As a small business owner, you're sure to know that your storefront is important. But do you realize just how important it is? Everyone's heard the adage, "don't judge a book by it's cover," but the truth is, customers make judgments about what they're interested in or what seems most likely to meet their needs in the first 15 seconds. Your storefront is the first impression you can make on a customer, and depending on their reaction, you may not get another chance to capture them.

Mike Budd works in International Sales at Triad Speakers Incorporated and completed the 2014 International Trade Small Business Management program at SBDC.

Updated June 22, 2022.

David Jensen is past President at Acumed LLC . He has been a PCC SBDC business advisor and has also been a client of the PCC SBDC. 

Santiago Estrada, is the International Account Executive at Warco Products Incorporated. Santiago has participated in the 2014 International Trade Small Business Management program and has taken the CGBP Exam Prep Training course.

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Katy Kippen is the owner and designer of Grayling Jewelry. Grayling Jewelry is made entirely by hand in the USA in their Portland, Oregon studio. Katy was in the 2015 Portland Business Alliance sponsored Advanced Business Management program. She opened up to us at the ‘Growing your Business’ symposium about getting started as a business owner and the role the PCC SBDC played in her company’s success.

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Ali Wykhuis and Angie Heiney own Frock Boutique. Frock Boutique was established in 2003 and strives to carry the most eccentric, eclectic, affordable and whimsical fashions available from locally designed and produced items. Today Frock Boutique has five employees and two locations, one in Portland’s Alberta district and a recently opened second store in Seattle. They have completed both the Retail Small Business Management Program and the Small Business Management Program.

Even in the modern age of global telecommuting, the importance of your physical storefront can't be understated. The internet didn't kill retail stores and maybe it never will, especially when you consider the importance of the customer experience. The fact that the retail store still thrives doesn't mean that the role of the retail store hasn't changed though. In today's post, we'll discuss the importance of your physical storefront, as well as touch on what the consumer expects in an integrated, synchronized consumer world.

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Carl Pruett is the owner and education consultant of Tutor Doctor of Portland. For 15 plus years, Tutor Doctor has provided affordable one to one in-home tutoring for students of any age. Tutor Doctor of Portland is a franchise that employs 128 tutors as independent contractors today. Carl participated in the 10-month 2015 Small Business Management program. 

Your food business is your baby, which makes it hard to let go of any aspect of your business. But just like hiring the right staff to do the work you can't, at some point your business needs to hire the right contractors to help you with work neither you nor your staff can handle so you can focus on helping your business grow. The benefits of outsourcing for small business owners is undeniable, and in this post, we'll discuss why outsourcing your food business tasks is so important.

National Mom and Pop Business Owner's Day is on March 29th. In honor of day, today's post will tell you how "mom and pop" shops can out compete the big brands.

Community Connectivity — Citizens

No matter how altruistic or charitable a big brand may be, they can never really participate in community the way that a small business can. After all, big brands aren't tied to any one location, and the people in charge of them, even on a local level, need to concern themselves with multiple, regional locations and issues. Local businesses not only depend on the community to thrive, but they're capable of giving back in many more personal and meaningful ways. Every action that a local business takes within the community not only garners brand trust and a positive brand image, it also builds community pride.