2 Saturdays ago was “Small Business Saturday.”
Last Friday was “Black Friday.”
Today is “CyberMonday.”
For sure, it’s the spending season.
With the economy the way it is . . . and the political maelstrom of the Presidential Election, we are all inundated with NEWS and myriad experts telling what they believe will “pull us all out of this recession.”
The underlying theme almost always boils down to JOBS.
“JOBS” in the USA is the mantra!
“creation of Jobs” is the great enigma in large part is due to that huge can of worms some refer to as the extinction of “Made In The USA.”
Buying “Made IN USA” can be quite difficult (Just go to any store and pick up ANY item for sale and check out where it was made).
So . . . What to do?
2 Things come immediately to my mind:
1. Support Locally Owned Small Business whenever possible. This is going to require:
- Perhaps NOT the “Path of Least Resistance.” You might have to ask around – Friends, Family, and work associates to find a local resource for what you seek.
- Be willing to drive a little farther
- Less convenient
- Possibly more costly
- Probably BETTER QUALITY and SERVICE during and after the purchase
- DEFINITELY a new and valuable RELATIONSHIP with a local business owner
- BLOG SITES – Internet Search for a Blogger who is an expert on the item you want and contact that Blogger for Local, Home-grown Small business contacts
- Seek and Ye shall find . . . I promise it’s out there
2. Support a Healthy “Real Property Market” (Residential & Commercial Sales & Leasing)
- While I’d love everyone who reads this to seize the day and buy a house, I know that’s not a practical strategy 🙂
- Recovery of the Residential Housing and Commercial Sales and Leasing markets DIRECTLY results in the creation of new JOBS because as inventory of available Real Property decreases, the need to BUILD MORE increases . . . and building Houses and other structures requires lots of man-power and materials.
- Psst . . . Spread the word that Mortgage Interest rates are still at Historic LOWS . . . and Lenders WANT to lend money to qualified Borrowers
- Getting a mortgage loan isn’t the nightmare that you may think it is
- House Values in most parts of Middle TN are at or near the “Bottom” . . . Which means that they’ll begin creeping UP soon (This is also true for many other markets around the USA).
- Encourage those folks who do not own a House to look into BUYING a house. Many young folks in today’s society are avoiding a house purchase because of the bad PR the housing industry got during the economic down-turn.
We can do this!
YOU can do this!
and we are in the height of the shopping season, so I invite you to be a little more intentional (less impulsive) with your shopping and PAY ATTENTION to WHERE you shop (Local Small Business is better) and WHAT YOU BUY (Made in the USA ROCKS!).
Oh yeah . . .
and about the Real Estate stuff, contact me to learn more about what you can do to help keep our local market flowing and vibrant 🙂
Hope you have a great week!
Best,
b