Dollars better spent in the community where you live

Small Business Week is upon us. A time to think about what life would be without your neighbourhood convenience store/gas station, greasy spoon with almost just like homemade vittles, favourite watering hole and shops selling wares, wonders and must-haves.
Small business, in any community, is important and its vitality dictates how well a community thrives and keeps moving forward.
Buying local is indeed important for the longevity of a small business. Especially in a small community. But, even big city small business relies on locals to keep afloat. Investing in your hometown is buying local.
Spending bucks on local goods and services, instead of elsewhere, is a cyclical trickle down effect. If you buy local, that local business can keep local employees and will also have more money to spend, hopefully locally.
During festivities or during holidays, even if each and every resident of a community bought one thing local, instead of elsewhere, this would help breathe life into the community.
Take for instance, Thanksgiving. If a majority of residents headed to their local food store to pick up a turkey and/or, at the very least, a part of the festive meal — this would be a great boost to the local economy. For a birthday or other gift, perhaps buying local could keep a local business healthy and happy and open for business for years to come.
But, small business has many competitors vying for the same customer bucks, in the same community and in bigger centres, where sometimes prices dictate how a shopper shops.
Keeping prices competitive in a small community and at a small business is a smart idea, if possible and feasible. This keeps customers coming back for more and keeps them in the local vicinity, where they just may spend more dollars.
During this week, take a walk downtown. Stop in and say hi at your favourite small business. Look around, perhaps purchase something local and remember — your hard-earned dollars are better spent in the community you live in.