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My dearest friends,
I have been following the discussion on the local small business and the fact that inequity exists in their inability to compete with the Big business. As a small business owner, I hope I can give a little perspective to this discussion. Here I go and my soap box!
One of the classic comments in this discussion is the statement that small business can compete because they can give specialized and higher quality service. As most of you know, I am the technical director of Meteor Light Labs. As all my clients will tell you, we have been serving this community for over seven years with distinction. Not only have we been recognized nationally for having the fastest and most stable computer systems in the world we are also recognized as the best service and repair provider in the country. Our reputation for excellence is unequaled and where. Our customers will attest to this.
We have donated services and products more than $200K to this city in the past two years and have been the catalyst for computer technology in our region. We have sacrificed lucrative accounts in Washington to help bring the City of Moscow to a new level of efficiency and technical standard. We have given much to our community and we are proud to be of service and be recognized for our integrity and excellence.
You would think that the residents of this city would prefer to do business with us to the web and other discounters. You would think that the people would be willing to support such initiative with a slightly higher fervor. The fact, however, is that the only deciding factor in most peoples decision making is money. I have spent hours educating people on why the products I use are the best just to have them order all the components from mail order and save a whopping $100 on a $1000 purchase. That is right... by enlarge most of you have no respect for intellectual property and have no problem steeling knowledge. Most of you also would rather save $100 and buy a lower quality system than buy the best for 10% more. Lets say you were shopping for a car... lets say that you went to a car dealer who carried a Ford Escort and a Benz; they are exactly the same size and have all the same goodies (air conditioning, power steering, etc.). Lets say the dealer is willing to sell you the Escort for $10K and the Benz for $11K... which one would you buy? This question seems like a stupid one... you would get the Benz since it is a better car and will last you much longer. In the computer front however all of you who have purchased a computer in the past seven years from anyone but my firm have chosen the Escort.
Now you can sit there and argue that the system that you bought is just as good as mine is if not better but you would be wrong. You also have made a statement that all of what I have done for you in the past 7 years is worth less that $100. To this I respond by closing my store and leaving you to the low quality computers you have chosen and will tell you one thing. When your system crashes... you deserve it; when your data is lost... you deserve it. When you have to wait on hold for a long time... you deserve it. When your downtown ends up a gutted out eye sore... you deserve it. You could have prevented it with just a little foresight, a little thought about your society, truth, justice and decency.
Please do not sit around and belly ache about our downtown unless you have supported it. How many of you stopped going downtown for office supplies when staples opened? If you have ever shopped at Wal-Mart, Staples, Costco or the web and mail order instead of buying things locally you have no right to belly ache about our town and how all the businesses are going out. I am sorry to be so blunt but you need to understand that those of us who are good at what we are doing have the option to go anywhere. I turned down job offers of over $100K to stay in Moscow. The way things are going I might grab one of those deals. Where will you find someone who is willing to donate $200K of his time to make your town a better place for you?
I will leave you with one final thought; the freedom we enjoy requires responsibility. If you act irresponsibly, you will loose freedom. If you act irresponsibly, act against society, and break the law you will be thrown in jail. When you were a kid, if you disobeyed you were grounded. If you act without regard to the WHOLE of society, you end up with less and less freedom. Pretty soon you will have to buy everything from the monopolies that will dictate what you read, what you see, what you eat, what you wear, etc. With their multimillion-dollar budgets they will convince you that all the chemicals are really not bad for you... the rats in the tests are just wimpy. They will convince you to read this book because so many others have... follow the norm... don't rock the boat, be a GOOD CITIZEN and do as you are told.
If you see a problem with the society you live in... look at yourself... are you part of the problem or the solution?!
With more love for this city than you will ever know,
Shahab...