Say Goodbye to Mom & Pop Shops, Unless…

A little more convenient, a little cheaper, a little faster, but at what cost? The cost will be saying goodbye to mom and pop shops and a significant wealth-building tool of middle America. If you’ve been watching the events of the past 40 years, I don’t need to explain to you what has transpired, but just in case, let’s briefly explore the timeline.

We start with Walmart and K-Mart, both behemoths in their time. They spread like a wildfire across the United States. Why wouldn’t they? They offered the convenience of getting almost anything a consumer desired, all in one place. As they gained dominance, another phenomenon occurred. Small businesses that sold clothing, home goods, gardening and many other supplies were unable to compete. This ultimately weakened middle-income America as wealth shifted from the middle to the top one percent. 

If competing with Walmart wasn’t tough enough, along comes Amazon to change the game even further. Yes! I know I didn’t mention K-Mart, they eventually reached their demise. I digress. Amazon has further changed the game for small businesses as they sometimes sell products cheaper than the manufacturer can afford. 

Nothing made it clearer to me than when I went to Walmart for an adaptor for my computer and an employee told me they didn’t carry it. They recommended that I go to Amazon, where I did find the item. They delivered it to my door, the next day! Walmart is having trouble adjusting to the new norm. How can any small business compete with that? 

The answer is easy, they can’t! Therefore, the rich will become richer and middle America will continue to be squeezed. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think big business is the enemy to middle America. The true enemy to our success is the man in the mirror. We choose to give these big corporations our money, money which they often use to influence our government to make laws in their favor. 

If we want to balance the power, we’ll have to redistribute the wealth. Not by government mandate, but by our choices. There’s a way to right the ship. There’s a way to change the trajectory, but it requires a change in the way we think. I’m a realist, so I do realize that everyone won’t get this, so I’m attempting to reach those who will, primarily small business owners. 

We can start by supporting each other’s businesses as much as possible, only doing business with big companies when there’s no other option. I know it’s challenging to find small businesses as they are often off the beaten path. Now, I was taught not to complain about a problem unless I could offer a solution and that’s why we created the SAVEME10 app.

The purpose of the app is to make it easier for consumers to find a small business where they can do their shopping. To incentivize shoppers to seek out a small business, we offer an instant 10% discount. Why 10%, because that’s the industry standard for marketing and advertising your business. The strategy here is that instead of spending 10% hoping to get a customer, you don’t give up 10% unless you get a customer. Essentially, the process is reversed, so that you’re paying for performance. The 10% goes to the customer which should keep them coming back to you. 

The SAVEME10 app also has many search features that make it easy for a potential customer to find you. They can search by city, zip code and keywords. The app also provides links to your website, coupons and business reviews. A customer can place calls through the app and gps your location. If you’re a home based business, just enter “online” as your address and “anywhere” as your state. We do recommend using your zip code as shopping locally is important to many of our users. Last but certainly not least, the app allows for raving fans of your business to share your business information with other potential customers with just the click of a button. It’s that easy. 

Find the link to app for Android and iOS below:

Listen, it’s your money! I can’t tell you how to spend it. I just know that I don’t want to see a world where small business doesn’t exist. We have the power to make a difference. We’re all in this together and together, we rise. Be part of the solution. Get the app, add your business, use the app to save small business. 

Link of App for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ventre-loyalty/id1276157976?fbclid=IwAR3-MnLqELcjOqa9l3bYJ5FtphRBi18KeIsWoup9ztSsctnq0b1oFV9z1Vg
Link to App on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ventreapp&fbclid=IwAR2U0vKly3lY22XRyFvWBRi8Vq-Jb3YtB1Y19T3bhCHAEqOYE4wtKtTSpFM