The Blight of Small Business

By Rebecca Parsons

Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Apple, Google, Zoom, and HelloFresh won in 2020.  They were already winning, but now, I mean they WON.  Won big.  

In a way that almost mirrors all of that winning, small businesses lost big in 2020….  Entertainment venues, restaurants, hotels, mom & pop shops that have been around for decades, all lost, and in a big way.  

I think the ‘shop local’ tag line will be more important than ever before.   Our small business community here in Delaware does more to prop up our local economy than is yet acknowledged, at least in our spending habits.  

Sometimes it’s important to state the obvious: small businesses are job creators, and most of those jobs are local jobs.  Rather than having to commute to another city, employees work closer to home. 

Take a stroll down Main Street (Newark), Market Street (Wilmington), Loockerman Street (Dover), or Rehoboth Avenue and you will notice that your community has its own unique character and charm.  From mom and pop shops, antiques dealers, coffee shops, and the occasional yoga studios, these businesses contribute to a community’s identity.   Compared to shopping malls and chain stores, local shops tend to require fewer public services and less infrastructure.  I would argue, with fewer tax dollars propping them up, they have a stronger impact on the local quality of life than we give them credit for.

So what’s next for America’s main street?  A handful of these businesses have already closed their doors.  I suspect that many of the independent restaurants do not fully know how to handle the amount of debt that they have accrued over the last year.  So what will this mean for them?   Years of work, grinding, cutting costs, pivoting, just to get back to the stability they once had.  It will be an uphill battle.

I think that our state and local governments actions over the next year are more important for our communities than ever before.  Our small business community needs you.  

Please do not let partisan politics, complacency, and bureaucracy stop us from providing the support these businesses so desperately need.  And, for our local community of work-from-homers – I beg of you – spend local.

-Robert Herrera

 

Check out our latest news

May 10, 2023

Welcome to THE MOTHERSHIP

When is the best time to flip your whip (i.e. Car)? Right about now, according to the experts! If you’re over your current set of wheels and are looking to […]

April 4, 2023

It was a Plant-tastic Event!

Terrarium Making Workshop We had a fun time with Will Ramirez leading a Terrarium Making Workshop on Thursday, March 30th at The Mill Concord. Take a look at the pics […]

March 27, 2023

The influence that Chat GPT will have on the business world

The recent advancements in artificial intelligence technology, specifically language models such as OpenAI’s GPT-3 (Generative Pretrained Transformer 3), has opened up new avenues for businesses to improve and innovate. ChatGPT, […]

March 8, 2023

Celebrating Women Voices

Meet our extraordinary office member Tanya Williamson, who is helping individuals build sustainable businesses, strong families, and resilient communities. Tanya is a proud and successful entrepreneur who runs multiple businesses from […]

February 28, 2023

Meet Ryan Costin

Image and Professionalism: Why it Matters in Life and Business Image and professionalism are important aspects of our lives that we often overlook. How we present ourselves to others, both […]

February 27, 2023

Third Floor Expansion Progress

There will be new offices, amenities, community space, and terraces on the third floor, and with these changes, there will be a little noise. With great progress comes great noise. […]

December 20, 2022

3 Ways to Overcome Holiday Work Stress

With most companies giving time off during the winter holidays, the month of December seems to get shorter every year, and yet, your work day can start to feel longer […]

December 12, 2022

Computer Science Education Week

The second week of December celebrates Computer Education Week, and we asked our member, Zip Code Wilmington, to let us interview one of their students. Meet Kash Elcock. We asked […]

November 17, 2022

Career Development Month

Did you know that November is Career Development Month? Neither did I. But in this case, ignorance is not bliss… we need to take charge! A successful career requires some level of […]

October 10, 2022

Remotely Together

Two years ago, Covid-19 sent millions of us home to our dining room tables and extra bedrooms, frequently trapping us in zoom meetings and drastically redefining work. Brittany and Andrew […]