The Tale of Two Neighbors
I'm good friends with two people, but I don't think either of them knows I'm friends with the other. These two individuals are both business owners, and as luck would have it, their retail locations are adjacent to one another. They share a wall!
During one of our recent conversations, one of these friends was expressing excitement about how amazing business has been lately. The business is hitting record numbers and has new customers coming out of their ears. 2025 was the most profitable year ever, and by the looks of the first two months of 2026, this year will crush those records. Every conversation revolves around their team culture and its customer experience.
During a recent conversation with the other friend, the theme of the conversation revolved around the idea that nobody supports small businesses anymore. Everyone just wants to eat at chain restaurants, shop at big-box stores, and order their goods from Amazon. In other words, people suck, and the stupid actions of these sucky people are driving all small businesses into the ground. Closure seems imminent, which I suppose is the natural outcome when people stop "supporting local." It's always a pity party, and this person (and their business) is always the victim of the situation.
You'd think these businesses are located on different planets, but remember, they share a wall! Same street, same foot traffic, same weather patterns, same landlord, same everything. One thing sets them apart, though. The first business is laser-focused on being excellent, offering a fantastic product, practicing unreasonable hospitality, and serving those whom they have the privilege of serving. They have a posture of gratitude and constantly have their foot on the gas.
The second business operates with a sense of entitlement, constantly asking people to come support them. They don't operate with excellence, and the staff treats people poorly. They don't have a keen sense of the numbers and are always looking for a novelty idea to get people in the door. Further, they are known to spout off about political topics.....which is likely driving away 50% of their prospective customers.
It's never really about "supporting" small business or not. People naturally gravitate toward excellence.....period. People are largely agnostic about big vs. small, national vs. local. If anything, I'd say people naturally bend toward small and local, but said small and local businesses must earn it through excellence.
Whatever you're doing today, whether you run a business or not, focus on excellence. Excellence always wins....always. Yes, there are many forces and factors at play. There's no doubt that externalities play a role in our lives, finances, careers, and businesses. However, at the same time, we must control what we can control. And today, we can control our pursuit of excellence.
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