I’m a big fan of small businesses. I like the personal touch, and the uniqueness of small ventures. In an increasingly homogeneous world where I can see the same stores, fast food joints and corporate giants in my home town back home in Blighty as I can see everyday in my adopted homeland of Canada, it is so refreshing to see the small, local and unique businesses. In my recent (and fruitless) quest for a decent snowblower, I have discovered a small, local business that sells nothing but snowblowers and lawnmowers, according to season. They have the time to answer questions, make recommendations and offer advice, and I’ll never wander in, fail to find what I am looking for and search for ten minutes for an employee only to be met with an I-don’t-care shrug and a grunted “Don’t work in this department.” The snowblower quest was fruitless because I started looking too late in the season, i.e., when the first snowflake fell. The friendly local folks at my new favourite store advised me to come in and order one early… in August!
But I digress. Bumbling back towards the love of small businesses, I must also add that the appreciation level rises when it’s a woman running the show. Never mind feminism, women still face challenges in the world of business, and when the woman is also a wife and/or mother, there are even more hurdles to business success. Domestic and maternal roles can so easily be full time, but for many women, financial necessity or inner drive motivates them to do more.
When I find a small business that caters to one of my various wants, needs or whims, and is also run by a person or persons with a professional approach and pleasant manner, it is a real treat. (I don’t suffer fools and poor customer service gladly, but that’s a rant for another day…). Bonus points if the business is run by a sister in Islam, of course. And extra props when the business serves both Muslims and non-Muslims, thus building bridges and demonstrating diversity in action.
So I think that one of the things I want to do here on my blog is make noise about any cool small businesses that I come across especially those that are run by Muslim sisters. But anything that I find cool is grist for the mill, so look out world!
