You’ve probably heard about buying local, but have you ever really stopped and wondered what the benefits are to your company when you spend a few more dollars in your neighborhood?
No matter what industry you’re in, there are local options that can satisfy some need or portion of need for your company. From office supplies to silicon-wafers, if you look for the opportunity to make a local purchase, you’ll find it. Whether your company is big or small, buying from local businesses garners goodwill toward your company. And in the world of sales, a primary principle to consider is that people buy from people they know, like and trust.
In many cases, large companies buy goodwill by contributing donations to charitable organizations. Often, these organizations are helping people who are unemployed or under-employed. However, imagine if that same $10,000, $20,000 or $35,000 went to making purchases from a local business instead. That investment could keep Bill or Mary employed, for example, instead of feeding them and their family in the soup line. Spending those same dollars in our local economy would help our local tax-based government systems too. Just look at how the dollar is taxed when it flows through a business versus going directly to a nonprofit (as a business owner, you likely know the details).
In addition to the value of the products and services you purchase locally, your dollars support community wealth. Buying local encourages the businesses and employees that you buy from to turn around and buy from your company – an example of how the dollar you spend can come back to your company. And while your dollar traveled around the local community, it activated several more dollars.
The act of buying local often increases a person’s connection and commitment to the health and well-being of their community. Why does an involved, connected community matter to your business? It’s not just feel good altruism. Engaged community members are responsible for creating and maintaining safe neighborhoods, parks, well performing schools, attractive “Main Street” downtowns, healthy local farm economies, accountable and accessible government and useful transit systems. These things are the critical ingredients to a high quality of life, which is the very thing that draws skilled workers and major employers to an area. What part of that isn’t ultimately good for your business?
When we buy local, we avoid being the bedroom community – forever dependent on the fortunes of some other community, our dollars leaking away and supporting infrastructure that we don’t benefit from. While every city isn’t going to become a New York or Chicago, or even a Portland, that doesn’t relegate us to being the weak economic satellite. We can be our own town or city with multiple choices for any given kind of business if we support each other.
So before you head online or over the bridge, call a local company and check out their product first. Whether you’re making a purchase for business or for personal use, investigate local options and think about where that company pays property and excise taxes. Streets, schools, lights, electricity, safety, waste management and city cleaning depend on it. Always consider where your dollar will be spent and just how close to home it will land.
Lynn Krogseng is the factotum at Neighbors Market, located at 1707 Main Street in Vancouver. Neighbors Market specializes in the sale of local, all-natural and sustainably grown food. You can reach the market at 360.448.6120.
