“Lonelier” Local Communities and their Impact on Small Businesses
The BBC has been running a ‘Changing UK’ series on the impact of modern living on our communities, and the latest article really struck a chord. Take a peek at Life in the UK ‘has become lonelier’.
There is a part of this issue that we thought significant enough to put into our About page (”LocallyCompared believes in strong, vibrant and accessible local businesses; and the value they bring to local communities.“), and I think it deserves a moment’s pause to share how it motivates us.
“Every region in the UK, broadly defined by a BBC local radio areas, has seen its communities become less rooted” is a view that has been sensed by many, but until now not deeply studied. We talk about it more generally as the problem associated with many people moving away from their trusted group of families and friends, often to find work. Similarly, there is a definite rising trend of ‘the singleton’: young men and women who are deciding to postpone settling down in favour of a more independent lifestyle - again most likely for work.
- Edinburgh’s Holyrood district, a prime example
Perhaps more telling is that “the researchers conclude that the increase in anomie weakens the “social glue” of communities. The result, they suggest, is that neighbourhoods are likely to be less trusting and more fearful.“
Both of these ideas point to the same thing, it is harder to find local businesses that we can trust. Suppose you just moved to Leeds, and for whatever reason, you’re looking for an accountant. Or maybe you’ve been living in Manchester for a while and need a solicitor, but so far none of your friends deal with solicitors. Well, you’re out of luck. The traditional word of mouth recommendations are breaking, and traditional resources like the Yellow Pages have never tried to help you make an informed choice.
So what are we doing instead? Suppose you’re in Sheffield and you need a driving school, you might,
- Look in the Yellow Pages, and see what is available. Not knowing much about each company, you will likely go with BSM or some other national brand that you’ve seen before.
- Go online, and try to find out more about the companies and what people think of them. The Web is handy, because there is plenty of low-cost space for each business to tell us about what they do.
The first option highlights the real problem of weakening local communities: faceless national businesses are the ones who benefit. They feel like a safer choice - we feel we can trust them - because they can afford to advertise. The local business owner down our street, who needs our support, and who’s income goes straight back into our communities (rather than into the pockets of national companies), risks being left behind.
The second option is better, but still not problem free. Local companies - in fact as high as 8 out of 10 local tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, etc.) - do not build a presence online. So you will not necessarily find them. And the reviews from your neighbours are not perfect, as they could have differing opinions to your own, or be downright false. But on balance, the majority of people report the online reviews help them in their decision making.
Those two related points - the rise of the national brand and the need for local businesses to go online to compete - hopefully give a little insight into what drives us LocallyCompared.com. We are building 300,000 full profiles for local businesses over the next year, and encouring reviews and recommendations from our visitors. We want to support businesses who want to get better at promoting themselves online, and give everyone in the UK as much information as possible on their local businesses, with the simple goal of helping them make the most informed decisions.
If someone wants to choose a business rooted in their community and wants to understand what differentiates businesses around them then LocallyCompared.com is the place to start.
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