Honest. No lie.
When I purchased a new vehicle it was never off the car lot. It was always to order.
The way I wanted it.
It was even affordable. The order was simply put into the production schedule.
Nice.
I didn't care about the 'wait time' at all. I was getting what I wanted the way I wanted it, the color I liked with the amenities specifically to order.
The wait time was told to me by the salesman before I signed the contract and put down my down payment. I then got financing and told the showroom they were guaranteed their money as soon as the vehicle arrived. It took about six weeks from order to delivery.
Local small business people don't need large inventories if they do custom work.
Example: Bridle dress. If a person knows how to sew all the better, but, if a person knows how to taylor clothing, having suppliers that will work with custom orders will provide a clientele that will work for them.
Example: Artists that can paint custom designs for homes and/or frame it can do the same thing.
It is about being an expert, adding quality of life to the local 'culture' and providing excellent customer service on everything.
Customers have to be willing to allow creative input and time to secure what they want the way they want it. It is about reliability and trust coupled with marketing techniques that work to attract the right consumer.
Store fronts eventually develop and a Main Street is not only alive but the place to be. Social, communal creates meeting places and business.
Competent local small business people grow economies, not tax breaks that will find a home overseas.
In Africa there are villages of women that produce products to sell in specialty stores the USA. As their competency grows their products will become less expensive as more and more are produced and they will replace some lousy manufactured products. The same can happen in the USA. Can a group of women/men become a 'partnership' to have a store front of consumer items no one else carries in a quality no one else can match? Yep.
Example: You would not believe the cupcake store that people flock to in our local area and pay $1.50 per cupcake and $6.50 for custom made. It works. People pay those prices and they love it. Why? Because it reflects who they are to the social gathering they purchase for. Average Middle Class people pay those prices and the cupcake store can't keep up with the business. Oh, they do specialty cakes on request, too. No wedding cakes though. At this point I don't believe they want the pressure or liability. Just smart business sense.
End.
