I never dreamed that I, Emily Hoppmann, would one day be a small business owner but I am! After years of working for other veterinarians and even returning to do an exotics internship, I decided to buy Elgin Veterinary Hospital in Northeast Columbia. I say Northeast Columbia instead of simply saying Elgin since some people do not know where Elgin is or they have the misconception that it is far away. Luckily, Elgin is easy to access being right off of I-20, Highway 1 (Two Notch Road), and Highway 12 (Percival Road) depending on where you are coming from. The location of Elgin Veterinary Hospital at 1240 Pine Street is even better, since it is just one turn onto Pine Street from any of those options! (Not to worry - if you are directionally challenged, as I am, you can also simply type where you are coming from into our website at www.elginvethospital.com and it will give you step-by-step directions.)
As scary as making the decision to buy was at the time, it has been the most amazing feeling to be able to practice medicine in an atmosphere where you always feel at home and where I know that all of my clients and patients are treated with dignity and respect. Plus, I have been able to hand-pick the most amazing staff in the world and they all care about the Elgin Veterinary Hospital Family as much as I do and are so much fun to work with.
It was not until I became a small business owner that I truly saw and started to understand the vast differences between larger companies and smaller family-owned and operated companies. I have now seen and experienced first-hand the seemingly endless challenges unique to small companies, but have also had the opportunity to witness the positive impact unique to small businesses can provide to the community. Can you imagine how tragic it would be to not have businesses that value quality over quantity, that take the time to get to know you as a person and not just a number, and that take pride in meeting the needs of each individual customer and not just mass-producing a product or providing a service in a "one-size fits all approach"? These are traits that I want in a company I want to do business with and they are becoming harder and harder to find. When I have found them, they have been through my experiences with small businesses (not to say I haven't had horrible experiences with small businesses as well). That is why I urge everyone to rally behind the smaller, local businesses and why I will continue to post information about businesses that I have found that have these traits.
Even if you love the convenience of the big-box stores and are okay with just being another face in the crowd to a company, I know everyone wants to see the economy around them improve. I feel small businesses are the key to seeing this improvement in both the national and local economy. The national news says that the economy is improving every day, but I have not experienced that personally. When I look around for signs that things have made a turn for the better, I just don't see them. Over the past
decade, we have seen more changes in the state of our national and local economy, job market,
and the way business is conducted than ever before. Many of these changes are not
positive changes for our community and it is easy to feel as if we are helpless as individuals to improve things. However, as individuals and as a community we can make positive
changes in our local economy, our unemployment rate, and our overall quality of life. America was built on
small, family-owned businesses and it is these same types of businesses that can help us today get us back to where we should be. Through keeping them in mind as a consumer and doing all we can to support our local small businesses, we can empower ourselves to help improve the state of the world around us. People have to choose to do all of their business with smaller, family-owned and operated businesses to ensure that the hard-earned money we spend stays within our local economy. Not only does having this money stay within
our community directly improve the local economy, but it also helps to increase
employment opportunities and decrease the number of people that owners are having to lay-off. If we think local first and continue to support the
economy directly surrounding us, we have no reason to feel helpless - together we have the power to achieve the positive
changes that we desire.
John, who currently owns the local hardware store that has been in
his family for years, can be an example of how much of a difference supporting a local business instead of one of the bigger chain stores can have. For years and
years, people have always come to this hardware store for supplies, advice, and
helpful hints. Not only is the business
contributing to our local economy just by being open, but John and his multiple
employees are members of our community that are all happily employed. However,
one of the large chain companies opened up in the area, offering slightly lower
prices than the local hardware store (since chains are able to buy in bulk at a
discounted rate and smaller businesses can’t).
As more and more people started to go to the big box company to save a little money, John’s
business slowed down and eventually he had to close the doors since he simply couldn’t compete with the large chains discounted prices and large inventory. Despite the fact that John and his employees took
enormous pride in their work, always did their best to make sure every customer
was taken care of, offered only the best products available and were always
there with advice or guidance, the hardware store went out of business. When it came down to the bottom line, John’s
cost to buy and carry the same products found in larger stores was at least
double since there are no price breaks or discounted shipping for small businesses who can't buy in bulk. Also, his payroll costs were
much higher because his employees mattered to him and he took good care of them. He also made sure he had enough employees who were knowledgeable about the products he sold and would be available to personally assist each customer’s individual needs and offer them sound advice if they had questions. He wanted to be sure his customers didn't have to search for someone to help them and he certainly did not want to have employees that were so poorly trained that all they could do was simply direct people to the correct area of the hardware store.
John always ran his family business the way he felt it should be run, in a way he could be proud of, knowing that he was a fair and honest businessman. When faced with the harsh reality that he could no longer keep the door open without cutting corners, he knew he would have to close his beloved store because sacrificing quality or customer service was not an option for him. The closing of his
business meant there will no longer be a hardware store where customer satisfaction was a priority
and you could trust the advice of the employees helping you. It also is a blow to the local economy, not only from the loss of revenue and taxes from the business itself, but because the money that people would have spent at his store is no longer staying within the local economy, and John and his local employees no longer having a
place to work so the unemployment rate will continue to rise.
As more and
more large chain stores open and result in the local businesses going out of business, the state of our local economy and job market gets worse.
You also lose the distinct way a locally owned and operated businesses is run - with a dedication to quality and customer service based on the business owners pride in their businesses and in being an active part of the community. I am proud to be a part of this community and I believe in supporting other local businesses both personally and professionally, even though it may take more time or cost more. When someone takes pride in the work that they do it shows and it makes all the difference in the world to me. I have had the pleasure of meeting and doing business with a number
of local small businesses over the years and I want to say thank you to these companies for the amazing jobs they have done. I also want to share how great they are with the rest of the community so I
will be highlighting different types of local small businesses that I have had the pleasure of getting to know in future blogs/posts. Until then - think local first and support your small businesses!
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