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Important Notice
Have you ever wondered about the benefits of owning a local business? We reached out to our founder and CEO, Melissa, to talk about some expected and surprising benefits to owning your own business locally.
Becoming a local business owner has been one of the greatest achievements of my life. Looking back sometimes I kick myself for waiting so long to take the plunge. Every challenge, every cleaning session, every late night has been worth it and then some. When I drive to Wake Foot Sanctuary and walk in the doors, I feel very proud of the legacy we are working towards each day. If I had to sum up the 5 best things about owning a local business (maybe in the hopes of inspiring a reader to take the next steps to do the same in their town), I would say this:
It is extremely gratifying to watch the power of word of mouth spread. Local guests have a great experience and they tell others about their “secret” hideaway in Asheville. It is so fun to see people coming in year after year to celebrate birthdays together, to steal away for date nights, and to plan girls’ night out with us all because they heard about this cool Sanctuary experience from a friend or loved one.
I love the community of business owners that you are immediately a part of as local owner. You can’t help but reach out to other business owners in town when you visit their establishments and give compliments to the creativity and service you see at other places. All that good juju just seems to keep coming around like a circuit in the form of additional referred business or even just great conversations with people who have been at it a lot longer than you have. It’s amazingly energizing while also opening up a lot of unexpected doors!
Our daily, weekly, and yearly challenges are ever-shifting and dynamic. Owning a small business has been a rewarding experience to learn skills sets I never thought I would have. I complete tasks I never had the opportunity to complete before and I’m always looking for ways to improve what we do. When you love what you do each day, it’s not hard to come at it with a fresh perspective on how it can be better because that flame of passion is ever present!
I feel a strong sense of pride with something that is born locally and that is then able to engage with people all over the country and the world. We have had guests from Washington, California, Saudi Arabia, and Australia–just to name a few places! You get to meet such interesting and beautiful people from all walks of life! It is never a dull moment.
Most importantly, what I am most proud of, is the teams that we have built that help run our general operations each day! They are our family now and we love them.We are so tickled when guests have great experiences with our staff because WE KNOW THEY ARE AWESOME TOO! It’s being able to step back, step outside of the space, and watch it all unfold that tells me that we are on the right path with what we are doing. I don’t that for granted.
Have you found other benefits to owning a small business or do any of these benefits connect to you? Has anything held you back from starting your own local benefits? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below!
