Local business is very good business!

Getting people in your local area to know about your Business is the first step in getting more local business.

Of course we all want to be doing more business locally, and COVID has shown us all just how important it is for locals to know your business exists.

Advantages Of Working Local

We know that working in the local area is easier and a lot more efficient.

• There is less time travelling
• There is generally a better connection with your local customers
• Often a local businesses can be operated from home or less expensive premises
• Staff that can work locally are prepared to work for a little less due to convenience and less travelling and parking costs
• You can get a better work / life balance
• Plus … these things should add up to more profits

The problem for many small business owners is getting known and therefore finding enough work locally.

You need to make sure that locals know your business exists and that you provide a great service and/or great products.

Recommendations Are The Lifeblood Of Local Businesses

As Kiwis we generally love to help others, and especially those small business owners that we see do a good job.

We will tell others about a good restaurant we have been to or recommend an electrician who did some work for us. we do this on a personal level with friends and family and now we can also provide recommendations on social media.

But while Kiwis will be happy to recommend others, we generally don’t like to promote ourselves in this manner.

So it is okay to recommend someone else, but we don’t recommend ourselves.

but what if you could get other people recommending you?

Find A Local Business Network

Many small business owners will arrange to meet with people in business whom they may think they can get business from.

They will meet for a coffee and chat about their businesses and then tend to get back to work and very little happens.

Sound familiar?

I think all small business owners have experienced this.

I know I have on multiple occasions and yet we still do it.

But I have also become involved in a local business network that has connected me with multiple local business. We meet every week over breakfast and share things about our businesses and story’s of what we have done for our clients so each of us gets a very good understanding of what each of us does.

These are structured meetings which some people think is a bit over the top; however they work – it’s some of the best marketing I have done.

The meetings I attend are every Thursday morning starting at 7.00am and we are finished by 8.30am so they don’t cut into the normal work day to much.

We each get a dedicated minute (BNI 60-seconds) to promote our business like we would do an elevator pitch, and each week we also have a person present for 10-minutes as well.

Over time I have gotten a good understanding of many businesses which I had never thought too much about previously.

More importantly, by getting to know these local business people I now have a range of people in my business network that I am happy to promote.

I have made connections with a lot of local business people and learned about their business and how they operate too. Over time I have built friendships and many I have used personally for things that I needed.

The business networking group that I belong to is part on the Business Network International (BNI) group and our local networking group is simply known as BNI Westgate.