Last week I ranted about how Americans have given the power to big business and how no longer having a say in this country is our own fault. I also talked briefly about how patronizing small businesses would help solve the problem. I usually do not do rant sequels, but here is one today. I am doing this because I firmly believe that it is extremely important that everyone understands what I am saying.

A large corporation has multiple locations around the country and gets its profits from people in many different areas. A small business relies on the immediate geographic area for its revenue, and maybe some revenue enhancement from the Internet every once in a while. When you buy from big business, you are adding money to a pot that keeps getting bigger and bigger. When you buy from small businesses, you are spreading that pot around and giving many different companies a shot at becoming successful.

Keep in mind that the big corporation’s version of successful is much different than the small business’ version of successful. A big corporation sets revenue goals that use numbers that we could never fathom. When the corporation misses those numbers, then that is referred to as a loss. Allow me to demonstrate.

ABC Corporation says that it intends to make $5 billion in revenue for 2014. In reality, ABC Corporation only needs to make $350 million to show a profit. So where did the $5 billion number come from? It comes from Wall Street greed and the greed of the company shareholders. By the end of 2014, ABC Corporation declares revenue of $3 billion. While the company made a ton of profit, it will still claim a loss. That is why we see so many corporations in Washington with their hat in hand looking for help. For God’s sake, they only made a $2 billion profit when they were supposed to make a $4 billion profit. The company needs help!

A small business will figure out its total operating costs and then shoot to exceed those costs each and every year. A small business will project growth of 10 or 20 percent and then base its success on whether it achieved those growth numbers. So if a small business made $2 million in revenue last year, then it would like to make $2.4 million this year. But as long as it makes the $1.3 million it needs to keep its employees and stay in business, then it is fine.

Do you see the difference in attitude there? But that is not where it stops. The big corporations are able to turn their profits into power and that is where we get bumped out of the picture.

Small businesses cherish their customers because all business is competitive and a small business needs customers to survive. Big corporations look at you as a number and if you don’t buy from the big corporation, then you are a very small number on a very big spreadsheet and good riddance to you.

When you buy all of your products at a big box department store chain that has thousands of stores around the world, then you are feeding a monster that is intent upon destroying your community. When one of those big, blue stores moves into your neighborhood, most of the small businesses go away. The big box stores fill their shelves with products from big corporations and, like zombies, we all go and buy those products. When a new restaurant chain comes to town, everyone drops the local restaurants and goes for the chain. Why?

People need uniformity. The world is too unpredictable and chaotic for some people and those people like to buy the same products from the same stores that everyone else is using. It makes them feel safe. They also get to save a few dollars in the process. But, in the end, we are not saving anything.

When you patronize big corporations, you are feeding a machine that is paying lobbyists on Capitol Hill to take away your privacy rights, determine what kinds of foods you eat, and take away any identity your community once had. If you buy from small businesses, then there is no central depository for all of that money and no lobbyists in Washington to do things like take away the Internet and turn healthcare into a telemarketing scam.

The biggest problem is that big corporations are like a cancer. When the blue big box store moves into your community, it kills the other stores in the area. People can no longer patronize small businesses because the small businesses are gone. When you allow a super blue big box store in your community, then you will be giving up everything that your community was ever known for. You are giving up your community, and you are giving up your future to big business.

Go to local and regional businesses when you can. You may find that the produce at the successful local business is fresher and better than at the big blue store. You may find that the real beef tacos at the regional taco chain are much better than the national one.

It still isn’t too late. We can still take some of the power away from big corporations by buying from small businesses. But it starts with us, and we have to be willing to spend a couple of extra dollars to get our country back. Elections won’t do it because this country runs on profit. If we take back the balance of commerce, then we take back our country.

Nick Oliver is a Niagara County resident who proudly buys his produce from a local business. His column appears every Wednesday on a website run by local people. He can be reached at nickoliver@writeme.com.

---

Don't miss any updates from East Niagara Post.
Follow us by email for daily updates of all our stories delivered straight to your inbox.