How to Promote Local Business Growth?

If you’re a part of government, your main task is to stimulate business growth. In the end, with enough resources, you can start various initiatives that will lead to the betterment of the local community. With more resources, you can also invest in education, health, and public works, making your city or township more appealing.

However, executing a comprehensive strategy is easier said than done. Even if you have a general idea of what needs to be done, you’re still at the mercy of various factors. Most notably, you’ll have to implore stakeholders to invest in your area instead of somewhere else. This is why guides such as this are so invaluable. 

In this article, we’ll talk about different tactics that would make your city more intriguing to investors. We’ll detail all the small tidbits that will, directly or indirectly, help stimulate growth.

• Identify local stakeholders

The first order of business is identifying people with the most money. List all businesspeople working in your city or state, and focus on those who have a history of local investments. Keep in mind that you don’t have to limit yourself to private entities and might also add various associations and public groups to the mix.

Even if these individuals aren’t willing to invest in the local economy at this point, you should still try to involve them in the decision-making process. They can give you numerous insights about future trends and how to best invest development money. 

Another good trick is creating roles within the development group. Give influential businesspeople seats on the council and develop unique positions for each one of them. Many people will feel proud being included in leadership positions, making them more invested in the whole process.

• Perform mapping and research 

Once you get in touch with stakeholders and create a working group, you need to analyze the local economy. Your main task is to focus on existing resources and how to best employ them. You might also consider market gaps within the home state and whether your local businesses could help fill those gaps.

Take a granular approach during this step. Not only should you look at the economy as a whole, but also analyze different branches. For example, you can see if there are ways you can affect improvement in specific industries.

Once you have mapped all the factors, it’s time to create a local strategy based on predetermined needs and opportunities. During this step, it’s vital to get everyone on board, primarily entities that have a direct impact on cash flow (financial institutions, NGOs, investors). 

When developing a strategy, you also need to determine how certain actions, such as infrastructure investment and subventions, will affect specific businesses. You need to measure opportunity costs and decide which activities would be more lucrative. Of course, all of this should be done while considering market factors and global competition.  

• Stimulate local consumption

Not only should you affect local investors and stimulate entrepreneurship, but you also need to change the mindset of local consumers. For the economy to be efficient, purchases and associated taxes need to stay within the city. 

In that regard, you might even want to reduce online shopping unless stores are within the city limits. Giving an advantage to local businesses when it comes to marketing can boost brand awareness and stimulate increased purchases. 

• Organize fairs and open markets

One of the most significant issues local manufacturers have is accruing the initial funds that would allow them to rent a physical store or create a sizable inventory. To get small entrepreneurs started, you should make as many fairs and open markets as possible. Even if these are periodic events, lasting a few days, they might help manufacturers make some money. 

• Give out awards and create annual events 

Another way to create a feeling of community is by having annual events hosted by the local government. The best example of this is award ceremonies during which you’ll celebrate the work and dedication of elite business people.

Of course, for an event to be successful, you need to get as many local companies on the list as possible. In the end, if the biggest entrepreneurs aren’t going to attend, the entire ceremony will ring empty. 

As for the awards, you can tinker with all sorts of concepts, and you might even want to consider giving out money prizes to the winners. Check out these Chamber of Commerce award ideas that will help you figure out the best solutions. 

This is a Sponsored post – the author has requested this post be shared on WE Magazine for Women and we were compensated for sharing.