In the good old days, local businesses were the spine of the networks that made strong local communities. And people loved their local businesses, not just because they felt a connection to the people running them, but for many practical reasons as well. Local businesses make their own decisions and sell product to suit their community, often sourcing materials for their product from within the community. This meant that they could offer unique goods, suited to local interests. And people were glad that their money was helping someone they knew, not disappearing into some offshore bank account or an excessive executive salary.

Local businesses value their place in a community and often give back. In obvious ways like employing locally, and attracting visitors. But often in more subtle ways like sponsoring a sports team, or donating products and services to a school fete.

Losing the Battle Against the Big Chains

With all of these benefits, it would seem like local businesses should flourish and dominate the marketplace, but sadly this is not what has happened. Instead local businesses have struggled to remain profitable and many have been forced to close. And the number of new local businesses being started has also dramatically declined. According to the Retail Council of Canada, only 27% of retail purchasing is done through independent retailers.

There reasons for a decline in the number of local businesses are varied and complex. Much of the cause for this decline is laid at the feet of large chains, franchises, and corporations. But over the past twenty years, society and the way we interact has changed a lot too. The invention and proliferation of the Internet, its extension into every minute of our lives through mobile devices, has had a big impact on local businesses. The Financial Times UK found that online sales have soared from 11% in 2012, to 24% in 2017.

Too Busy for Tech

A family business is very demanding on time and often staff work many more hours than typical employees of corporations. A US Gallup poll stated, “Sixty-two percent of small-business owners say they work 50 or more hours each week.” And found 20% work 70 or more hours weekly. This leaves them very little spare time to spend on marketing, and even less time to learn new skills and keep up with rapidly changing technology. Small businesses don’t have the resources to develop and manage online marketing campaigns. But their competition, the corporations and franchises, can hire a few professionals to manage online marketing across hundreds of their stores. This advantage has given corporations a powerful and easily recognized online presence, and left the local businesses without a voice.

A Solution to Bring us Together

There is only one way for local businesses to combat such a massive disadvantage in marketing. They cannot do it alone and must join together to establish more efficient, automated, and community supported methods for online marketing. But designing a system to do this, in a way that is self sustaining, and without demanding a significant investment of time and money is too much even for a whole community. For a long time there has been no solution to this fundamental problem.

Recently a small start-up that is passionate about supporting local businesses trialed a solution. Its innovative use of technology, combined with expertise in community engagement drove the development of a successful prototype. It is called FlipNpik, and was trialed in Quebec. Their system combined local businesses, customers, and business ambassadors in a manner that drove organic Internet marketing campaigns, and rebuilt a sense of community and ownership around local businesses. This project has given hope to small businesses and the communities they serve. So it is exciting to see that they are now heading into a new development phase with the aim of providing their services to many more communities around the world.