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How can businesses best serve our community?
7:38 AM 02/01/2013
My name is Sabrina and I am the owner of Ma Ma's Southern Cuisine located at 3118 Georgia Ave. NW and I asked myself, how can we business owners make things better for our communitie(s) and my thought was to ask the people within the community. Although my job is to satisfy all my customers whether in or outside community I would like to hear some suggestions from within so that I can better serve you.
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Focus on making a product and service that customers want.
8:27 AM 02/01/2013 | 0 Votes
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Comments (2)
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Hello, my husband and I live not far from your business (in the 400 block of Irving), and we know nothing about MaMa's. Perhaps better advertising and maybe hosting some sort of event and invite the community? We have lived in the neighborhood over 3 years and we'd love to learn more about what you have to offer. Even a flier on a door would help. We get tons of those and we read them :-) Good luck!
3:12 PM 02/01/2013
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Very true, but I think (just guessing, and she can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!) that Sabrina is asking a broader question about how she as a business owner can engage with the community in more than just sales transactions. Of course, business' primary objective is putting out a quality product/service, but they can also play an important role in community improvement--in fact, I think being part of the community fabric is precisely one of the things that many owners like about running a small, neighborhood-based business. Sabrina, I don't live in your neighborhood, so individuals who do may have different ideas, but a few general suggestions--if you haven't already, maybe join or help organize a local merchants' association of other small business owners in the GA Ave. corridor that can work collectively on issues of concern in your commercial corridor (safety, litter, beautification, or whatnot--I'm not saying these issues exist around your business, just throwing out some examples of common issues that small business owners in urban commercial corridors face.) Are there local nonprofits to whom you could offer your space for occasional meetings or community events? (Same with neighborhood/civic associations or block clubs.) Small businesses can also be a key source of employment for neighborhood residents. This isn't always feasible for a business to take on, especially if they have few employees to begin with, but perhaps you could work with a local nonprofit or school to have a few young people "shadow" you for a couple of hours so they can learn first-hand about careers in the food industry and about running one's own business.
3:23 PM 02/01/2013
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You can support groups serving your community, such as Banneker City Little League baseball (serving ward one residents, based at a nearby field at Banneker Rec Center - GA Ave & Euclid). It not only advertises your business to a targetted local audience, it also shows that you are supporting youth and healthy lifestyles in your community. Sponsorship information can be found at bannekercityll.org or by contacting aa@bannekercityll.org
10:33 AM 02/05/2013 | 0 Votes
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Scottsboro, AL
I would like to add that not only making products and services that consumers want but also products and services that consumers really need. A lot of companies are doing market research before they launch their products in order to meet the consumers demand. I think you can apply it to your own own business as well.
3:14 AM 04/05/2013 | 0 Votes
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