ENID — About 25 local business owners and community leaders raptly listened Thursday night to a woman whose ideas some have credited with the ability to save local economies.
Cinda Baxter, a nationally recognized retail consultant, created the 3/50 Project via a blog post after hearing news of the economy crash in March of 2009. The idea is to change the behavior of consumers and business, with the idea of getting consumers to earmark $50 for purchases and make them at three local businesses.
“Success is a journey, not a destination,” Baxter told the group at the Cherokee Strip Conference Center. “Too often I see a pattern where businesses do really well ... and then all of the sudden they fall off the face of the Earth.”
She said this primarily is due to a business owner “making it” and no longer striving to remain relevant with customers.
“You have to always be moving toward the next step of success,” she said.
Now is the time for local brick and mortar businesses to lay the groundwork for success, she said, noting the slump in the economy.
“It cannot stay this way forever,” she said.
For the first time in four decades, she said consumers are evaluating the dollar bill they hold in their hands.
“Now is the time we can change their behavior,” she said.
The 3/50 Project is not meant to pit locally owned businesses against big box retailers.
“It’s not about David versus Goliath,” she said. “Sometimes a big box has something you can’t get at a local and sometimes a local has something you can’t get at a big box.”
The 3/50 Project is about the numbers: three, 50, 68 and one.
The three refers to the three independently owned businesses you would miss if they disappeared.
If half the population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $46.6 billion in revenue
For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If that money is spent at a national chain, only $43 stays local. If that money is spent online, nothing stays local, unless the e-retailer is located within your community.
The number of people it takes to start the trend is one.
“If you’ve got a small business, you’ve got to use everything available to you to stay relevant,” Baxter said. “It’s supporting the businesses doing it right. The ones you love.”
The project encourages businesses to work together, for example bundling three similar services between the three, and gaining customer loyalty.
“We need to look at how we run a business and see what we can do to make that customer feel needed,” she said. “It’s all about you. You the business. You the consumer.”
The 3/50 project has seen success.
In 2010, businesses participating in the project saw a 5.6 percent increase in sales, compared to a 2.1 percent increase for those that do not. Sixty-seven percent of participating businesses received media coverage and 50 percent brought new customers into their business.
The 3/50 project offers support for participating businesses, including a printable flier explaining the project, materials to advertise the project, an iPhone application, Twitter account, Facebook page and website.
Ward 5 City Commissioner Tammy Wilson and Main Street Enid Director Lindy Chambers brought Baxter to Enid Thursday night, in her only appearance in Oklahoma.
For further information go to www.the350project.net.