Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Business feature: Workshop to focus on keeping foot traffic

The business world is ever changing, thanks in large part to online retailers. Two events next week hope to shine a light into the darkness.

The New Mexico Small Business Development Center is holding a free "Surviving Amazon" workshop from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Monday at the Yam Theater in Portales, and another from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Curry County Chamber of Commerce in Clovis.

The growing power of e-commerce giant Amazon inspired the NMSBDC to hold the workshops, according to business advisor Dominique Chairez.

"You have small businesses losing foot traffic due to online sales. One of the hot topics right now is rural areas are really gaining speed with online commerce. There's always a question of how to either beat Amazon, or how do you live with Amazon," said Chairez, who is co-presenting the workshops with fellow business advisor Munseila Sarun.

Chairez and Sarun will share research about online commerce, as well as tips small business owners can use to "survive Amazon in their small, local shops," Chairez said.

"One (tip) would be working with the ins and outs of Amazon, and as far as how small businesses can do business with Amazon, and the pros and cons of that," Chairez said.

The workshop will offer invaluable tools for staying afloat in an increasingly competitive business landscape, according to Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry.

"Retail businesses of all sizes have been affected by the increasing number of online sales. There are lots of ways to combat that, and this is going to be a program that should give them some ideas on how to do that," he said.

"They'll have a lot of information on how you carve out the niche that you need to survive in this changing business age. I don't think there's too many businesses that are immune to what's happening online these days. I think it's important for all of us, but it's particularly important for retailers."

NMSBDC Director Sandra Taylor-Sawyer recalled a time when small businesses were facing a similar threat: Wal-Mart.

"One thing that I'll add is that several years ago - and this is before (Wal-Mart) actually opened in Clovis - we did 'how to survive Wal-Mart.' I see this as very similar, and very timely," she said.

To RSVP for either event:

nmsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/

 
 
Rendered 02/27/2024 15:38