Our country was built by farmers, independent business men,
family businesses, all small businesses. Canada grew from these people working
hard for themselves, for their families. I believe that this is where we need
to return to, the small family business, where employees care, customers count
and return business no matter the dollar spent is important!
I have worked for both small family businesses, my own small
business, and large companies and world wide corporations. The ones that care
about their; employees, customers and community the most the small business
man. The larger companies are around for the proverbial bottom line, everything
between the front doors and the bottom line are only a means to achieve the
bottom line.
The world has become so lost in the in big box stores, mega
corporations, corporate owned or controlled farms the small business has become
all but forgotten. Recently, there has been a growing movement to return to
small business, it couldn't have come at a better time.
Having a group of people who care about what they make,
create, sell. Having people who want to help people find what they need and NOT
sell them all the possible add on accessories possible because that is what the
boss wants. Small businesses where the product being sold was made with care,
by people who care. Businesses where employees are a lot more than just a number,
whose opinions count, where the customer is respected and their business
matters more than what they added to the day’s numbers and the bottom line at
the end of the quarter.
Backwoods Country Arts is a small family business. We work
with locally sources base products so that we keep local people and families
employed. I have my children working with me, not that any of them are
children, they have all graduated high school. Over the last year or so we have
seen growth in sales, I believe partially because we care!
The largest part of
our products are hand-painted and hand crafted signs, signs for in home and
outdoor décor. We make everyone with care, they are not mass produced, everyone
is created when ordered. We have had
repeat orders, recommendations to others who have bought.
I have taken all that I have learned thus far working for
family businesses and large companies and I am trying to blend the best of both
into our new family business. We offer personal caring service like a small
business would, we watch what people want and changes in the market like the
big businesses. We don’t try and “upsell” anybody, we don’t try to sell more
and more to the customers’ order. We
want all of our customers to come back because we did what they wanted, helped
them with their needs.
It is time for the entrepreneurs to work for local
community, local people, look at old principles and revive them. “Do unto
others as you would have done unto you”, not “Do add everything to that order
before the other realizes what you have done to them”.
Small business built the world we live in; large
corporations have brought us to ruin in so many ways. Let’s bring back the ways
of our fore fathers where we care about our business because we care about the
customers, employees and all the things that make that business successful.
http://www.backwoodscountryartsstudio.com/
