Paying for cash

Was just chatting with the owners of my local shop. They've known me a long time now and we talk about all sorts of issues. They feel like extended family, we have so much in common and stare aghast at the same people. They've got my phone numbers because I'm just around the corner and am happy to help.

Someone complained to them in front of me that the Link cash machine takes £1.80 for every transaction when the post office along the road dispenses cash for free. I've never heard a better business case for cash machine charges as I just have. The machines have to be manufactured, paid for, maintained, filled and they're placed in locations that are convenient for the public but not the people involved in that entire process. Would you make a product, give it away and then go to work for nothing? You'd charge people to have one, wouldn't you? The shop doesn't make a profit on that machine. They cover the cost of it and they keep it because it's a convenience for their customers and might just bring some people in.

My question would be do the people who complain about a paid for cash service phone their water company and complain about paying for the most commonly occurring element on the planet whether they run the tap or not? I bet they don't. You pay for your water for the same reason as you pay for your convenient cash. The system doesn't run itself. 

We got on to business in general. They have massive overheads and make just a tiny amount on each item they sell. Did you know, all you smokers and drinkers and I don't exempt myself from that group, that small shops make between 2 and 5 pence on the fags and booze you complain are so expensive? The rest is all tax, manufacturer and supply chain. Your local shop does not import products directly or have enormous bulk buying power like the supermarket giants do. They go to a cash and carry where they pay not a whole lot less than they then sell the goods for.

That little local shop pays £1000 a month just for electricity. They have lighting, tills, fridges and freezers to run not to mention that infamous cash machine and the security systems. They have deliveries to pay for - bread, milk and fresh produce - business tax and yet more tax on the property. Then there's insurance and heating, assistants to pay and the list goes on. They get by, but only just.

Now that's a really busy shop and you might imagine that they're minted but they're not. They are an important part of what's left of the community around here. I talk to people in the shop that I'd never have talked to otherwise. It helps that I know the place like the back of my hand and can show people where things are. That shop has been a lifeline to me for ten years and even more so in the last two years. It's a place where I can get exactly what I need cheaply and at the same time catch up with the lovely people that own it.  They're really feeling the economic pinch, just like the rest of us.  From my perspective, i.e. supporting me and the cat, the cost of living has risen by about 50% in the space of 6 years.  It's the same for small businesses.

I support my local shop because their presence supports me and they've become a part of my life. Support your local businesses. We need them as much as they need us.