Lately I’m starting to notice a disturbing trend.

It seems every time that I open the pages of my local newspaper, there is a story about a last-ditch effort by a small business owner to try and get the word out there about their business so that they might be able to save their livelihood from the broken economy.

Last month, I read the story of two friends who opened a sandwich restaurant four years ago with $150 and a dream.

Things are so bad for them right now, they don’t even have any ribs or corned beef on the menu because he doesn’t have the money to buy them.

The owner also has never made enough money to take a paycheck home from his restaurant and has recently returned to trucking to earn some cash.

The owner states that he is going to stick it out because he knows his food is good, but like many small business owners out there, he doesn’t have the money for advertising or marketing.

In this issue, our Small Business Tune-Up includes some low-cost marketing tips that can be used by any small business owner.

The other story that I read was about a local man and his wife who took over a quaint and cozy, 1940s-style soda fountain and restaurant last year.

They have a great location near the commuter train station in the downtown area of a suburb of Chicago and yet they are struggling for business.

The owner states that in an attempt to modernize the 1940s interior, they recently added free WiFi, he also expanded the menu and has become a staple at many of the village’s events. However, none of that seemed to help as he states that some nights they literally have no customers at all.

The most disturbing part of the article mentions that across the street, customers are piling into a shopping plaza that houses two chain restaurants and just down the road, workers at the cash registers of another nearby chain restaurant are collecting money hand over fist.

As this recession continues to affect local small business owners and the country, now more than ever they need all of our support. If you happen to be in a position where you’re making money and doing well, perhaps you can do like the Scentsy Corporation did and give back to other small businesses that might be struggling. You may have once been in the same position as they are and after chugging away and working hard you are finally experiencing some level of success. As Scentsy demonstrated, you can also get your employees involved as well. If you offer an end of year bonus, encourage your employees to take a portion of that bonus and go and spend it at a favorite local business. That one small act just might make a big impact.

All the Best,

Lynn Celmer | Managing Editor