How's Business?

So, how's business?

When I ask that question of independent business owners-and I always do because these frontline professionals know what's going on locally-I get an earful about what the economy has meant to their bottom line and their plans for the future.

Working to maintain status quo in 2012 when customers spent less, costs kept rising, and technology continued to add "must have" service elements was a challenge for business owners. While forecasts for 2013 remain cautious, if not negative, business owners are pulling long hours and stretching their loonies to the limit to keep their enterprise on solid ground and prepared for growth when the economy strengthens.

The business community in the neighbourhood you loved enough to move into contributes to the variety of near-by shopping and entertainment choices you have. The resulting vibrant lifestyle adds value to you and your real estate. Buyers shopping for their dream home are attracted for the same reasons you were. Shouldn't you make a concerted effort to support local businesses and keep value where it belongs-in your neighbourhood?

Is the quaint, unique, boutique-style, family-oriented retail community that first attracted you to the area disappearing? Is it being replaced by corporate clones, chains, and big-box stores? Will this new "mall style" neighbourhood appeal as much to you and to potential real estate buyers, or will you all see less value here? If these changes don't appeal to you and you want to move, will your real estate represent the value you planned on?

Marketing-savvy retailers like Target, Walmart, and Dollarama are not bad in themselves. They can suck all the business out of existing neighbourhood shopping areas because residents don't understand how expensive shopping discount can be. If residents don't take responsibility for the value of their neighbourhood, large retailers won't and small business can't afford to.

Small business struggles mean changes to your neighbourhood which potentially may hit your wallet:

• Walk through most beloved neighbourhood shopping areas and you'll find empty store fronts where decades-old businesses once thrived.
• Check business-to-business directories, online and off, and you'll discover gaps where vanished enterprises once set standards for service excellence.
• With fewer businesses to draw customers to the area, other businesses can suffer.
• New big-box retailers descend on neighbourhoods to redirect spending and attention to their deep-pocket, mall-based ventures, scooping cash out of existing small shops and businesses.

Traditionally, a business-whether it's a corporation, practice, or sole proprietorship-is considered an established, lasting entity. This certainty continues even in the face of proof of frailty like the economic crisis which proved that there is no permanence in business, no "too big (or anything else) to fail". We are troubled when a business is not doing well, and are shocked if a business has a sudden failure or disappears almost overnight. We mourn when a business dies-is sold, is forced out of its location, goes bankrupt, or just closes its doors.

These changes are shocking because we take for granted that apparently stable, established businesses will continue. For more than one resident, development of existing "one-stop" retail areas to create mega-stores or condominiums has made shopping locally less convenient and less fun.

We keep talking about building and maintaining value as if they are the same thing or at least step one, step two. In fact, these are two overlapping and continually evolving processes. Clients and customers contribute to both for businesses. Residents contribute to building and maintaining the value of their own real estate and the neighbourhood's, in part, by supporting local business:

• Must-have focus

  Most neighbourhoods sport must-visit restaurants or stores that make shopping locally a pleasure. Many Mom-and-Pop specialty stores and restaurants are irreplaceable mainstays. These local gems are not necessarily cheaper, but they are better, more fun, unique, and more of a shared experience. Their character makes residents proud to say "this is my hood", and it draws more business into the area.

  Are you a value booster? Each resident shares the responsibility for sustaining beloved neighbourhoods-theirs and others that make our cities and country different. Your choices make the difference locally-positive and negative. How serious are you about what brought you to this neighbourhood in the first place?

  How committed are you to putting your money where you want your real estate value to be?

  Resource: "What's Your Point?" 
  
  
  Written by PJ Wade
  January 22, 2013 
  

   

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  Wondering What Your Home Is Worth? -- Let me show you.

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