-African proverb
Thoughts and ideas just flood my mind while I do mundane things around the house. I was thinking that all big things begin small. Then I see my son and remember the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”. While knowing that parents have the main responsibility to raise their children, it is an undeniable fact that many aspects influence their growth. And that it takes an entire community to interact with, for them to experience and grow in a safe and fit environment.
And while that is true, I say:
“It takes a village to make a small business thrive”
Just like in raising a child, starting and sustaining a small business takes a lot of something from a lot of someone.
A supportive husband…
It takes my husband to support me in my ventures. To always have an open mind and ear for every idea I juggle or throw at him (let me tell you, I’ve got more ideas flowing through my head than I could actually verbalize, bless him!). It takes for him to actually do the household chores every time I’m too busy packing away orders and preparing for an event sale promo or such. Importantly, it takes for him to devote his time and share his skills by capturing the essence of our goods through his lens. Seeing the outcomes of his photography in our sites truly warms my heart.
A generous son…
It takes my son’s generosity to actually share a bit of his play space for our plants and accessories. It takes for him to eventually appreciate and say “mom, that plant is so beautiful, you can have more space for your business.”
A loyal family and friends…
It takes my family and friends’ loyalty and patronage to choose our gift items over those from mega stores even though there’s a price difference. Adding strength to my resolve to enhance the outcomes of my passion. It also deepens my delight, knowing that their support in us and our business has a greater effect on the community.
A trusting supplier…
It takes our suppliers’ decision to somehow trust us even though our purchases cannot compete with big distributors.
It just takes a lot of people, the whole village even, to start, maintain and make a small business thrive.
Supporting small business…
Supporting a small business means supporting your local community as a whole. Because small businesses almost always hire locals, buy local products and raw materials, have local banks and service providers. It is also environmentally friendly since small businesses have a smaller carbon footprint.
Looking at the bigger picture makes me see the ripple effect in having a small business. For us, we essentially have gifts that grow and otherwise. For others, it may be freelance jobs in marketing or graphic design or something in trade. Whatever the items or services are, may they be personally handmade gift products or sourced from other suppliers. Whatever our motivations are on why we do them, one thing is definite, as our small businesses gain, so does the community.
That is how I see the effect of our growing. Our growing of plants and the growing of a single seed of an idea to start a small business. Becoming something that creates a ripple effect. Your support of our small business, as well as other small businesses, means you are also supporting our community. The more we pitch in, the more the community gains.
Creating more ripples…
On that note, we would like to say that we appreciate each of you who has extended any support, our way. Every time you check out an item, every time you like our post or page, add a comment and share a positive experience with Living Gifts by Lola, every repeat order, every single thing has a ripple effect on us and we simply can’t thank you enough.
So help us create more ripples as we grow more, because the bigger the ripple, the better the outcome.