Small Business Life Doesn't Always Have a Happy Ending
Small business life doesn't always have a happy ending.
I took some flak for my article on , for - of all things - shopping at a big box store.
WTF Marketing LLC is my small business. We handle Web technology for other small business owners - it's a fun gig and we try to make it fun for our clients. Even though I am a small business owner, and do my best to support our local community by shopping locally, I have a confession to make: I occasionally shop at Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
Why? Because sometimes the little guys just don't have what I want. Or, in the case of some of my computer supplies, the little guys are jerks who overcharge on a massive scale. Why didn't I get my tablet at the local computer shop? They didn't have it. Why don't I buy computer memory from anywhere but Amazon.com? Because it's 10x the price. Not 2x the price. 10x the price. And for no good reason.
Marking up because you can - and then charging an hourly rate to install it on top of your markup is not profiting fairly, it's highway robbery. No amount of cheering and jeering for the local shops will convince me to make a bad financial decision.
Being a small business owner doesn't always have a happy ending. I wish it did. I wish that we could all join hands across America, start home-based businesses, do our best, and make our millions.
But it doesn't always work that way.
I'm continually amazed by just how horrible public taste is. Look at the people we adore - some are talented, some are just hacks. Horrible businesses continue to thrive because we support them with our dollars, even though we know better.
So many people blame UPS for this year's delayed deliveries - but not one media outlet pointed the finger back at the consumers who were lazily clicking away right up until Christmas. Best Buy's botching of holiday deliveries was totally their own fault, though.
I love that I get to wake up every morning, take my sweet time (most days) to get coffee, throw on my awesome Scotty robe (picture attached), and then get to my day's tasks. People pay me to live my dream because I'm good at two things: whatever they're paying me for and promotion.
If I were good at playing politics, I'd be a millionaire. Alas, I have to be content with only one Scotty robe.
My point is - I'm thankful every day that I am entrusted to do the things I am able to do. I'm thankful I'm good at getting found and noticed for the things I'm good at.
It wasn't always so - and it is hardly ever easy. Wishing it were easy, wishing public opinion suddenly grew a modicum of taste, wishing your small business were profitable - wishing for those things doesn't make it so.
Action is the only thing that will make your business successful. Learning from and recovering from failures with action. Evoking powerful emotions through story and example will change public opinion, albeit slowly. And every time you whip out your wallet, you can decide whether or not that action helps or hurts your community.
It's not as simple as just saying, "I'm going to shop locally only." Only sociopaths would knowingly hurt their community, and there's not that many sociopaths in the world. More likely is that the path to shopping locally (when and where to make that decision) is not all that clear.
As small business owners, it's our job to make that path easier to see.
You can find more from Nick Armstrong on Twitter and at his personal website IAmNickArmstrong.com.
