12/31/2023
We were planning to go quietly into the night, but the last few days have really made us think…
The response in the last few days has been incredible, with so many messages of support for what we created, and disappointment and sadness that we'll no longer be able to do so. Plus an overwhelming demand for our products. The unfortunate truth is, if we had received just half that level of support over the last six months we would have survived. It's too late for us, but maybe it's not too late for some of the other amazing small businesses out there. This isn't to preach or accuse or point fingers at anyone with regards to our situation, but to help support those businesses. And if you personally have a business you love and don't want to see disappear, it's to help you help them stick around.
If you're thinking it's just a problem with our establishment, it's not. We're maybe the third or fourth bakery in the area that's closed in the last few months. And beyond that, look around at the main street near you (as a lot of customers come from far and wide, this isn't just a problem where we were located). Look at how suddenly every small store has a flag out the front. How they're now open for hours or days that they weren't before. How they're creating extra discounts or cheaper or smaller products than they did before. How establishments that used to have lines every weekend now don't.
And now onto how you can help…
Spend money there. Apologies for stating the obvious. We know times are tight now, everything is more expensive and money has to be stretched further than we're used to. Cutbacks need to be made. And yet we still see long lines at chain food and coffee places. But really take a look at what you're paying there and what you get for that money. Is it that much more in quantity than what you'd get at a small business? What about the quality? And then also balance that out against whether you want your money going to an enormous corporation or your local favorite. Because the truth is, that corporation has plenty of resources to see them through the hard times. Either a big pile of cash they can draw from, assets they can borrow against, or assets they can liquidate. Your local businesses won't have that luxury. Margins are thin, and sales every day, every week, every month count. And when times get tough, small businesses will fight and fight and fight to stay open. They care about their employees and their customers, and will make endless sacrifices to try and survive. A corporate store of a conglomerate will just close, or put an increasing amount of pressure on their employees by cutting back their hours and increasing their responsibilities. Who would you rather support?
Don't use services like DoorDash. Yes, it's convenient, but it's a costly and bothersome addition for small business (not to mention an exploitative work environment for their delivery drivers). And it costs customers, too. Services like these charge most food establishments 30% for each order they take. Almost no food outlet has a profit margin that can just absorb that cost (and nor should they). So most places will pass all that increase onto customers (and then DoorDash will bully them to make the prices on their platform the same as in store, effectively making the business take a loss on every sale, but that's a story for another day). Then DoorDash will charge another 17% in “service fees” to the customer. So the food you're buying now costs 50% more than if you came into the store. And all this money is going to a company that has never been profitable and has some shady practices. It's a recipe for long term disaster for the food industry as it drains money from individuals and small businesses alike without adding anything meaningful to the economy.
Engage with the business on social media. This one doesn't cost anything other than time. The algorithms on those platforms are getting harder to navigate and small businesses are being pushed out of news feeds. It's a catch 22 where a post won't be put in front of people to engage with because no one has engaged with it. So every like, comment and share on your favorite place's post boosts their profiles and posts, and boosts the potential for the platform to put the post in front of people who aren't already following. Not seeing the Facebook posts from your favorite business regularly? Go to their page, find a post (any post), click on the three dots on the top right and click “see more like this”. This will put posts from this establishment towards the top of your news feed, making it easier for you to engage.
Post reviews on Google. We were so proud of the 119 almost perfect reviews we had received. It took two years to get to that number. So that makes it even more disheartening to see a couple of chain restaurants just down the road who opened just weeks ago to already have 70+ reviews (they're mediocre reviews, but still). For chain restaurants that serve the same thing as every other of their hundreds of outlets… Chains don't need your reviews. They're already established, people will look for them, and they have a healthy budget for marketing to bring people in. Small businesses don't have that. A review for a small business provides so much more value for the business and community. A review takes effort, so think about where you want that effort to go, who you want it to support.
And finally, be kind. The vast, vast majority of people we came into contact with already do this (to the point where i wondered whether to even include this, as the few people who aren't kind probably can't be changed). It should come as no surprise that owning and running a small business is hard, so very hard. And the tricky economy we've have for the last three years has made it even worse. Being decent to small businesses and treating their owners and workers with respect will go a long way to helping them stick out the tough times. Unfortunately, there are people who think a small business should have the same resources and services as a restaurant chain or big box store. But no, they don't have an IT team that builds out their point of sale to work perfectly every time, they don't have a logistics department that tracks their inventory, they don't have a data analysis team that monitors sales trends to know how much of what to make every day. It's probably just one or two people who love something enough to try and learn how to do all of these things and more. So please be patient with small businesses if your favorite item is out of stock, or a transaction doesn't execute perfectly.
We know some people will read this in black and white terms. To be clear, we're not saying never buy from a chain store again. Sometimes you need the convenience, sometimes that's all you can afford, and sometimes you just want whatever it is they sell. But always keep in mind that every transaction determines which businesses survive and which don't, and ultimately what kind of town or region you have. If you want the vibrancy of a main street with unique and interesting businesses, put your money and effort there. Otherwise, your town will be just like so many others with the same chains in the same strip malls.
To end this, thank you to all the customers we've had over the last three years that have been there everyday, every week, every month. The ones who brought in friends to try our food, wrote reviews and recommendations, and simply supported us with their kind words. It was for you that we fought for, and we're sorry we couldn't survive this particular fight to keep bringing you joy. And we wish everyone a happy, healthy, and positive 2024.
