Mom and Pop Businesses: Can They Survive?

With major corporations dominating the market so heavily can Mom and Pop businesses even survive anymore? It seems as if every few years we hear stories about the return of the small local business and instantly it conjurers up images of the old general store or the old time gas station that would fill your tank and wash them windows up for you real nice. But in reality these claims never come to fruition even though plenty of us love the idea of saying screw it to the man and getting all of our garb locally.

So why does the Mom and Pop business model seem to having so much problem gaining momentum going again with so much support behind it? The problem is the support behind it.

Supporting Mom and Pop? Not So Much.

The local beauty salon, the pizzeria and the hardware store. These are three perfect examples of Mom and Pop businesses. So are they holding up in our communities? Lets take a quick look.

The local beauty salon and the pizzeria, as many of us can clearly see, seem to be doing fairly well. You can find them in every big city to even the smallest of towns and for the most part they survive. However when you look at the hometown hardware store, it’s an entirely different picture. Not only are they failing non-stop across the country but they are all but becoming extinct.

What we have here is a prime example of an industry being not only priced out of the market by big businesses such as Home Depot and Lowes but also a business that itself is becoming outdated and completely disregarded by the local community they serve.

Just think about it. Why would you go to Joe’s Hardware Store, pay double or triple the price you would at a big box store and not even be able to get the rest of your supplies like lumber or a new dishwasher?

Some Mom and Pop businesses simply need to dwindle do to their own outdated structures or update their entire game plans. It’s a hard truth to swallow but unfortunately it is the truth. All things in life including businesses need to grow and adapt to survive but many don’t and when they don’t — the community soon moves on to greener pastures.

Mom and Pop Businesses: The Bright Side

I didn’t write this in hopes of trashing people’s dreams but rather giving some insight that will hopefully make some of you, that are contemplating opening your own business, step back and truly think about what your plans are for your business. Are you on the verge of trying to start up a company that may be on the path to it’s own demise?

Mom and Pop businesses are certainly never going to go away and that’s a fact. Nowadays it’s truly more about finding those key areas that every local community needs and will continue to need for years to come. You really need to find a niche that is something the majority of your local residents can really benefit to make it worth your time and their money.

So the real answer to the question posed about the survival of these types of businesses is that yes they absolutely can survive just not to the magnitude nor in the manner that they once were. It’s a fast paced world and even small businesses need to embrace that.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with us. What do you think about the future of Mom and Pop Businesses?