County News

An advantage of small business is the ability to partner with other businesses to promote and grow as a community. Orleans County provides a plethora of goods and services which pair well together. A great way to show customers what is out there is to work with other businesses. They may be familiar with what you offer but only have limited experience with other goods and services that are available.

Our business (Brushstrokes Studios) often works with other businesses and organizations in the community to promote the idea of shopping local. We frequently host paint nights at Brushstrokes Studios. These events tend to sell out in a short period of time and our customers love the items that we pair with painting. Examples of partnerships we have had in the past two years include;

• 810Meadworks has been several times with different, mead pairings for paint night.
• Herbalty Cottage coming in with bread and oil samples while with painted bread plates.
• CaseNic Cookies has been used for paint nights, Storytime with Santa and cookies for Father’s Day.
• The Bread Basket often provides pastries and bread bowls for themed nights.
• Meggie Moos paired with us for a discount for student families during a school break.
• The English Rose Tea Shoppe for a tea set painting afternoon.
• Della’s Chocolate and Leonard Oakes Estate Winery for an adult evening of chocolate and wine.
• Creekside Floral for vases with fresh flowers for Mother’s Day.
• Albion Merchants had us join their hometown holiday event

In addition, we often go into the community for painting events at libraries and with group organizations.

These are just a couple of things we have done to partner with other businesses to help expand our customer base and get the word out about other businesses. Business brings business, this is a fact. Your neighbor’s customers may not visit you today but they will be back, it’s your job to get their attention. Partnership may not work for every business, but think outside the box and you can make it happen.