The first week of May each year is National Small Business Week; this year, it takes place from April 30 to May 6 this year.
The aim of this week is to acknowledge, honor, and support entrepreneurs who have played a part in bringing new ideas to life and growing our economy.
According to the Small Business Administration there were 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. at the end of 2022, making up around 99% of all the businesses in the country. 46.4% of Americans are employed by small businesses, which means that the success of these businesses play a vital role in our economy.
We've all heard the sobering statistic that half of all businesses fail in the first 5 years. Many might assume that the lack of capital is the reason for the failures. Although that is the number 2 reason that a business will fail, the number 1 reason is market demand.
That's right: of the half of all businesses that fail within the first five years, a whopping 42% of them fail due to a lack of market demand. It's important that new business entities do market research before starting a new venture, but even with effective and accurate market research, there remains among many small businesses a disconnect with marketing. Although there may be demand, there remains a lack of awareness that contributes to little to no demand for the specific business, its services and/or products.
That's where we step in:
The mission of Local First Springfield is to provide consumer education on decisions that affect independent businesses and to encourage spending with local independent businesses in and around Springfield Illinois and Sangamon County.
Our goal is to support member businesses and organizations by providing an opportunity to build awareness and exposure that will ultimately help them increase their odds of survival.
In this age of the internet, where consumers can literally search for product or service and find it from a resource across the country, it is especially important that businesses effectively communicate what they can provide. Consumers may not realize that there is a local business that carries what they are looking for. When they are searching (in the middle of the night?!), local companies will lose the sale to national names.
Local First Springfield helps local businesses by providing opportunities for free marketing through our website, social media marketing and events. We also encourage networking through our social events, and host events at member businesses to provide additional exposure.
The bottom line: supporting local businesses is essential for a healthy local economy, and we can all do our part by making a conscientious choice to choose local "first". Looking for local solutions before we look to national companies helps to ensure that our local businesses can survive and thrive.
Learn more about Local First Springfield at www.localfirstspringfield.com.