Downtown Digest: How you can support downtown Ravenswood's small businesses without even buying anything
Article in the Jackson Star and Herald
The decision to take the Program Director position for Downtown Ravenswood Partners was based on the opportunity to MAKE A DIFFERENCE for this town's people and small businesses. Helping people has always been the common thread connecting my many jobs through the years. It is the ONE thing that consistently makes me feel fulfilled and that my time at a job was worthwhile.
I am no stranger to the rigors of trying to survive as a small business owner. At 21, I started my first business as a chocolate fountain caterer in the flourishing Hawaii wedding industry. I also co-owned a glass tinting business and imported wax lanterns from the Philippines to sell at a kiosk in the local mall. It was hard work, and I had to figure everything out independently.
As a small business owner, you must be absolutely dedicated and even obsessed with your work. You have to be everything from the janitor to the bookkeeper to the CEO. And you certainly don't do it for the fantastic pay and benefits.
I know now that many small business owners do it for the same reason I did: for the satisfaction of directly helping others in their community and seeing the results of that help first-hand in the form of happy customers.
In my new role, my #1 goal is to help our existing businesses in downtown Ravenswood be even more successful. With that increased success, we will attract even more new businesses to our town, enriching and diversifying our community.
All of our other initiatives, from marketing and promoting downtown as the best place in our area to shop, play, and eat, to attracting more people downtown through events, to making downtown more beautiful through design elements such as streetscaping and renovating storefront facades, support the primary goal of increased economic vitality for our downtown businesses.
As a resident of this community, you can help ensure the success of our passionate and hardworking downtown small business owners by choosing to shop local whenever possible. Share your experiences and photos of those businesses on social media and spread the word to your friends and neighbors.
Allow these business owners the satisfaction of helping YOU with your needs. No one will care for you and your business more than a small business owner. I doubt Wal-Mart and McDonalds will miss your business at all. But it could make a world of difference for a small business owner.
At a recent Christmas event at one of our downtown gift shops, the owner told me she already sees positive changes. And she’s right: we now have banners on the lamp posts and trash cans on the corners.
Three new businesses have opened since October: Inaka’s Hibachi and Sushi, Santee Sweets and Eats, and now Ravenswood Arts has opened a new gallery with art classes for all ages.
However, despite these early improvements, I told her I would not consider this program a true success until her sales had increased by 20%.
Have you visited any of these businesses since they’ve opened? You will be pleasantly surprised by what you find there. Give them a chance and support downtown’s small businesses. Have a part to play in the economic vitality and thus the revitalization of our downtown community. And experience firsthand the fulfillment that comes from helping people succeed, just like I do.
