a different way of treating its employees and customers. These businesses want to connect with the people that work and shop at their establishments.  They are looking for long term relationships and want to have people recognise them as being trustworthy. They tend to treat everyone in a “family” like manner because they have an invested interest in how everyone interacts with their company.

 

 I know a lot of people shop at the larger corporate businesses because they can often get a better price, and of course price is important. The larger businesses do often have more buying power which can result in lower prices. However, if you just give the local businesses a chance they can often compete with larger businesses. Larger companies don’t often have the ability to change prices because they are set by their head office. A local family run business can make inventory and pricing adjustments based on their clientele.  And maybe they can’t meet or beat the big competitor’s price all the time, but you will certainly win in the customer service aspects (the family treatment mentioned earlier). Being treated like you are important goes a long way. The more support a local business gets the more it can share its success with you, by improving selection and lowering prices. You will also be contributing to the bigger picture, community enhancement. 

Now I’m not saying that all big corporations are bad, all businesses have their place within the economy. I’m just saying that next time you have a purchase to make, whether it is big or small, consider supporting your locally owned family run business and see what they can do for you.

-Muriel Rolufs