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take5.ca
Mayor’s Report: A Salute to Small Business BY LADYSMITH MAYOR ROB HUTCHINS We are fortunate that the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well. A key ingredient of a complete and healthy community is a vibrant business core that provides the living room to our community; a place where we celebrate, dress up our town for the Christmas season, socialize, break bread together, and shop for goods and services. Our commercial/service/industrial community provides employment close to home for young and old alike and provides over 30 per cent of our municipal tax base supporting a host of community services. I give thanks for their determination, courage, and tenacity. I also give thanks for their generous support for a host of community events and projects. The vast majority of our family’s purchases are made here in Ladysmith. We value the convenience, the selection, the quality of service, and just enjoy the personal connections when purchasing goods and services from our friends and neighbours that live in our community. We have always found the pricing competitive and, on the odd occasion when it is not, we have never regretted paying a little extra for the opportunity to buy it close to home, knowing that our spending dollars are supporting the community we call home.
OCT 2011
Our family has operated a small business on First Avenue for over 12 years. We know firsthand the challenges and hardships of establishing and operating a small business in a small community. The personal sacrifice is immense; countless hours of work, holding down second jobs to ensure sufficient cash flow, as it takes time (usually at least three years) to build a sustainable client base. We know firsthand the fear of a slow week, when cash flow doesn’t meet expenses. Starting a small business is tough, but with each successful day, week, month and year the personal sacrifice is less, the growing cash flow allows additional staff to be hired and capital to be re-invested. The sense of achievement, personal growth and accomplishment when a small business in a small community succeeds is immeasurable. Sadly, nationally over 50 per cent of small businesses do not survive more than five years. With business failure and the accompanying financial and employment loss, the stress on individuals and families is immense. I feel a great sense of sadness when the dreams of our local entrepreneurs are not realized. We are fortunate, that in our Town, we now have a long list of small businesses that have made it past the five, ten, fifteen and twenty year milestones. Their presence makes our community a richer, more rewarding place to visit and to call home. Ladysmith is becoming a destination for people to stop and shop. Your support helps our small businesses thrive and in turn has a direct and noticeable impact on the well-being of the whole community. Thank you for your patronage and commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit in Ladysmith.