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Did Reagan kill small business?

If you want to start a farm today you don't grow corn. You open a greenhouse selling organic foods and rarities, start an herbs farm that grows high demand essential oils, raise exotic food animals or breed the smallest dogs you possibly can. You have to go into new markets if you don't want to compete with big business.

This.

Several years ago I worked for a person that had started a small business from scratch and grown it into one of the largest manufacturer of pet products in the world. We sold a lot of product to Wal-Mart. We had several distributors threaten to stop carrying our product because the public could go buy it from Wal-Mart for just above their cost and they couldn't compete. The person I worked for said it was a bunch of malarkey. He said that if he were to open another small business he would open it right next door to Wal-Mart. With the millions of customers that Wal-Mart attracts every year the foot traffic past his store front would be tremendous. It was now up to him to figure out how to get that foot traffic through his front door and then once there, how to retain them as a customer. Unique products, excellent customer service and not trying to compete with Wal-Mart prices by carrying crap were three of his biggest points.

Ever been to a Home Depot during the summer in their garden center? Very limited selection, half the plants are on death's doorstep, the other half aren't suitable for your climate and the lack of knowledge and service are appalling. A smart person would open a small garden shop right next door. Carry a wider variety of plants, unique plants, know your crap and have excellent service. Home Depot has essentially done all the advertising to get people in front of your nursery. Now find a reason to make them come and buy.
 
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