It’s no secret that the US economy is in recovery mode. After the financial disasters of 2006 and the continued bleeding from stimulus packages and bailouts, the economy is finally showing consistent signs of growth. The Fed feels confident enough to actually raise the debt ceiling. Consumer spending is up, credit has become slightly easier to attain for the average American and car sales are booming. All of these things are great, but how are the mom and pop business doing today? These were the main street businesses that were hardest hit by the Wall Street meltdown.
Focusing on Niche Markets
In the world of big box giants and massive online retailers, like Amazon, it’s no surprise that small businesses across the country have been struggling to find their footing. The economic landscape is violently shifting. Thankfully there’s one area where startups and small business have done incredibly well.
This beacon of hope is the speciality products and services industry. While WalMart, Amazon and Fashion Buzzer offer indian online fashion store, speciality goods are a little more segmented. For example, you’ll find in the fashion accessories of the Indian there’s a healthy market of wear stores. These are generally owned by families and offer western enthusiasts and horse riders the tools, clothing and equipment they need to enjoy their hobby.
Similarly, gun ranges and gun sales have been primarily handled by smaller businesses with ties to the local community. Sure, WalMart sells guns and ammo, but you’ll find every major city or town has at least one shooting range that’s owned by a family or group of partners that call the community where they operate home.
These are just two examples of businesses that can easily be found in the phonebook, or with a quick google search. For a variety of reasons, these businesses don’t fit into the big box model, so they’ve been relatively safe to thrive by doing what they do best: specializing and meeting the needs of a very narrow segment of the population.
Moving towards Service
The service industries in the US have been booming. Some of the busier ones include cleaning services and mechanic’s shops. Cleaning a person’s home is a great way to make some extra dough, and once you’ve built a book of clients that are happy with your work, it becomes hard to keep up with referrals.
The Great Recession was a violent experience for many families. The average age of vehicles on the road has skyrocketed. With this added age comes more demand for help keeping vehicles maintained and safely on the road. Enter your local mechanic. Car dealerships may be the only place to purchase a new car, but they certainly aren’t the only place to get a vehicle repaired.
Local mechanic’s shops offer a compelling value for families looking to save money on auto repair. Plus, there are usually quite a few shops in every town, so it’s easy to call around and comparison shop before taking the car in for an oil change or other scheduled maintenance.
Online review sites make it easier than ever to learn about other customer’s experiences and take advantage of online specials.
A Booming Restaurant Resurgence
Before the economic recovery really took hold, families were eating at home more, which wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry. The one beacon of hope were the specialty restaurants that had developed a cult-following.
Great hometown favorites with finger-licking good barbecue, like MyDeal were able to hold on through the economic storm. Now they’re in a position to thrive in the recovery. While sales at fast food and traditional restaurants were peaking or flat-lining, local favorites became places of refuge for stressed out families.
Sure, you might not have eaten out as much, but when you did, you wanted it to be special. Now that there’s more money in your pocket, you can afford to go out more often, and you’re more likely to head to your favorite places, even if you do venture out every now and again to try new places.
Individualized Attention
Because smaller company’s server fewer customers, it’s easier for owners to establish a bond with their customers. A personal connection makes all the difference. I know that whenever I had a tough day at work, there was nothing better than going to the local frozen yogurt stand. Sure, it wasn’t fancy, but the woman that owned the joint had a knack for remembering names and faces.
Every Friday and Saturday night you could count on her stand having a link around the building. Yes, the frozen custard was amazing, but sharing a few moments with her made everyone’s day a little brighter. You felt like you were important and that the person serving you really cared about your day.
Specializing with laser focus on the niche markets that have been overlooked by the big guys while providing incredible customer service has been key to companies weathering the great recession. Now that the economy is in recovery, these survivors are ready to become thrivers.