{"id":2960,"date":"2019-09-13T18:14:37","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T18:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2019-09-13T18:14:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T18:14:39","slug":"community-businesses-and-social-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2960","title":{"rendered":"Community Businesses and Social Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cNo\nfirst-time entrepreneur has the business network of contacts needed to succeed.\nAn incubator should be well integrated into the local business community and\nhave a steady source of contacts and introductions\u201d. Jay Samit<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greets again my fellow readers\u2026\nAt some point in time, you\u2019ve likely seen a statistic or statement by a\npolitician or economist stating the importance of small business to local\ncommunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, they quote these things as hollow statistics, but you and I, who have the luxury of living in real communities, not the static structured gated community but real ones, you might call it scheme or garrison, or lane or whatever, but you know the space to which I refer. The homes and environs and ends that are alive with colourful characters, rich with the textures of life that define and typify Jamaica and our lifestyle. The businesses that come along with our living and inhabiting a space are a valuable asset to the local community. It should come as no surprise then that there are many ways that small businesses make a profound local impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMUNITY IDENTITY<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a strut down the main street where you are based and you\u2019ll likely\nnotice that your community has its own unique character and charm. From the\ncook shop, the tuck shop and dog grooming business, to a Chinese emporium,\nhaberdashery, bar, games\u2019 room, and beyond, small businesses contribute to a\ncommunity\u2019s identity. Many municipalities and tourism boards across the world\nhave prioritized preserving the unique character a vibrant small business\ncommunity creates\u2013 transforming that character into an advantage. It is time\nthe St. James Municipal Corporatio puts more interest and finances into the\npreservation of community businesses, as these businesses are more crucial than\nany political policy to the breaking of intergenerational poverty and creating\nwealth pools in communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small business owners are an integral part of the communities in which\nthey live and work. Thus, they tend to be cognizant of how their decisions may\nimpact their neighbours. In addition, local small business entrepreneurs tend\nto be involved in the community. For instance, they may sponsor local\nsix-a-side teams, donate to the city\u2019s homeless shelter, join the residents\u2019\nassociations and community based organizations, participate in community\ncharity events like back-to-school treats, help kids attend school and\ncrucially provide employment. It\u2019s also not unheard of for successful business\nowners to guest lecture at the local community college, technical institute, or\nsmall business centre. Venise Samuels, the Paradise Youth Club Manager, a\nhairdresser and entrepreneur does it all the time. Paradise, where I am based,\nis characterized by its long standing businesses. Businesses like Lee\u2019s Gas,\nChino\u2019s SweetSop Tree Shop, Miss Elaine\u2019s (Paradise Grocery), Touch of Klass\n(Lauraine\u2019s Bar) and Tash\u2019s Enterprise. In some way, these businesses are\nintimately and intricately connected to the life blood of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMUNITY HEALTH<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to contributing to the local community\u2019s unique identity\nand being involved locally, small business owners help to build a sense of\ncommunity. Their businesses tend to be people businesses. Small business owners\nare more likely to build personal relationships with their customers, knowing\nmany of them by name. When was the last time you walked into a large chain\nstore and were greeted by name? But I bet from time to time the shop keeper has\nthe item you came for in hand as he sees you coming to the shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I wish is that our small business owners band together, forming\ncasual or formal relationships, such as a merchant\u2019s associations or one-on-one\ncounseling and mentoring relationships. These relationships leverage the\nexpertise of the participants to contribute to the business community\u2019s\nlong-term success. They are also often a key tool for generating goodwill\nbetween business owners, so that as foot traffic to one business increases,\nother nearby businesses benefit through increased exposure and word-of-mouth\nreferrals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INCREASING THE TAX BASE<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When local residents shop at small businesses within their communities,\ntheir tax dollars stay within the local economy, helping to improve their\ncommunity as a result. Likewise, local small businesses tend to buy locally as\nwell, pumping more of their profits back into the community than their chain\nstore counterparts, helping with economic development. And if there is one\nthing I know politicians respond where they see the money is. So if we wish to\ncommandeer the attention of politicians and get them to respond to the needs,\nwishes and desires of the community, we need to be communities of wealth\ngenerators, and small business is how we start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOCAL JOBS<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses are job creators, and most of those jobs are local\njobs. In an age where employment is an issue for government, I think this is a\nmassive point that the municipal corporations in every parish ought to\ninvestigate. Rather than having to commute to another town, community or\nparish, employees work closer to home. Supporting local businesses also helps\nyour fellow community members who work at them. When a community has a vibrant\ncommercial centre, it also creates ample opportunities for these workers to\nshop at other local small businesses. They grab lunch or dinner from local\nrestaurants, run errands on their break, and grab drinks from local bars. This\nkeeps money local and further creates a tight-knit community vibe. This has to\nbe GOOD!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENTREPRENEURSHIP<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small businesses are the product of the business owner\u2019s\nentrepreneurial spirit. By starting a small business, the business owner is\ntaking charge of his or her future. Entrepreneurship fuels Jamaica\u2019s economic\ninnovation and prosperity and serves as a key means for families to move out of\nlow-wage jobs and into the middle class. Believe me, I am the son of an\nentrepreneur, and my grandmother, Dorothy Thompson, was an entrepreneur,\nrunning a Tuck Shop at the Cornwall Regional Hospital for all my life as long\nas she was alive and I know how that small business helped to preserve and even\nelevate a family, not a business chain or an empire – one shop, which sent\nchildren and grandchildren to schools and universities. So\u2026 never ever\nunderestimate the power of the entrepreneurial spirit, and when one is doing\nbusiness in your community support them, and definitely don\u2019t devalue or\nundervalue their work, and don\u2019t let them crumble under unjustified badmind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nthe author: Yannick Nesta Pessoa B.A. is Jamaica\u2019s first blogger, a Community\nActivist, an Artist and Entrepreneur. Follow Yannick on Twitter at @yahnyk |\nyannickpessoa@yahoo.com<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo first-time entrepreneur has the business network of contacts needed to succeed. An incubator should be well integrated into the local business community and have a steady source of contacts and introductions\u201d. Jay Samit Greets again my fellow readers\u2026 At some point in time, you\u2019ve likely seen a statistic or statement by a politician or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[1524,1522,908,1523],"class_list":["post-2960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editorial","category-letters","tag-businesses","tag-community-activism","tag-entrepreneur","tag-social-enterprise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2961,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2960\/revisions\/2961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}