I've been in Steamboat Springs for a few days, enjoying a holiday of skiing and family togetherness. But what's a vacation without a little market research?
I spent the evening of December 23rd doing some belated shopping in Steamboat Springs' downtown business district, a 10 blocks-long strip of low-down country and high fashion. Though the streets were busy and the restaurants were jumping, I'd say only about a third of the stores were open at 8:00 P.M.
I spent time (and some money) in two of those stores. In each, I inquired of the owner how the economy had affected their small businesses. Same answer, both places: we're holding our own and doing much better then we'd expected, frankly.
The next day I returned to a store that WASN"T open the previous night, made a purchase, asked the same question and got a very different answer: "We're thinking about closing our doors after 27 years. Things are terrible." I'm sorry for them. They seemed like nice people.
Then I got to thinking...OK, the successful stores stay open late on a snowy Steamboat evening, offering discounts, good cheer, hot cider and the warm glow of Christmas lights. The struggling stores were dark, their owners keeping bankers' hours...and these days we're all painfully aware just how smart bankers are. I came back the next day. I'm betting most potential customers didn't bother.
It's easy to blame our failures - business and otherwise - on the lousy economy. But maybe "...home, in my jammies at 5:00 P.M...." ought to be included in the mix too. Someone way smarter than me once said something along the lines of '..half of business success consists of simply showing up..." To which I'd add '...and being open and available when customers need you!'
I spent the evening of December 23rd doing some belated shopping in Steamboat Springs' downtown business district, a 10 blocks-long strip of low-down country and high fashion. Though the streets were busy and the restaurants were jumping, I'd say only about a third of the stores were open at 8:00 P.M.
I spent time (and some money) in two of those stores. In each, I inquired of the owner how the economy had affected their small businesses. Same answer, both places: we're holding our own and doing much better then we'd expected, frankly.
The next day I returned to a store that WASN"T open the previous night, made a purchase, asked the same question and got a very different answer: "We're thinking about closing our doors after 27 years. Things are terrible." I'm sorry for them. They seemed like nice people.
Then I got to thinking...OK, the successful stores stay open late on a snowy Steamboat evening, offering discounts, good cheer, hot cider and the warm glow of Christmas lights. The struggling stores were dark, their owners keeping bankers' hours...and these days we're all painfully aware just how smart bankers are. I came back the next day. I'm betting most potential customers didn't bother.
It's easy to blame our failures - business and otherwise - on the lousy economy. But maybe "...home, in my jammies at 5:00 P.M...." ought to be included in the mix too. Someone way smarter than me once said something along the lines of '..half of business success consists of simply showing up..." To which I'd add '...and being open and available when customers need you!'
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