Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
newyorker.com
Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
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Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#2And small businesses will continue to do well. Small businesses have the advantage of agility - they can react to market changes quicker, they have more freedom to experiment, and they can tailor the experience of whatever they're offering to local markets.
Small businesses are also important for job creation: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/02806.html
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#3[deleted]
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#4Perhaps small scale production is becoming cheaper and more feasible. The cost of equipment continues to drop, as even expensive things are made by someone looking to increase their market.
What if the additive manufacturing fans are right? What if 3d printers that can actually make good stuff get cheap but remain slow? Fused titanium parts are awesome, but I don't expect that in my living room any time soon.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#5One overlooked factor is the modern consumer being desensitized to advertising. This created huge advantages in the last 50 years but modern consumers see so much advertising that they are largely immune to it.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#6I attribute the change to the influx and return of a strong middle class in cities. It's easier to create "mom and pop" shops when you have affluent buyers who live a block away.
Suburban lifestyle meant your nearest supermarket became the obvious decision when the 5 mile drive was no shorter than a 45 minute drive.
It will be interesting when services such as Postmates, Curbside, and Instacart evolve to extend these small businesses' reach.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#7I attribute the change to the influx and return of a strong middle class in cities. It's easier to create "mom and pop" shops when you have affluent buyers who live a block away. Suburban lifestyle meant your nearest supermarket became the obvious decision when the 5 mile drive was no shorter than a 45 minute drive. It will be interesting when services such as Postmates, Curbside, and Instacart evolve to extend these…
I think the big part is affluence full stop. “Discretionary” spending tends to go to go to small businesses in larger proportions while big corporations get the non discretionary stuff. Niche products like those mentioned. Services (cleaning restaurants). Entertainments services. Those all lend well to smaller businesses.
More rich people. More niche products and fun services.
A middle class family spend most of their money on low cost brands at the supermarket supermarket, department store clothes and furniture, transport, accommodation, etc. Housing employs a lot of small businesses but apart from that, most of it goes to the big boys. Add 50% to their income and you’ll probably see more restaurants, craft products and such.
Mass production, mass appeal is the domain of large company.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#8I attribute the change to the influx and return of a strong middle class in cities. It's easier to create "mom and pop" shops when you have affluent buyers who live a block away. Suburban lifestyle meant your nearest supermarket became the obvious decision when the 5 mile drive was no shorter than a 45 minute drive. It will be interesting when services such as Postmates, Curbside, and Instacart evolve to extend these…
I think the big part is affluence full stop. “Discretionary” spending tends to go to go to small businesses in larger proportions while big corporations get the non discretionary stuff. Niche products like those mentioned. Services (cleaning restaurants). Entertainments services. Those all lend well to smaller businesses. More rich people. More niche products and fun services. A middle class family spend most of thei…
> I think the big part is affluence full stop.
I don't know about that. Most luxury spending I see goes towards huge brands (fashion labels, air travel, etc.), whereas necessities can go to small businesses.
I'd probably never buy my clothes at a random boutique, but I might pick up a lightbulb at the corner hardware store.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#9I think some of it also comes from a lower barrier to entry in many cases - the cost of supplying a small business (such as a coffee shop) has been lowered dramatically in recent years by technological advances in the supply chain, i.e. better tracking of coffee beans, more efficient delivery, etc.
Re: Why Small Businesses Are Starting to Win Again
#10I attribute the change to the influx and return of a strong middle class in cities. It's easier to create "mom and pop" shops when you have affluent buyers who live a block away. Suburban lifestyle meant your nearest supermarket became the obvious decision when the 5 mile drive was no shorter than a 45 minute drive. It will be interesting when services such as Postmates, Curbside, and Instacart evolve to extend these…
>return of a strong middle class in cities
Where are these cities where a strong middle class has returned? Surely not in SF, where one of the area's highest paid professions (software engineer) cannot afford family housing? Certainly not elsewhere in California, where incomes among middle class Californian households fell by nearly 7% between 2009 and 2013, while income among the state’s top 20% earners grew by 1.3% [1].
Certainly not small cities in the Midwest or South. Having traveled through those extensively the past few years, I can assure you there is no middle class returning to those cities. Quite the opposite.
I'm not one of those who gloats about SV "privilege" and scolds people for making the money they deserve to get paid, but the extent to which the typical educated SVer is getting out of touch with the economic reality of this country does have me concerned.
If software really is eating the world, and the industry's best and brightest are blithely unaware of the dire condition of the country's middle class, then we are good and truly fucked.
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/24/states-middle-class... (not usually one to cite the Huffington Post, but this article clearly outlines the data sources and methods at the bottom, and they seem solid)