The importance of keeping it local

[bridiej]

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Zava Design, post: 153860 wrote:

And that’s the tangent!

[Shaukat Adam Khalid]

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1. This forum is for tangents. :p

2. Why use guilt / patriotism to keep oneself in business when in reality, we’ve been living in a global village for a very long time?

This reminds me of the “rich get richer” mantra. That’s a given.

Why not just learn from those who turn adversity in revenue streams?

Sure it costs money and time but not as much as a university degree that only trains us to make big organisations bigger or certifications that only seem to profit the certifiers (who by the way, are excellent marketers).

[Zava Design]

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Scrooge, post: 153901 wrote:

Well no it is not the tangent.

If you support local the local business and economy has more revenue, if the business is more profitable it can afford to tool up, if it can tool up it can continue to manufacture locally.

The essence of local support is sustainability of the immediate local economy so no it is not a tangent to the main OP it directly relates to the OP.
And I’ll go back to my previous question that you must have missed: Why should I not have equal concern for a community elsewhere as my local one? In my opinion they’re both equally worthy of my help.

If people do not support the local business or take the position that the few extra ￡is not worth it, then she will either have to look offshore or close down.

Or innovate and/or improve the quality of her offering, or offer something unique that a buyer won’t get from an overseas supplier.

(And I have to ask Scrooge, is Kantaya going to be promoting the “buy local” mantra you have in this thread?)

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And I certainly don’t agree that buying something local just because it is local is helping anybody.

Example: The current Argentinean government has put in place an isolationist economic business model at present, where if you want to import goods you need to export the equivalent value of local products. So this has seen companies such as mobile phone manufacturers, car manufacturers, becoming exporters of items such as wine, clothing …etc, because they have no choice. They also have extremely high taxes on anything imported.

The result: The prices of anything manufactured locally is high, as they don’t have to compete on price at all, and their quality is low as they can charge a lot for low quality goods but still be cheaper than imports. Inflation is rampant, 25% in most estimates (apart from the government, who say the “official” inflation rate is below 10%. No one believes that) because everything costs so much so prices simply have to go up all the time. And the black market for the US$ is around 25% higher than the official rate. No one is being helped apart from the government and their hoarding of US$ for when the economy collapses again and they can line their own pockets (seriously).

Now in Australia the result would probably not be quite as extreme. However if you have a business where you don’t need to improve quality or innovate because you can push the “buy local” mantra to convince people to buy from you, then all you’re doing is delivering a sub-par product, and taking more $$$ out of a buyers pocket at the same time.

As I said, I don’t see how this benefits anyone in the longer term.

[Zava Design]

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Scrooge, post: 153944 wrote:

How much experience in retail product do you have? Differentiation is something many are struggling with in a price driven market. Is it right no is it a reality 100%
Then find another career/industry of you can’t innovate. We are so lucky in Oz, we have access to any type of education we want, assistance from so many avenues for those needing education to restart their career, to help start a small business, only around 5-7% unemployment, money to live on if we don’t have a job. Opportunities that the majority of the world would – sometimes quite literally – give their life for. So when I hear Australians complain about “how tough” it is, sorry, doesn’t carry much weight with me.

And did you simply choose to ignore my Argentina example, or any example in history of a country implementing an isolationist policy, which is in effect what you’re pushing with “buy local” just for the sake of it.

Actually Zava yes 100% it is the core foundation of the idea it is completely about local community.

Then I’ll be watching for its launch with interest, the holding page certainly suggests a channel for facilitating international business & services.

[Shaukat Adam Khalid]

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This is for anyone who is sick of being at the mercy of economy, competition, government, etc

Anyone who has a problem with differentiation has little to do with industry (e.g. retail) and more about market segmentation.

Retail is hard no doubt however, i am part of coaching programmes where i hear from other retailers who are killing it. They do this by:

1. business reinvention – subway marketing using covert marketing to tap into the “weight loss” niche (subconsciously)

2. sub culture marketing – restaurants/ pubs that cater to expats from a certain country or pubs that cater to fans of machester united (for soccer fans).

3. niche marketing – clothing store catering to plus size customers or by appointment only (one customer at a time).

4. newsletter marketing – printed and e-newsletter “written” by their pet dog/cat/horse, full of interesting content and used as a stealth marketing tool to generate leads, referrals and conversions with free standing inserts.

Keep in mind, i learn from those who make 7 – 8 figures because i don’t have the time to reinvent the wheel or take risks by asking for advice on free forums.

for a lousy 10% yield, we risk tens of thousands of dollars in stocks, bonds, real estate and we are at the mercy of the industry / economic shifts (usually).

Yet, when we start a “business”, we expect people to give us free advice on attracting and retaining clients?

How can we be so naive to think that free online content will help us generate meaningful income?

We have to grow up and accept that we are responsible for our future. Not the government and certainly not the rest of the country because we have the same passports.

I can’t begin to express how great it feels when you know how to create income and attract investors with little or no hassle or risk. This is not about being a millionaire. It’s about peace of business mind.

[Zava Design]

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Scrooge, post: 153950 wrote:

If that is how you interpret the holding page fine but don’t comment on what you cannot know anything about as the only person that does know what it is about is me and a small group of backers so in the eternal language of the teenager “whatever dude”
As I said, I’ll wait with expectation. All I can go off is what information is there.

As an aside is there a single topic or thread on this entire forum that somehow you do not start a heated argument about based on your own argumentative personality, and that is coming from me which is super rich.

Yep, I love to question the status quo, and people’s viewpoints. If there was more of it there’d probably be less people complaining about “how tough” they’re having it in Australia, and far more innovating and instigating change.

But I do it far less to anyone else than I constantly do to myself. Hence the life I’m leading at the moment, independent and living where I choose!

(though that may change as I challenge myself again and again… )

And I certainly have for more respect for people who have strong, well articulated viewpoints backed up by knowledge, research and experience, than those who sit on the fence all the time just to “keep the peace”. Many of my closest friends – friends of 20 years in some cases – have completely opposing political & social views than I, and we often debate this vigorously over a beer or few. We disagree strongly on many things, but we still remain friends. So peace.

[Cjay]

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Last night I was sitting in a restaurant in SE Asia, owned by a Swedish expat. I ate Australian Beef eye steak, served French wine whist listening to a country & western Texan expat play live music.

Globalisation is here and it’s here to stay.

I agree with zava’s sentiments, we’re one large village, how do we justify looking after one person geographically and not the other, especially if it costs us more. If the person local to us has already won the genetic lottery. Where the income flows overseas create development (to which there is plenty) to the point where their economies mature and manufacturing transitions to the next place (Africa).

Don’t fight against the current of change, work out how to use the immense power of it to work for you.

In the late 1800’s American policy makers were attempting to break into the Chinese domestic market – their view was that America would become the worlds factory and provide cheap products to the developing world, especially China. Tad ironic compared to what actually happened.

[Zava Design]

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Cjay, post: 153974 wrote:

If the person local to us has already won the genetic lottery. Where the income flows overseas create development (to which there is plenty) to the point where their economies mature and manufacturing transitions to the next place (Africa).
100% agree.

Rather than “Buy local”, my preferred mantra would be: “Buy from small businesses & local community initiatives around the world.”

[bridiej]

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Zava Design, post: 153946 wrote:

So when I hear Australians complain about “how tough” it is, sorry, doesn’t carry much weight with me.

Well, it is a tough environment out there at the moment. The company my husband works for (engineering) has just asked all it’s workers to take two days of unpaid leave this month as they are struggling. The alternative (and probably what will happen shortly anyway) is redundancies. People losing their income and possibly their jobs? That’s doing it tough in my eyes.

[bridiej]

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Zava Design, post: 153937 wrote:

Now in Australia the result would probably not be quite as extreme. However if you have a business where you don’t need to improve quality or innovate because you can push the “buy local” mantra to convince people to buy from you, then all you’re doing is delivering a sub-par product, and taking more $$$ out of a buyers pocket at the same time.

I have to disagree with this statement. When we were in the UK, the family-run engineering firm my husband worked for decided to stop making certain parts in-house and buy them from China instead. This led to several people losing their jobs.

The parts they purchased were nowhere near the same quality as they made themselves, but since they were so cheap they simply imported many more than they required and threw out around 80% of each batch as they weren’t usable.

That has nothing to do with innovation nor quality, but simply the greed of the company in looking to improve its bottom line.

And at a time when everyone is supposedly concerned with climate change and carbon footprints, surely importing vast quantities of parts from the other side of the world when you know at least 80% are going to be scrapped isn’t very environmentally friendly?

Purchasing locally and keeping Australians in jobs is a win-win for everybody: people pay their own way and have money to spend, which keeps others in work (as per the example of the hairdresser in the OP) and it keeps people off benefits, which means more money to go around for infrastructure etc., helping refugees and foreign aid.

[Cjay]

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bridiej, post: 153984 wrote:

I have to disagree with this statement. When we were in the UK, the family-run engineering firm my husband worked for decided to stop making certain parts in-house and buy them from China instead. This led to several people losing their jobs.

The parts they purchased were nowhere near the same quality as they made themselves, but since they were so cheap they simply imported many more than they required and threw out around 80% of each batch as they weren’t usable.

That has nothing to do with innovation nor quality, but simply the greed of the company in looking to improve its bottom line.

And at a time when everyone is supposedly concerned with climate change and carbon footprints, surely importing vast quantities of parts from the other side of the world when you know at least 80% are going to be scrapped isn’t very environmentally friendly?

Purchasing locally and keeping Australians in jobs is a win-win for everybody: people pay their own way and have money to spend, which keeps others in work (as per the example of the hairdresser in the OP) and it keeps people off benefits, which means more money to go around for infrastructure etc., helping refugees and foreign aid.

The problem with an isolationist view is that in a closed environment with structural pressures which push up prices (high wages and above inflation wage increase through union hijinks) you seen a spiralling of costs. It’s not simply a case of 10 cents more for a coffee, its the flow on effect for EVERY business which ends up costing you more.

China isn’t the only country making crap products. Just look at Holden.

I’d rather a $1,000 Samsung fridge than if we had to buy some Aussie fridge at $4,000.

We tried isolationist protectionism before post war to the 70’s all over the western world, it ended with poor products and high costs, rampant inflation and falling wages. There is a reason why we stopped it.

[Zava Design]

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bridiej, post: 153983 wrote:

Well, it is a tough environment out there at the moment. The company my husband works for (engineering) has just asked all it’s workers to take two days of unpaid leave this month as they are struggling. The alternative (and probably what will happen shortly anyway) is redundancies. People losing their income and possibly their jobs? That’s doing it tough in my eyes.
Are people going to die of starvation? No. “Tough” is very relative.

And if that industry is struggling longer term, then retrain for another industry. It’s not “easy”, but far easier than most others have it in the world. Those workers suddenly have 2 extra days they can use for training/education if they want to.

Purchasing locally and keeping Australians in jobs is a win-win for everybody.

Not if you’re paying more, or buying lower quality. If you’re getting better quality, or something unique, then yes.

And yes, environmental issues would be a perfectly valid reason to choose one product over another. I have no problems with a “Buy environmentally conscious” mantra.

But if you don’t believe this bridiej, I’m guessing you’ll be changing your own business model soon, no?

[Zava Design]

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Cjay, post: 153986 wrote:

We tried isolationist protectionism before post war to the 70’s all over the western world, it ended with poor products and high costs, rampant inflation and falling wages.
And the “Asia tiger” took full advantage.

Isolationism is not the answer. Innovation and education is. Most of SE Asia has been doing it for three decades now, whereas most of the west has become lazy and wants the “easy life” delivered on a platter for them.

Time to pull up your socks folks! A job for life is over, expect to change and adapt over the years to the changing economy and society’s changing needs. I’ve had three “careers” so far, and bound to have a 4th or 5th before my time is done. And I was fortunate enough to have been born into a society where this was possible.

[bridiej]

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Goods being more expensive than elsewhere is already a reality in Australia.

Look at the cost of books. A few years ago my mum bought me the Twilight book for my birthday (hangs head in shame). She paid $25 from local bookstore. Check out Amazon, less than £5 – even with their small delivery charge it was a fraction of the cost of buying it in town.

And yesterday my neighbour told us a friend had bought her daughter a new pair of shoes which apparently cost over $100 here for just $25 from Bali (and they’re originals, not copies).

I can see where you’re coming from and, as I said before, I’m not advocating buying 100% Australian all the time, but we’re already paying over the odds so I’m not sure I agree with your point.

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And I certainly have for more respect for people who have strong, well articulated viewpoints backed up by knowledge, research and experience, than those who sit on the fence all the time just to “keep the peace”. Many of my closest friends – friends of 20 years in some cases – have completely opposing political & social views than I, and we often debate this vigorously over a beer or few. We disagree strongly on many things, but we still remain friends. So peace.

Exactly, nothing wrong with a good healthy debate

[bridiej]

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Zava Design, post: 153987 wrote:

But if you don’t believe this bridiej, I’m guessing you’ll be changing your own business model soon, no?

lol no, nothing wrong with my business model thank you

My husband did indeed retrain as an electrician. Then we emigrated and he was told, despite having his qualification, he’d have to be a mature apprentice and live off $15 an hour for the best part of four years. So yes, it’s a nice thought but in reality, unless you have vast savings to keep you afloat, it’s not a possibility.

The likelihood of losing your home is doing it tough in my view. And that’s a sad reality for some of the guys my husband works with.

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