As this newsletter is published on July 1, we have the beginning of Independent Retailer Month. We are proud to have created the event here at Profits Plus and hope that businesses use it to promote themselves.

We know of communities that have an Independents Week that also starts today. We expect with both events to see a lot of attention directed to small independent businesses.

Even as we created Independent Retailer Month, there is a part that concerns it. We notice it as we see the word, "support" in the message that a business or organization uses.

We are not asking people to support businesses like you hear someone say come and support a local sports team. Instead the idea of the event is to encourage people to discover an independent retailer and find a wonderful experience they have been missing by shopping in a chain store or online.

We, as independents, have to create that experience. We need to have the products from unique vendors that the customer will not find in the other stores. We need to create the experience. We often talk about the experience and the presentation when we dine in a restaurant. We need that same talk to be about our businesses.

Recently, in search for a couple of items I had experiences with both independents and chains. The chains were forced into the equation when the independent failed to produce. In searching Yelp and Google, I find that while I had a good experience in one particular chain, there are many that have not had that same experience. The key point is asking why did the independent fail? And if we, or any of our employees fail, are we really that different from chains?