Page 202 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

Understanding and Growing a Community’s Microbusiness Segment 191

In addition to quantifiable data, microbusinesses also offer benefits of a
more qualitative nature. Economic developers prefer diversity within the lo-
cal economy for several reasons. First, it protects the economy from being
overly dependent on one entity and, if that business falters, fails or moves,
the rest of the local economy suffers. Also, a healthy economy grows by
trade within the community—one business trading with another as well as
with local households.
Finally, communities need an assortment of businesses, both goods and
services, to meet the needs of residents and local business owners. This mix
encourages local shopping, reducing the need to go to another community.
Such reasons are in part why Low, Henderson, and Weiler (2005) discussed
the need to examine both the breadth and the depth of entrepreneurial ac-
tivity within a region.
Another reason for developing a continuous stream of microbusinesses is
the practically impossible task to predict which business will be the next
gazelle—that is, which business will take off in a rapid growth pattern. Eco-
nomic developers across the nation are looking for the next rising star.
However how does one identify that star? What allowed Amazon.com to
survive and prosper while other online retail businesses failed? Why did
Starbucks become a household name? A multitude of other coffee compa-
nies tried to find the right combination to grow; yet Starbucks became the
gazelle. The message seems to be the more the start-ups, the better the com-
munity’s chances of finding the gazelle.
So, do microbusinesses count in terms of economic development? Mark
Drabenstott (2003) stated that a solid economy depends on all forms of
businesses whether entrepreneurial or small in nature. He stresses that the
impact of small businesses is more than just image; they indeed represent
impact. He also notes that some of these businesses will make an impact on
not only the local economy but on a national and international scale as
well.
Microbusinesses add dollars and cents to the local economy and to the
family who owns them. They also bring quality of life to a community by
expanding community offerings, improving the local image and attracting
outsiders to visit. In its Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative Guidebook (Right-
myre, Johnson, and Chatman 2004), the Missouri Rural Entrepreneurship
Initiative team noted that all economic activity has value and that a com-
munity must support all businesses including the microbusiness entity. In-
stead of concern about the development of entrepreneurs as opposed to
small businesses as Carland, Hoy, Boulton, and Carland (1984) discuss, it
may be more important to support all “proprietors,” thus removing the
concerns about the owners’ intentions (Goetz 2005).
Probably the strongest argument for including small business owners in
the mix comes from The World Is Flat by Friedman (2005). The overarching