Visiting Boston last week, I came across a brilliant toy shop with a notice in its window about the importance of indie businesses. It argued that there is a passion and engagement within an independent enterprise that large corporates can only envy.
As a customer, I have a huge amount of empathy with that view. I like the individuality of an owner-managed organisation. I want a merchant I patronise to have character, not to be a faceless entity. I see many of the founders of these types of companies as artisan entrepreneurs, who are willing to apply super-human efforts to make their creations succeed. I prefer staying at boutique hotels to bland chains, and using a family-owned printer when I can.
Sometimes when I walk into one of the dominant supermarkets, I feel almost suffocated by the uniformity. Unfortunately, lenders, landlords, suppliers and many other critical partners are biased towards large businesses – they see them as more reliable and creditworthy.