To celebrate Unchained America Day, a group of Cleveland area small, independently owned businesses got together over a cup of coffee, to discuss how they were operating in any increasingly competitive enviroment. A more detailed explanation of each of the files is forthcoming.
Part 1. Dameon Guess describes Jax Prints. Sara Wean talks about FutureHeights and their shopping programs. John Zagara talks about their recent purchase of a Tops store and how Cleveland Heights is pro independent business. Chris Kiec of Adventures in Automation explains her IT consulting business. Interesting note—everyone who lives on Chris’ cul-du-sac in Chesterland owns their own business. “It’s a bizzare thing that in Chesterland, everyone works for Progressive, Hillcrest Hospital or owns their own business.” Time: 13.04
Part 2. George of Meet.The.Bloggers. Sandy Piderit’s (CWRU MGMT Prof, Cleveland Heights resident, blogger) student are turning employment in small businesses to stay in the region. John Zagara comments CWRU’s student body is an untapped resource. Sandy is the internal ambassador for her colleagues, the majority of whom are new in the last 5 years. Randy Martin of Martin Design. Interesting story about Marc’s versus Stop ‘n’ Shop in the 80’s. Also how a neighborhood grocery store started a newspaper to target the neighborhood. Time: 11.07
Part 3. John Zagara talks about his plans to open a second store in Richmond Heights. Best practice for Zagara’s is friendly staff. A challenge for them is “socially-inept kids” who use iPods and cellphones. Chris explains that her 10 year old son is just now being allowed to use the internet. “The best IT people are people who didn’t get an IT degree because they’re one with humanity”. Sara asks John how they train employees in those social skills. Family is important. Sara explains that a survey FutureHeights has done shows that people will support businesses they feel connected to. John explains how demotivating Tops management structure. Randy brings up another chain that’s responsive, but never changes. Steve Presser of Big Fun refers customers looking for a product he doesn’t carry to another independent business. How to do PR. Time: 11.34
Part 4. Sarah Wilson-Jones of Phoenix coffee has mixed feeling about competition from national chains. Randy says he isn’t personally opposed to Walmart. He asks Sarah what she did after she heard about Starbucks moving in the neighborhood. She attributes it to the flexibility of a small business. John asks how their brand changed. Randy points out that locally owned businesses aren’t inherently better. He cites examples that deserve to go out of business. Starbucks down the street went out of business. Phoenix has picked up service accounts for Starbucks espresso machines. Chris picks up accounts from the “big boys” as well. Public policy issues that need to change. Time: 10.01
Part 5. Chris has been iced out of bidding because she’s from this region. John tells a story about visiting Minnesota and wonders why they have so many corporate headquarters there, when you need an engine block heater to get your car started in the winter. Cleveland’s grocery prices are lower then anyplace in the country. Dameon talks about Jaxprints’ e-commerce process. Steve’s average order is $200, but he feels he’s treated like a king. Randy tells “the best chef left” story. Time: 12.06
Part 6. Sarah explains that a barista who has worked at other coffee places told her the other day that he learned more at 4 hours of training at Phoenix, then all the other places he’s worked put together. Steve talks about the change in culture needed to support independent businesses. He can count on one hand the number of toy stores now, when there used to be that many in one neighborhood. “If we’re overrun by the majors, the landscape that we value as being independently looking and thinking” will be gone. Cites ClevelandOriginals.com as a great example. Many examples of not being able to compete on price. Chris thinks this roundtable is one way to educate the public (and each other) about the benefits of support independent businesses. Time: 12.15
Part 7. Sandy talks about the debate around the triple-bottom line. She’s been surprised by her students because in surveys of area companies, they’re attrated to small businesses and have a deep-seated skepticism of large ones. Steve shares a story about an Ohio company that finds it’s cheaper to ship from China, and that very few toys are made in America, even though Americana-themed toys are popular. They’re still stamped “Made in China”. I ask about internet advertising for small businesses. Good discussion on how small businesses advertise. Time: 11.57
Part 8. Sara wonders if it pays to have a website and explains most businesses in Cleveland Heights don’t have one. Sandy points out that the resource George is offering is different then just the “internet”, describing the people participating in the Northeast Ohio Blogosphere as “alpha consumers”. Randy emphasizes that the reason everyone attended the roundtable was because of the email from Sarah. He asks if email is the internet. Dameon thinks yes and we talk about how the perceptions are changing. Sandy points out that the difference is social marketing—it’s email, not spam because you recognize who it’s coming from. Chris explains presence advertising to cell phones, then brings up NEOSA’s Buy NEO program. Sarah explains what went on in her head when I asked about the internet. Time: 12.35
Part 9. Chris talks about answering her own phones and moving to using a secretary. Dameon wants to know what’s important—whether it’s you get to talk to the owner, or you get the info you’re looking for. Randy says you need focus on only what no one else can do, then shares how he handles phone calls. Good discussion about personal planning. Randy talks about cooperation and wonders what the next step is. He thinks this sort of roundtable is a better alternative then COSE. Steve likes FutureHeights’ programs. Sarah explains her intentions with the roundtable. This segment wraps up with a discussion on how the local mainstream media is negatively impacting the culture of the region. Time: 12.01
Part 10. Dameon talks about what he’d like the next steps to be, the expands on how Jaxprints is competiting. He supports Cleveland Originals over corporate chains at lifestyle centers. We agree to meet again. Randy wants to run this part first. Dameon has an interesting perspective on the national market and says he’s seeing more co-branding. Interesting discussion about American Appearl and how they undercut themselves. Time: 14.23
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