Should You Buy From Local Or National Companies?

When it comes to purchasing shredding services, office supplies, food at a restaurant or any number of other products and services, you have two categories from which to choose. You can either patronize a locally-owned, small to medium-sized business or give your money to a large national chain company.

Some Startling Facts

Here are some facts to consider before you make your next purchase:

• According to Local Works, for every $100 spent with a local vendor, $73 (73%) stays in your community. When the same amount is spent with a “non-local” national company, only $43 (43%) stays in your community. (See chart below.)
  




• Additionally, for every two new jobs that a national company creates in our community, three jobs are lost from a locally-owned business.
  
  
• Unsuspecting local governments often subsidize national companies with millions of dollars of tax breaks, creating a higher tax burden on their own residents. That’s just one of the reasons why buying from local vendors can create up to 75% more tax revenues for our community.
  
  
• The profits that go to a local business owner are also far more likely to be spent in our community. That means when you buy from local vendors your money not only stays in our community, it is also re-circulated into our community many times over.
  
  
• Local business owners live in our community, so they care about the interests and concerns of local citizens.
  
  
• When times get tough, local businesses usually do everything possible to stay in the community, while national companies will abandon their buildings and our community if a more profitable location surfaces.
  
  
• Locally-owned businesses make our community unique by bringing more diversity of products and services than the nationally-owned, chain stores that seem to want every community to look the same.
  
  
• Locally-owned businesses offer a personal touch and because they want you to come back, they actually care about what you think.

The Problem With National Shredding Companies

When it comes to shredding companies you also have a choice between locally-owned and nationally-owned companies. But if you’re seriously thinking of hiring a national shredding company, you may want to consider the following:

• Low Introductory Rates- Some organizations have been swayed by the low introductory rates offered by national shredding companies. However introductory rates are just that. Buried in your service contract you’ll soon discover that they can raise your rate at any time (sometimes as early as 30 days later) and their minimum fee actually exceeds the low rate that they quoted.
  
  
• Hidden Fees-Many national shredding companies will also quote you a low-low rate and then slam you with hidden fees, like minimum stop charges, bin fees and fuel surcharges.
  
  
• Eliminating The Competition- The goal of many national shredding companies is to use creative pricing strategies to eliminate local competition. Once they’ve done so they will enjoy free reign to price their services as high as they choose.
  
  
• 57% Of Your Money Is Leaving Our Community- When you sign up with a national shredding company, 57% of your money leaves our community, compared to only 27% if you were to support a local shredding company.

We’re Better…And We Can Prove It!

• Paper Tiger Shredding provides the highest level of security to our clients with our “no-touch” on-site shredding process. We never hand-sort your paper like other shredding companies. Your confidential documents go straight from your security bin to our shredder and you can even confirm your shred via our truck’s video monitor. That’s why we’ve been awarded the highest security rating, “AAA Certified” by the National Association for Information Destruction.
  
  
• We offer competitive, up-front pricing with no hidden fees.
  
  
• We respond to all customer service requests within 24 hrs.
  
  
• If we’re ever late for your regularly scheduled pickup, we’ll even shred for free!

What We’re Doing To Support Local Businesses

• We reinvest the profits earned from our customers back into our community.
  
  
• We buy from locally-owned businesses whenever possible.
  
  
• We also help promote local businesses to our customers.
  
  
• We’re actively involved in our community with Shred Day events that support both for-profit and non-profit local organizations.

How You Can Help

Along with everyone else in our community, YOU have the power to affect positive change. Here’s how you can help:

• Think Before You Buy- Before you make any purchase from a national company, for any product or service, look first for viable local alternatives.
  
  
• Buy Local- Reduce your on-line purchases (where ALL your money leaves our community) and purchase from local vendors.
  
  
• Educate Others- When presented the facts more people will choose to support local businesses. Help support your community by getting the word out to your family, friends and co-workers.