Old fashioned Christmas weekend in West Chester

West Chester LLC will be co-sponsoring an event with the West Chester Downtown Foundation during this weekend's Old Fashioned Christmas.

The West Chester LLC will be co-sponsoring the West Chester University Baroque Ensemble Group this Sunday, December 5th at 3pm. The concert is to take place at the West Chester Historical Society at 225 North High Street. We hope to see you there!!

Check out schedules and details here: http://www.gwcc.org/chamber-events/old-fashioned-christmas-sponsored-by-flavia/

West Chester LLC supports the West Chester BID

As is mentioned in today's Daily Local News by writer Jennifer Miller, The West Chester LLC is not the only entity looking to help build and maintain Downtown West Chester. The Business Improvement District enbraces its mission to:

• increase customer traffic and sales
• retain, expand and recruit viable businesses
• to advocate the interests of downtown to government agencies

see the full article at: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/11/29/news/srv0000010062268.txt?viewmode=fullstory

West Chester Currency

Did you know that back in the day (in the 1700's) West Chester had its own currency? This currency enabled day to day business transactions and circulated money within town. In a way, the West Chester LLC aims to do the same thing but on a year to year basis. We put investment dollars into the greater West Chester area businesses as loans or private equity positions. A portion of the earned income is reinvested in the community creating a revolving investment fund.

The West Chester LLC currently has 38 members, most of whom live and/or work in West Chester. The idea is that we are investing in our community. While the "invest local" slogan is a good way to be community minded, it's not only about that great feeling of helping our local economy. We also look for good investments and as a member-managed LLC, we are able to sit down and meet the people or companies we fund face to face. The alternative is investing in big corporations that we have no direct contact with and never will. While we have a personal stake in the outcome of Wall Street's efforts, we have no personal interaction with them. As a shareholder in the LLC, we are able to interact with the people who we are supporting on a daily basis, and spend our dollars in their shops.

Micheal Shuman has been talking about using this method of investing for several decades. In recent lectures he proposes amendments to SEC securities laws specifically aimed at enabling all people to invest locally, no matter their income level. If you take it a step further and create local stock exchanges, we could create millions of jobs at almost zero cost. He also reflects that sole proprietorships (most independant businesses) generate 3 times more profit than C-corporations (most large businesses) per unit of business. It is a compelling argument for opening up trading at local levels, especially when you consider this next point he makes.

Current SEC regulations require pages upon pages of disclosure documents to be read and signed by investors prior to making an investment. If that same investor walks into a casino to place a bet of the same dollar amount, he is expected to do nothing more than blow on some dice. Understanding the risk factors involved in an investment decision or a blackjack bet is important, but, there are some glaring differences in how a casino or a small business is expected to disclose that risk to investors. It is a process so laborious and expensive for small businesses that it becomes almost impossible to afford. Shouldn't our small businesses have the same or more opportunity to generate investors as casinos do?

Shuman has some great ideas about how to change antiquated security laws to enable local economies to thrive.

Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWM0o1rfWwE

Get that idea off the ground

We at the West Chester LLC are excited about the business ideas that come across our desks. There are many creative entrepreneurs in the West Chester Area and we want to see all concepts succeed. Taking the step to actully open a business is a monumental acheivement for some and a habit for others, but one thing that almost all successful start ups have in common is a business plan.

Some plans are scribbled on napkins initially, others use advanced formulas in Excell spreadsheets but planning how to get from your ideas to your results is an essential piece of the process. Being ready and able to revist the plan and revise it to suit a constantly changing environment is also crucial to sucess.

Two articles with some good advice on starting your start-up and business planning are on one of my favorite websites, Inc. Magazine's online portal this month.

Check out Elizabeth Wasserman's article "How to write a Great Business Plan"
http://www.inc.com/guides/write-a-great-business-plan.html

and

10 things to do before you start your start-up by Inc. Staffers:
http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/10-things-to-do-before-you-start-your-start-up.html

Private Equity in a General Store

Recently, while reading an article on the LA Times website, I came across an advertisement for the Vermont General Store. Immediately I was flooded with memories of the cold snow crunching under foot, apple pie and a fun family trip we had taken years before to Woodstock, Vermont. I thought, what is a General Store in Vermont doing advertising in Los Angeles?

On Wikipedia, the definition of a "General Store" is as follows:

In Australia, Canada and the United States, a store named or subtitled "general store" is traditionally a retailer located in a small town or in a rural area. It carries a broad selection of merchandise crammed into a relatively small space where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general goods. The store carries routine stock and obtains special orders from warehouses.

This general store has added national online sales to it's repertoire.

Our family spent Christmas in Woodstock Vermont several years before, and decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange where all buyers were given 3 rules to our shopping excursion. We had to spend no more than $40.00 in Woodstock, Vermont within the next 2 hours. Everyone wandered off into town, peeking over their shoulders to make sure they weren't being spied on by their secret recipient. The next day when packages were opened, the spread of gifts were extremely varied, artisan Jellies and Jams, a funny Vermont inspired stuffed animal, beautiful antique gardening tools and light bulbs were among the packages opened. It turned out that, after visiting a multitude of quintessentially cute Vermont shops, all gift givers had bought lunch and spent their cash at the Vermont General Store. Not surprising when you see that it is a deep cavernous building, packed with everything and anything you could think of, while still referencing the part of the country we were visiting.

As our country claws its way out of the recession, we are buying more things we need - rather than want; we are looking for ways to tighten our bootstraps, but we still want to buy nice birthday and Christmas gifts for loved ones.

A Pennsylvania inspired General Store that carried essentials, sandwiches, and lovely gifts could be a big success in West Chester. Patrons could limit gas expenses and time with one stop shopping. They could support local artisans, pick up lunch and contribute towards putting West Chester on a much larger national map though online sales.

You can visit:

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/Shop where the Vermont Merchant has develop a niche online market as "Purveyors of the Practical and Hard to Find."

Hybrid Retail can cover all bases

Over this past weekend, we stopped into Paper Source in Princeton, NJ and were overwhelmed by the extrodinary display of all things paper. It was a delightful example of a hybrid business model at work, and being the nostalgic pen pal I am, I was in staitionary heaven.

The lively colors, clean crisp displays and fun gifty knick knacks had my inner creative buzzing. They seem to do it all. You can sit down at a worktable with a designer and order your invitations from a selection of designs neatly displayed in accesible binders. You can sign up for a class on caligraphy or scrap booking (almost all classes for adults!!) You can pick out a wacky gift for you great-grandmother OR for her great grandson and have it gift wrapped and sent.

Or you can simply buy a card. The foot traffic was respectable and the sales people extremly knowledgable about the business. The woman who handled my purchase of a rubber stamp collection explained that Paper Source was thriving and in fact about 10 new stores were opening within the next couple months, which will increase their count to 32 stores.

You can take a look at their webiste and see that the online selections are just as extensive. http://www.paper-source.com/

West Chester could use a Paper Source - or an expansion of a current shop to include some of these fine offerings.

West Chester is one of the TOP small towns to live and work in...

...just like Princeton, NJ. What a great trip Richard and I had, we have come back full of ideas for West Chester! We LOVED our tour by Mimi, the owner of Princeton Tour Company, who I cannot reccomend more highly - http://www.princetontourcompany.com/index.cfm - if you are going to Princeton, consider scheduling a tour with them!! It was so much fun.



Not only do you get a little exercise and learn fun facts, but Mimi's tours also highlight the way that merchants in Princeton stick together, support each other and in the process create more revenue for everyone. We are eager to find the "Mimi" of West Chester as we think that her business model has great potential here. We all know that West Chester is one of the best places in the country to live and work - a tour company is a great way to share the best of West Chester with everyone! Stay tuned, we'll be posting more about our trip soon.

Princeton, NJ here we come!!

Richard and I are making a research trip to Princeton NJ this coming Sunday to mine the goldmine that is one of the most “BUY LOCALLY” minded small towns I've ever read about. Although Richard knows the town well having spent four of his formulative collegiate years there, he will have much to learn from how Princeton has embraced sustainability in recent decades. The shop local (till you drop) and environmentally conscious attitude continues to support a thriving local economy where university life and town life happily co-exist.

After visiting many merchants and asking a multitude of "how" and "what" questions we will be taking a tour by the Princeton Tour Company, (http://www.princetontourcompany.com/) a business model itself which may suit West Chester well. We hope to gain insights that can contribute to how we structure the review of the applications we receive at the West Chester LLC for funding. Stay tuned, we'll try to make a few posts on route!

Here is some suggested reading on Princeton, NJ:

http://www.hometownprinceton.com/

http://www.princetoninfo.com/index.php?option=com_us1homepage&Itemid=1

Some environmentally friendly shops that make it work!

http://www.shopgreendesign.com/

http://www.wholeearthcenter.com/whatMakesUsUnique.php

http://www.terracycle.net/

WCLLC will be a sponsor at the annual Literacy Heroes Event in April 2011 - NOMINATE YOUR HERO!

The West Chester LLC will be a sponsor at one of the most important events that the West Chester Public Library holds each year, the Literacy Heroes Breakfast. For the past six years, people who have made a significant contribution to advance literacy in our community have been honored at this annual celebration. As is stated on the event website; "Along with professionals, it is often a community volunteer, a grandmother, a parent or another individual who spends valuable time helping others. We want to honor these unsung heroes….individuals giving selflessly of their time and talent to help champion the cause of literacy."

You can nominate your hero here:

http://www.ccls.org/assets/forms/literacyheroes.htm


The West Chester Public library depends on the generous support of it's community, please consider giving a donation to the library. You can find out how to make a gift here:

http://www.literacyheroes.com/gift.html

A Demand Economy

Two articles in the November issue of Inc. Magazine highlight interesting trends in business over the past year. Companies that are selling "needs," rather than "wants" are succeeding at higher rates and slow sales of businesses themselves are leaning towards a buyers market. A question to consider is how do these national trends reflect what is happening on the streets of West Chester? Some of our most recent new businesses include a yoga studio, a health and wellness consultantcy, a leasing office and counseling services while one of our retail shops celebrates it's 20 year anniversary this year.

West Chester BID's Website, New Business news:
http://www.westchesterbid.com/view_program.php?id=209

A Demand Economy by Leigh Buchanan
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20101101/the-demand-economy.html

The 2010 Business Valuation Guide by Darren Dahl
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20101101/the-2010-business-valuation-guide.html

West Chester "BAR BID" is not adopted

The majority of the owners of West Chester's Restuarants and Bars submitted objections to the creation of a business improvement district specifically designed to quell rowdy late night patrons, also known as the Bar "BID."

In an article on the Daily Local News site, Anne Pickering writes "On Monday, Borough Manager Ernie McNeeley said 20 of the 39 liquor license holders in the borough had filed an objection to the new district and so the proposal was defeated."

You can see the full story at:

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/11/02/news/srv0000009839059.txt?viewmode=default

West Chester's "First Block"

One of the most important parcels of real estate in West Chester is the buildings surrounding the historical Chester County Courthouse. The county has listed these properties for sale and the ultimate development of this "First Block" will be critical to West Chester's downtown success. The West Chester LLC will post information here from time to time to keep you informed. We hope to play a part in the development of this property.