The second way to kill your community is “Don’t Attract Business” and the participants at the Republic County Launch and Grow in October 2023 learned more about what this means.
Most communities know that they need to attract new businesses, but is this a priority even when the new business competes with an already existing business already in town? In the book “13 Ways to Kill a Community“, Doug Griffith tells the story of communities in which new businesses chose another community up to an hour away from their own because of resistance to competition.
Oftentimes competition brings up the level of all businesses. Towns with more carpenters often have more home stores. Visitors need approximately two hours of stores to visit, attractions to see, and restaurants to eat at to make a community a destination for a trip. The more businesses like yours, the more things for people to do, and the more visitors your downtown can attract. This translates into more customers for all of the businesses, more sales, and more profits.
Do you have a business that you would like to start in Republic County? Launching a new business that provides complimentary services or products to an existing business could make the community stronger. If you own a current business, what services or products could be added to your store to fill needs in the community?