The Benefits of Supporting Small Business

With more than 210,000 small businesses in WA, these hard working, committed people employ nearly 50% of the public and contribute 43% of all exported goods. Small businesses must work very hard to ensure their business is both viable and sustainable, with many businesses failing within the first 12 months. A lot of people perceive smaller businesses to have higher prices than large chains and franchises – this is often a misconception and other benefits of employing a small business (which can often save you money in the long term) are overlooked. Check out some of the benefits of engaging a small business below:

Unique & Personalised
Small businesses work very hard to create their own unique brand to attract customers and keep them. Distinctive character is a huge advantage in an economy that is so standardised. Even if a product becomes popular it always feels great to know you contributed to starting the trend. Similarly if you deal with a certain employee or contractor within a business they will work to build a strong relationship with you. If they are successful in doing a good job and building a strong relationship you’ll find yourself never wanting to deal with anyone else.
An important factor to take into consideration when choosing a business is whether you can continue to work with the same person throughout the process – for example have you ever dealt with a telephone/internet provider and found that each time you contact them you’re dealing with a different person who is unaware of the discussions you had with the last person? This can be frustrating when dealing with a larger business; dealing with one or a couple of people throughout a process means everyone is better informed and can make the process a lot more hassle-free.

Support of Local Community & Infrastructure
Locally owned businesses create strong communities, utilise local infrastructure and build good social relationships. Most small businesses will partner with related businesses, referring each other work. By building a good relationship with another small business and realising which local businesses do their job well, these small businesses take the leg work out of researching who you need to employ for a service and can vouch for the credibility of another business. Locally owned businesses are also much more likely to reinvest profits into the local economy which strengthens and enriches the whole community. Small businesses within local town centres also require less space and infrastructure than large chain stores, making more efficient use of public services and infrastructure.

Product Diversity & Innovation
As previously mentioned a small business must work hard to ensure you, the customer, receive the best and newest product or service. They must separate themselves from the competition to show you that their business is unique and they have a point of difference strong enough for you to use them over another business. Competition doesn’t just ensure small businesses become innovative, it also warrants lower prices over the long term disproving the common misconception that bigger chains offer lower prices.
Product diversity is usually common within small business compared to larger chains since they’re basing their products purely on their customer’s needs.

So have a chat with a few local businesses next time your require good service and if they value their customers as much as most small businesses, they will blow you away with their great service, unique products, support of community and other local businesses, reasonable pricing and diversity of products and services.

This article was written by Charlotte Flatt
Cap-It-All Building Inspections Perth