Three reasons we love being a small business

It’s that time of year when you see a lot of Shop Local messages. You’ve probably seen plenty of social media posts and articles telling you why you should choose to work with small local businesses. And we hope that you’ll read them, because there are a lot of great reasons to make that choice, especially this year. We’ve decided to put a twist on the theme though. Instead of telling you why you should like us, we’re going to tell you why we like working with you and what we like about being a locally-owned, independent business.

1. We get to form personal relationships with our customers.

We’re really happy that we get to know you. And when we say “know you”, we mean more than recognizing you at the grocery store or remembering to ask about your vacation (although we love that part, too). We love knowing you well enough to make a difference in your business. To us, each interaction with you is more than just a transaction. It’s an opportunity to help you make decisions that will strengthen your business. It’s the chance to be your partner. The way we see it, conducting a business review isn’t just a presentation. It’s us working together to improve your bottom line. Helping with a new furniture installation is more than just a sale. It’s teaming up to give you a better work environment and make you and your coworkers happier. That sense of cooperation and collaboration is what continues to motivate us each and every day.

2. We get to help make our community better.

Rogards has been part of the Champaign-Urbana community since 1906, and most of our staff has lived in the area for most of their lives. So it should come as no surprise that we take a strong interest in the well-being of our community. We’re always looking for ways to take part, whether it’s volunteering around town, joining boards or committees at local organizations, or donating to local causes. In fact, every Rogards employee is encouraged to find a cause to support and is allowed to use work hours to volunteer. It feels good to join in and help make a difference.

Also, not to brag, but as small business owners, we can say that we’re helping the community simply by being a local business. Locally-owned retailers return nearly twice as much money back to the community as chain stores do. That means more money to support our schools, parks, local infrastructure, and more. Small businesses also strengthen the local business economy by spending more money with local banks, local accountants, local attorneys, and local media, who then return money back to the local community as well. It’s the perfect symbiotic relationship. By supporting each other, we support the community. That’s something we can all be proud of.

3. We have the freedom to say yes.

Being small and local means that we make all of the decisions. No one else is setting our policies or procedures. We don’t have to follow a national sales plan that tells us what to buy. That means we can be flexible enough to accommodate your needs. In short, when you ask for something, we get to say yes more often than no. We truly enjoy coming to work every day and helping people get what they need. It just feels good. That’s why we’ve made it our goal to ensure that hearing us say no is a rare occurrence for you. So next time you need a special item or have what you think may be an unusual request, give us a call. We promise that we’ll do our best to give you the answer you want to hear.