Small Town Sidewalks, Big City Business
MoneyMoz.com presents you “Small Town Sidewalks, Big City Business”, an article written by Nola Redd. We hope you’ll find a lot useful information in here.
MoneyMoz.com will present you every article we find interesting and educating, and which has no copyright protection. If available we’ll link the source.
At first glance, you wouldn’t think the park would have anything to do with a small business. I’d like you to take a deeper look, however.
I recently became quite perturbed regarding the lack of sidewalks on Henderson Road. I live directly across the street from the Henderson soccer fields, which backs up – via some lovely wooded trails – to Henderson park. On the west side, which crosses over 285, there are sidewalks. On the east side, which leads to downtown Tucker, there are not. In fact, the street leading towards Tucker not only carries a great deal of traffic but has an almost nonexistent curb.
| MoneyMoz recommended article: The 5 'P's of Motivating an Audience Let's cut right to the chase of this article. There are five ‘P's in motivating your audience. Whether your audience is a room of fifty to five hundred, an employee or a prospective client, you need to take them through these five ‘P's to motivate them. • PAY ATTENTION – First on the list is to ensure they are paying attention to you. Before you can motivate anyone they have to listen to you. In today's world of voice-mail, email, snail mail, telephone, cell phone and headphones, it is getting harder and harder for one to listen and be listened to. The reasons people do not really listen are numerous and include things like being preoccupied with work or family issues. Or perhaps they have a physical limitation such as hearing problems, which could be compounded by external noise. Then there are internal reasons, such as the listener does not see the obvious benefits of what you are sharing, or worse they though they heard you say something you didn't. Sales 101: Handling The Angry Customer I am often reminded of the following true story whenever I encounter a hostile customer or prospect, witness a scene where someone is losing their cool or observe someone getting chewed out for something that they may or may not have done. No one enjoys being yelled out, cursed at, bullied or manhandled in any form, whether physically or verbally. It does however, happen at times. What options do you have to diffuse the situation? Can you separate yourself from the abusive behavior being directed at you before you lose your cool and strike back? How can you keep your emotions in check so that you might still accomplish your task? |
I penned a journal entry berating the lack of accessibility to the park from the plethora of nearby neighborhoods. I ranted on the growing obesity problem in America. Only after I completed the journal entry did I realize the effect the lack of sidewalks has on Tucker small businesses.
Despite its close proximity to Atlanta, Tucker still carries that small town feeling. Local renovations will heighten that sense. And the quantity of small store fronts only adds to the feeling. All of this would be improved by adding sidewalks to the neighborhoods barely a mile away.
Thus far, I have only walked to two businesses in Tucker, My Fair Lady gym and the local library. The walk was extremely difficult, as I have three small children (5, 3, and 1) and only myself to push a double stroller. This means that I not only had to struggle along in the grass and often on the busy road itself, I also had to keep a sharp eye on my kindergartner as we traveled. I will not make this trip frequently.
By the same token, I will not enjoy the chance of walking among the small business storefronts prevalent around the town. I have seen various places that might be worth exploring – but I won’t take the time to travel there by car. Were I to wander the town on foot, however, you might find me more likely to stop in a new store and explore.
Improving traffic in a smaller town means more than fixing the rush hour problems. By routing more pedestrians through the area, Tucker can increase the chances that new folks will encounter its businesses and become frequent customers. As those customers return to one store, they might take the time to visit another.
| MoneyMoz recommended article: Why Do a Business Plan? To Grow (Catapult) Your Business That's Why. When it's in your head it's not as likely to happen--too much missed. |
Even if you don’t live in Tucker, consider how improving foot traffic in your neighborhood might heighten your business profits. For many owners, this means checking in at town meetings, or perhaps writing a letter to your local business or newspaper. Some of these you should already be doing; others take only a few minutes. Increasing your awareness of your community – even if it is the ‘big city’ – can only stand to benefit you.
Nola Redd is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/
which is a site for Creative Writers. She writes a business blog and free small business newsletter for Redd Infinity.
Keywords assigned to this article by MoneyMoz: sidewalk, business, city, town, walk, exercise, traffic, foot, profit, increase, grow, community
| MoneyMoz recommended article: You Can't Quit; You're Too Valuable I really enjoyed the feature film Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah. In the movie the character Georgia Byrd, played by Queen Latifah, finds out that she only has a short time to live. She changes her outlook on life and becomes determined to enjoy every moment she has left. One of the first things she does is quit her retail job. She stops in at her manager's office and knocks, but the manager is too busy listening to a greedy self-help tape (Hip and Rich). When Georgia enters his office, the manager growls at her for not knocking. He recently barked at her for offering food samples in her popular cookware section. As Georgia tries to talk to him, he takes a call on his cell phone even after she asks him not to. When she gets completely fed up and quits, he is aghast. He tells her that she can't quit. Her area is the only bright spot, profit-wise, for the store. She quits anyway. The manager tries to entice her with little, piddling raises of fifty cents an hour and then boosts it to a dollar and then a dollar and a half . . . she is too busy leaving this part of her life behind to notice or care. Saluting the Life and Wisdom of William Zehnder When it comes to great business leaders we often think of those who started or led enduring companies, such as Jack Welch of General Electric or Sam Walton of Wal-Mart. This week the world lost a truly phenomenal business mind when William Zehnder passed away. Zehnder was well-known in Central Michigan as “Mr. Frankenmuth”. He is credited with the concept of turning a small town in to a leading tourist attraction. |