Insanity?

“One definition of insanity is to continue to do the same things over and over expecting different results.”
They say that you should never mix business and religion, but frankly I don’t see how you can separate the two.  If you were to ask me the one thing that might make a business successful I would [...]

Independent Businesses Get Organized

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on independent business, here are some interesting figures from the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).  According to their January 15, 2009 press release, a survey of 1,142 independent retailers found that holiday sales at independents declined an average of 5.0% from the same period last year compared to a [...]

Buying Locally–Are There Limits?

A regular reader and former coworker emailed me over the weekend with an interesting question about buying locally.  He asked, “At what point is price an issue?” He cited a couple of recent instances where he paid more to buy something locally rather than buying it online.  The price difference wasn’t enough to be a [...]

Why the Big Three Don’t Deserve a Bailout

OK, we’ve heard Detroit’s tale of woe.  They’re going broke because we aren’t buying their cars.  It’s not their fault.  It’s our fault.  Let me say, in the spirit of full disclosure that I drive a Mitsubishi Eclipse, built by a Japanese company in Illinois.  My wife drives a Toyota Highlander, made in Japan by [...]

REAL Economic Stimulus

In the midst of the kerfufle concerning the government’s attempt at stimulating the economy, a local hospital has decided to take real action.  St. Elizabeth Hospital in Belleville, IL is giving it’s employees a $100,000 bonus.  There’s just one catch.  The money must be spent at one of the thirty-eight local businesses that line Belleville’s [...]

Score One for Local Business

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  When it comes to promoting independent, local business, one of my toughest sells is my own lovely wife.  She gets the principle and has shifted most of her business away from the chains, but I often get the feeling that it’s just to humor me.  [...]

They’re Talking About You

Friday I wrote a post, Word of Mouth, where I praised Holiday World Amusement Park, Santa Claus, IN, for great customer service.  Rather than use high-margin soft drinks as a profit center, they use them as a perk for their customers.  Soft drinks and other beverages are free, both at the amusement park, and at [...]

Word of Mouth

Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, here’s a love story:
I was sitting in the dentist’s chair yesterday (one of my very least favorite things to do) and I overheard two hygienists talking about going to amusement parks (one of my very favorite things to do).  One of them was talking about Holiday World, a park located [...]

Where’s the Small Business Stimulus?

As our  employees in Washington continue to discuss how they’re going to spend our money in the guise of an “economic stimulus package”, one wonders why they’ve chosen to ignore the one half of all Americans workers whose livings come from small business.
As Forbes points out in an article called “Great Small-Business Snub“, one of [...]

Unlocking the Door without Turning on the Lights

According to a recent survey from Webvisible and Neilsen,  more than six out of ten consumers and small business owners go to the Internet first to find information on local goods and services.  Yet, only 44% of small businesses have a web site and they spend less than 10% of their marketing budget on the [...]