Small Business: Hell Yes.

This will be our 16th holiday season. The above photo was taken by my mom back in 2005, just before RAYGUN would officially open in Des Moines -- a few months from our first holiday season. I was the only employee for the first 2 years. A friend and I were doing the buildout that summer (thus the Shopvac), my now-wife was in nursing school and dropped by before work (thus the scrubs). 

I was excited to be finally taking a leap and doing something creative full time. But the uncertainty of it was hard to describe. No one in my family ran a company and I'd never even worked in a clothing store, let alone run one, so I had no idea what to expect. 

But, with only a history degree, I wasn't qualified for anything else!

You realize early on that a small business depends wholly on the community that supports it. You make goods, hang out your shingle, and hope people drop by. 

Every transaction, every referral, every compliment, and every interaction is a breath of life for a small business like RAYGUN. 

And as RAYGUN has grown, it has worked to pay that debt back to the community.  

I don't think your average person knows the kind of power they have when they think about where to spend their money. Check this out: 

In 2006, after almost a year of work, I was nearly out of money. Down to about $2,900. That's not much when my monthly rent was $1,300. There was no credit, no loan. That was it.  

So, if you dropped by in 2006 and bought just 1 shirt, you would have increased my cash-on-hand by almost 1% with that one purchase! 

You learn quickly to be grateful to all who support the store. I still remember the jobs that came in that spring that kept the store going until summer. 

And you learn quickly that a lot of things are out of your control. Back in that spring of 2006, a major medical incident, a major bill, or a drop in sales would have snuffed out this company. RAYGUN would have failed right there. But it wouldn't have been for lack of trying. It wouldn't have failed because it was a bad idea. It would have failed just been circumstances that were out of my control -- ran out of cash at the wrong time with no access to capital. 

Everything is a mix of hard work and circumstance. 

I, and RAYGUN, have worked hard, but we have benefitted from any number of circumstances. 

One of the top circumstances are the great communities we have opened up in. 

Thank you to all who have supported this place in particular, and thank you to all who support small businesses in general. From the East Village in Des Moines, to Old Market in Omaha, Andersonville in Chicago, Crossroads in KC, NewBo in Cedar Rapids, and Downtown Iowa City, these local, brick-and-mortar neighborhoods have anchored their surrounding areas for decades. The community supports them, and they grow and support the community. 

Even 'small' amounts of money can be transformative for a small business. And that small business may grow into something transformative for your community. Here in Des Moines, businesses like Bozz Prints, Side Garage, Now Now, Slaughterhouse, and more, were all started by folks who worked at RAYGUN or our off-shoot, 8/7 CENTRAL. 

My proudest accomplishment is to have created a place that can have this kind of give-and-take-and-grow relationship with my city.  

From the pandemic to the expansion of retail monopolies, small businesses need their communities more than ever. Find a small business you like and support it! It will pay your community back in time, I promise.

We're all in this together.