Vol. 38 - Socially Responsible Spending, Buying from Small Businesses
Marie Thomasson of Modern Assets is back to discuss how we can direct our spending to micro and small businesses to help diverse and smaller communities rather than big businesses. We cover:
Defining what classifies as a Micro and Small business
Why helping Micro and Small businesses help the community than big retailers
How the pandemic highlighted the need to help micro and small businesses
Spending less and with quality to support small local businesses
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy: [00:00:00] All right, nurses on fire. We are back talking about how to spend in a socially responsible way with our certified financial planner, Marie Thompson. And this time we're going to talk about something that's a little bit more challenging than what we talked about last time, even though that was a bit challenging, but it was the easiest at the options.
This isn't the hardest, this isn't the easiest. So this is the medium option. Hey, Marie.
Marie Thomasson: [00:00:26] Hello. Nice to be back.
Naseema McElroy: [00:00:30] Yes, yes, yes. Nice having you back. And that was such a great conversation that we had talking about farmer's markets and, buying food sustainably. So I hope people got something from that and are able to go to the farmer's market.
Like I like myself.
Marie Thomasson: [00:00:50] Yeah, exactly. It's it's progress, right? Like. Just one day at a time. yeah. So we talked about farmer's markets and we're basically going to move into an extension of that, which is shopping and spending your money at, small businesses. And so when I'm talking about small businesses, I just want to clarify things because like, this definition of small business by the small business administration is a company with 500 or less employees.
All right. we don't care about 500 employee companies. What we're actually really talking about is your like micro and local businesses. So these are predominantly companies with between one and 10 employees. That is what we're talking about. And so a lot of statistics, and sometimes it's hard to like break it apart.
talk about small businesses, 500, employees. Yes. It's small compared to target, but it's still really big and they still have a lot more access to capital and resources. And I might add, so this is a statistic. I looked up that I was like, It makes so much sense and it just aligns perfectly with this whole idea of sustainability and, like spending, according to your values, the smaller the company is the more likely they are to represent the U S demographically.
So companies. And so this was on the SBA website companies with like the 500 employees, you know, let's say between like 105 hundred employees, they're still overwhelmingly owned and run by old white guys. Okay. the smaller the company it is, then you actually, you know, like you approach for, you know, 10 employees or less, you are approaching.
The actual demographics of the United States. And so it's really easy in that sense to spend, according to your values, if you just like, you don't have to worry about too much. but if you, we were just shopping at these like small micro businesses, right. Entrepreneurs, you are suddenly spending in a diverse way.
Like, that's it, you know, and, and now that's not to say that that's entirely easy, right. To find them. But if we take the example of the farmer's market, this is one reason why actually going to a farmer's market is so huge because streets that have farmer's markets on them, like the stores nearby, they now have all of a sudden, they get that exposure.
Right. Like it drives people actually getting out of their houses. and, and into local shops. Like you actually see the shop where you see the cute little restaurant, whatever it is. And so, that cannot be understated. Small businesses again, this is the 500 or less, provide half the us paycheck, half the GDP, they account for half the jobs in the United States.
And, and yet. Americans spend such, and I don't know exactly what the number is, but they spend way more money at these big box stores on Amazon, anywhere else, but at these small businesses and it's like, you know, you're really, we're ending up just shooting ourselves in the foot. And I think that right now, With the pandemic, as an example, of what happens when you don't support local businesses and the livelihoods, you know, that are being ruined.
it's really powerful. And, and, frankly just disturbing, right? We're both small businesses.
Naseema McElroy: [00:04:47] Yes, we are.
Marie Thomasson: [00:04:50] You know, we are both small businesses and so, and here we are like, you know, like, look at us, we're. Approaching, a sample that is much more in line with, you know, what the us is, demographically, you know, age, ethnicity, all of these things.
And that's, that's what you see when you work with, with, you know, people who are there like solopreneurs or, you know, selling some online services. This is why I, you know, like, so personally. I make it a point to, for every vendor or service, to at the very least say, like, I am going to interview at least one person of color or a woman, or, and for that matter, like, and kind of even look outside those demographics.
I think that, you know, we talk about it a lot, but what about somebody who's in recovery or somebody who's disabled or, God forbid somebody who's overweight. Right. Like, there's all these things that people are discriminated against for. And, and so I think that it's important to, you know, to actually try to, look beyond that.
so I know we're going off on a little bit of a tangent, but I, I think that it's important. because when we think about just where you spend your money and spending your money with. a diversity of people, you do that by spending with small businesses.
Naseema McElroy: [00:06:13] Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I liked that. I really liked that a lot.
It's it's giving back into pouring back into your communities. People typically live where you live there, you know, so that's like the biggest way that you can give back. And it's again, a little bit more challenging than getting your two-day delivery, from Amazon, when she, you know, With the pandemic.
Hasn't been two days anyway, and I'm trying to get my refund or prime, but.
You know, like it is pouring back and I do make it a point to try to shop locally too. but yeah, it's definitely definitely challenging because it's just like, Oh, well that means that you have to, instead of having this marketplace of like everything that you need, you kind of have to source things here and there and everywhere, but again,
tied back to the theme
of this whole series.
You get what you pay for, right? Yeah,
Marie Thomasson: [00:07:09] yeah, yeah, yeah. so one example, I went to a pet store recently and I was looking for, a little, watering fountain thing for my partner's cat. This is a very precious cat. And so I was like, Oh, so we found this little water fountain thing. And I'm like, all right, it's 60 bucks.
That seems a little expensive to me. And we looked up online. And it's on Amazon for 40. And he was like, Oh, well, we're gonna like, maybe we should order it from Amazon. So the first thing I do is I go to the, present that at the register. And I asked them, I was like, can we get a price match for Amazon?
And she was like, no.
And my first thought was like, right, like, why not? Why won't you price match? Because a lot of places will do that, right? Like you go in and you show them your phone and they'll price match. And she's like, we can't afford it. We're a small business. And I was thinking to myself and I'm like, you're not that small.
Like I'm in LA, they've got, I think they've got like four or five locations. And, and I went home and I kind of slept on it. And I thought, you know what? That is the Amazon tax. Right. and so I was like, dammit, we're not going to buy the $40 one from Amazon. We're going to get the $60 one from this store because an and I think that it's, it's hard.
It's, you know, like it's probably that $20 is all of their profit. But
Naseema McElroy: [00:08:52] the thing is, yeah. Murray, like that's a total luxury too, though. Yeah. Well, I mean, like buying a cat, a water fountain, number one, that's a luxury. Okay. So let's just go there, but then number two, like that's a luxury to be able to pay a $20 difference on just an item period, but.
But I think a lot of us have that luxury, to do what matters and that's, what's important. And so that's like the, the juggle that we have in our heads do what's right. Or do what's cheap. It can be.
Marie Thomasson: [00:09:28] Yeah. And you know, I mean, everybody has a different idea of luxury. Like. I I've got an old car and I'm going to have an old car for a long time.
Right. Like priorities about where we put our money and spend. and I think that overall, especially if you're, worried about what's going to happen to our planet or just, the wellbeing of the people on our planet materialism has to decline it just. It just has to, especially in the United States.
So just buying less stuff, period is the first thing. and being more thoughtful about it. Secondly, is the second. So, we actually ended up not buying that water fountain because I didn't, I didn't even like it. I was like, I still think it's kind of ugly.
And so it was like, you know what? I looked online and I saw one that was really pretty on Etsy, but it was like insanely expensive. I said, you know what, maybe that's something that down the line we invest in one that I'm like, Oh, it looks more like a decoration then. You know, like a fancy cat, you know, like water bowl.
and then I'll be happy about that. And then you're even buying from Etsy. But you know, like more to the point thinking through what we're purchasing, period, the less you purchase, the more you're able to actually spend a little bit more money on the things that you're buying, right? Like this is the quality over quantity.
but, but it's really hard to do though to make that choice when it's still the same thing from China that you're buying at your local store or Amazon, and there's a 25% difference in price. So, you know, to me, it's worth the luxury. Maybe not a buying a cat fountain, but it's, to me, I just call it the Amazon tax.
Like. do you want Amazon to own, you know, retail trade in the United States or not , like they're just buying up everything. And so, You you're going to have to pay more at the end of the day.
Naseema McElroy: [00:11:38] Yep. They don't want Amazon controlling all the retail. No, thank you. Because then once they control it, it's not going to be so cheap anymore.
Like that's what people don't understand. They're going to monopolize it and it's going to be expensive. And then we don't have that competition that drives the prices down, or that controls the prices, you know? So.
Marie Thomasson: [00:11:59] Exactly. Like what happened to blockbuster? What happened to Barnes and Nobles? You know, or a blockbuster?
I know, I know poor blockbuster, but Barnes and Nobles, like they're gone and guess who's moving into their locations. Amazon,
Naseema McElroy: [00:12:13] Amazon. Yeah. Girl physical locations. Physical locations. Yes. It's crazy. Yeah.
Marie Thomasson: [00:12:20] So, you know, like, and, and it's just, it's not though. It's not that it's like Netflix taking out blockbuster.
It's Amazon taking out everyone. Yeah. You know, Amazon, Walmart target, like they're taking out everybody and Amazon, I think, you know, obviously Walmart is, is moving into that game. but Amazon was first to it and, and they're, they're going for supply chain. Like that's why they moved into the grocery industry.
they want the, the stuff that you can't live without. And so, you know, they started with books, but it's a to Z. It really is. It really is everything right. And so, so I looked at, I just looked this up and the average American spends about $1,500 a year around Christmas time of Christmas gifts, a lot of money, right.
Naseema McElroy: [00:13:13] That's hella money. Yes.
Marie Thomasson: [00:13:15] And so what if. Like, I'm just going to pose this as like a challenge. What if, instead of spending your money at these big stores, you bought a little bit less stuff. And especially right now, like one in five small businesses has already gone out of business. Like, what is this going to look like in six months?
Yeah. The average small business owner makes less than a hundred thousand a year in revenue. Not even like this is like before expenses. So I would just challenge everyone and I'm going to do this myself, no online shopping to buy less presence, but to spend the money at local businesses.
Naseema McElroy: [00:14:01] Yeah, I think that that's a great challenge.
I think that's an awesome challenge. And especially now when we're like facing more shut downs and like the country is kind of like not recovering the way that we thought it would, like it would really benefit our local economies. If we did that,
Marie Thomasson: [00:14:18] it would be absolutely huge. If each and every one of us, if you have the money to spend on Christmas gifts, right?
Like it's, again, it's a huge luxury to even be able to do that. So if you have that luxury, then take the time because some people don't have the luxury. So do it on behalf of the people, you know, who don't have that luxury and go out and like put that money back into our local communities.
Naseema McElroy: [00:14:46] Yes. I love it.
I love it. You guys. So you got the challenge. I hope you respond with, Who is actually participating in that. But I think that it'll do a lot for, you know, your economy locally and just it's the right thing to do. So I'll hope you guys participate in it.
Marie Thomasson: [00:15:06] Yeah. Right. Thing to do. Like if you, you know, if you feel like you don't know what to do right now, there's so much anxiety in the world.
Like this is one really impactful thing that you can do. Right. Like, and we already know it, you know, like going out and supporting local restaurants and, getting takeout from like the local Indian store and whatever. But, but even like, find like the local handcrafted stuff, right?
Like the people making, you know, crazy expensive hats. Right. But just be really thoughtful about it. And put your money, like right back into the community where you live. I think that that would be even better is to say like, you know, like challenge yourself to actually buy it from like local market trends.
Right.
Naseema McElroy: [00:15:55] Okay, Marie. So next week we're going to hit that hard, but, Super excited about we're going to talk about next week. This is going to be a cliffhanger because I can't even tell you, but it's still about spinning, but we are going to tackle something.
Marie Thomasson: [00:16:09] We are. Yes, we are.
Naseema McElroy: [00:16:14] All right. So I hope you guys join us next week when we talk about that hard, but this challenging, but now we can change our spending so that it can be socially responsible.
Marie Thomasson: [00:16:25] All right. All right.
Naseema McElroy: [00:16:26] Thanks again,
Marie Thomasson: [00:16:27] Marie. Thank you.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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