Lets Make Brevard A Great Business Community

Let’s Change Brevard Into A Great Business Community!

Making Our Community Great 06/04/09 www.bestbusinesssummit.com

Is There a Problem?

06/04/09 www.bestbusinesssummit.com

What Makes a Business Great?

Strong, consistent revenue growth.

Strong profits.

High return on investment.

Mission accomplishment.

Dominance.

Good cash flow.

If I Could Grant You One Wish …

More customers?

Richer customers?

Smarter customers?

Better location?

Bigger facility?

Better technology?

Better work ethic?

Smarter employees?

What Makes a Business Community Great?

Strong, consistent revenue growth.

Strong profits.

High return on investment.

Mission accomplishment.

Dominance.

Huge positive trade balance.

If We Could Change One Thing …

More customers?

Richer customers?

Smarter customers?

Better location?

More commercial space?

More technology companies?

Better work ethic?

Smarter employees?

06/04/09 www.bestbusinesssummit.com We have met the problem, and it is us.

Cycle of Low Prosperity

Problem:

Our customers aren’t rich.

Why not?

Our customers are us & our employees.

Huh?

Until our businesses prosper, we and our employees can’t become the rich customers our businesses need in order to prosper.

06/04/09 www.bestbusinesssummit.com How do we break the cycle?

The Key: Where We Spend Our Money

Objective:

Maximize the number of times our money is re-spent here before it leaves Brevard.

Strategy:

Buy from each other – i.e., buy local.

Help and promote each other.

Become great individual companies.

Consumer Spending

Average Brevard household take-home pay: $3,200/mo

Mortgage payment

Insurance – property, car, life, health

Property taxes, sales taxes, tolls

Car payments

Tuition, books, room & board

Remainder to spend here: Peanuts

Spending the Peanuts

Where & how determines Brevard’s prosperity.

National vs. local businesses

National vs. local products

Two keys to our prosperity

What share of each purchase leaves town immediately?

How many times is a dollar re-spent here before it leaves town?

Key Concept: Local Premium

More of our money stays here if we buy from local instead of national firms.

How much more = Local Premium

Key Concept: Local Premium

Local companies plow more of their revenue back into the local economy.

Keep profits here

Use local banks, accountants, printers

Advertise in local papers & radio

Buy goods & materials locally

Employ more people per $1M sales

Pay higher local taxes

Give more to charities & community

Chicago (Andersonville)

For every $100 in consumer spending at a local firm, $68 remains in local economy.

For every $100 in consumer spending with a chain firm, $43 remains in local economy.

For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local economic impact is $179.

For every square foot occupied by a chain firm, local economic impact is $105.

Calculating Local Premium

Example: Chicago (Andersonville)

All retail ($68 - $43) / $43 = 58%

Restaurants = 27%

Retail stores = 63%

Services = 90%

San Francisco

Effects of redirecting 10% of retail purchase to local merchants:

1,300 new jobs

$72,000,000 new payroll dollars

$192,000,000 new economic activity

Other Buy-Local Campaigns

San Francisco

Chicago

Boulder, CO

Vermont

Barnstable, MA

Austin, TX

Tucson, AZ

Best Businesses for Brevard

Group A

National firm; HQ here; creates here, sells everywhere – e.g., Harris Corp; Authentec

Group B

Local firm; creates here, sells everywhere – e.g., Ocean Potion; Symetrics

Group C

Local firm; buys elsewhere, sells everywhere – e.g., Pelican Sales

Neutral Businesses for Brevard

Group D

Local firm; creates here, sells here – e.g., Surfin’ Turtle Bar & Grill; Galaxy Grille

Group E

Local firm; buys elsewhere, sells here – e.g., Melbourne Beach Hardware

Worst Businesses for Brevard

Group F

National firm; HQ elsewhere; buys everywhere, sells here – e.g., Target; Starbucks; Home Depot; Outback.

Group G

On-line or mail-order firm; buys elsewhere, sells elsewhere – e.g., J.C. Whitney, Amazon.com.

A Note on Taxes & Ownership

Best Buy

Wal-Mart

Head First Consulting

City Tropics Bistro

Best Buy (192 & Evans)

Square feet: 99,767

2006 assessed value: $494,960

2006 tax levy: $9,093

Tax per sq. ft.: $0.09

Owner’s location: Greeley, CO

Corporate HQ Minneapolis

Wal-Mart (A1A & Eau Gallie)

Square feet: 92,041

2006 assessed value: $4,650,000

2006 tax levy: $93,775

Owner’s location: B’ville, AR

My House (Melbourne Beach)

Square feet: 2,821

2006 tax levy: $8,311

Owner’s location: Right here!

City Tropics Bistro (5th Ave.)

Square feet: 6,181

2006 tax levy: $18,782

Owner’s location: Indialantic

Local Premium: 4 Comparisons

Restaurants

Commercial supplies

Computer & network services

Small technology companies

Local vs. National Restaurants

Galaxy Grille & Surfin’ Turtle

75% of revenue re-spent in Brevard

Outback Steakhouses

~45% of revenue re-spent in Brevard

Local Premium = ~65%

Commercial Supplies

Pelican Sales

95% of gross margin spent in Brevard

Grainger

~50% of gross margin spent in Brevard

Local Premium = ~90%

Computer & Network Service

Data Doctors

70% of revenue re-spent in Brevard

Firedog & Geek Squad

~50% of revenue re-spent in Brevard

Local Premium =~40%

Small Technology Firms

Harris subcontracts $1M to small local IT-services firm

~$800,000 is re-spent here.

Harris subcontracts $1M to small IT-service firm in Boston

$10,000 is re-spent here (on travel).

R x

Action at Four Levels

Households & individuals

Business owners

Business community

Government

Households & Individual Consumers

Change buying habits: Buy local !

Encourage neighbors to do the same

Pressure government to subsidize Groups A, B & C instead of Group F

Individual Business Owners

Recognize your stake in the success of every other Brevard business.

Buy from each other.

Refer business to each other.

Market together.

Make your business a great business.

Compete on value & quality, not price.

Business Community & Organizations

Educate owners and residents.

Launch a new joint organization to promote prosperity of everyone.

Aggressively promote buy-from-each-other campaign.

Lobby for government action to attract Groups A, B & C, instead of Group F

Government & Quasi-government

Recognize Brevard’s negative cash flow as a serious social & economic problem.

Subsidize positive-flow companies, not negative-flow companies.

Promote (and live) the buy-local principle.

Our Missing Link 06/04/09 www.bestbusinesssummit.com Daddy Rabbit, … where are you? … who are you? … what are you waiting for?

Lets Make Brevard A Great Business Community

0 comments

Notes on slide 1

Favorites, Groups & Events