Think before you Dial or Click!
How doing business within the local community is energizing our business base. The philosophy behind the amazing growth of the National Association of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs program has come from a very basic premise; before you pick up the phone or go on the Internet to purchase goods and services, think first about what it means to purchase goods and services outside of your community. When you purchase from a company in another state or even another country, what does that mean for our local economy? Don't always count on a Thriving Business Community. . . Have a good "Think before you Dial or Click" story? Let me know and we will feature you in our e-newsletter. |
|
We have been fortunate to have a thriving community for many years, but it will not always be this way. We are in an era of consolidation of business services and products. And, as never before in our history, has the number of ways we can purchase goods and services been so diverse. We are outsourcing our factories, programming, engineering and accounting to India or China without even a consideration of what it means for our local businesses. When we get 50, 70 or even 100 business owners together at my Fridays at FourTM networking events, I often ask my guests to look at the business owners to their right and left. The majority of these people own their own businesses in Montgomery County or the State of Maryland. Each one of us are connected - we go to the same churches, synagogues, and temples and our children go to school together. How can we not consider what we are doing when we purchase goods or services elsewhere? A Personal Example of Thinking before you Dial or Click . . . A few years back I had the need for some display banners and pop-ups for my networking programs. If you have been to any one of my events, you can't miss seeing these towering pop-up displays. I could have gone to the Internet and purchased from out of state or even offshore and probably saved $50 or $100 each, but instead I purchased locally from a business owner in the heart of Rockville, Maryland. Since that time, not only have I been provided personalized service, I often drop over to see the "design in progress" to make sure what I had conceptualized really is what I want. But, more importantly, that owner, Bob Green of Photo Communications, Inc., has become a customer and advocate of my bank. He is constantly referring me business and makes introductions to his client base on a regular basis. Not only that, he has become a tireless volunteer for the National Association of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs, a sponsor and lifelong friend. Want to attend our next First  Friday at FourTM event? 
|
|
Benefit by Doing Business Locally . . . By doing business locally, I benefited greatly - probably in the tens of thousands of dollars in new business, found a tireless advocate of my bank and built up a solid friendship. So the couple of hundred dollars I may have saved in that initial purchase from a non-local supplier seems like such a foolish savings in retrospect. In conclusion, the message is that buying from businesses in our local community is good for all of us. Think before you dial or click! Sincerely, 
Ronald K. Wills
President and Founder
National Association of Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
Copyright National Association of Business Owners and
Entrepreneurs 2008, Metro Area Networking 2007 - All Rights Reserved
| 
