Building Community – by Nurturing Your Customers

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

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Growth does not happen in a vacuum, we grow with others and do so in a thousand different ways. In this episode, Patrick Keiser, Executive Director of Heart on Main Street - a non-profit organization and community of retailers, for retailers to learn and grow their business - shares how he spearheaded building this particular community. The ‘why’ behind this community is something he feels particularly passionate about, and in the spirit of Ben Franklin there is even a bit of “doing well by doing good”, as Heart on Main Street helps his employer’s customers.

2:08 - “Main Street businesses are an incredibly important part of our communities, of our local economies…they employ local people…they buy from local artisans…they are the back bones of our communities.”

3:06 - “There are so many challenges that Main Street businesses face and…the internet era has not been kind to Mom and Pop (stores).”

4:24 - “There was this really big support of the Shop Local movement…if there is evidence of a movement, there’s existence of a need.” (Some 100,000 of now only 300,000 local stores closed their doors in the last 20 years)

7:15 - “I wanted to see… what do retailers need if we could bring a community of people (together)... invested in the success of Main Street. What can we do?”

8:19 - “So you went to ask the everyday experts, the people that actually know, right?”

11:51 - “That was the impetus of Heart on Main Street. How do we…help them make a more meaningful impact…and help those retailers really grow their business?”

12:15 – 17:15 Patrick explains the four pillars of Heart on Main Street: 17:16 - “Came up with four pillars that would help them: Grants, Education, Mentorship Programs, and Friends of Main Street.”

22:32 - “A little bit of anxiety is a sign of intelligence.”

Learn more by reaching out to Patrick directly: [e-mail]