One Man’s Failure Sparks Another Man’s Call: A Help Your Neighbor Story

In the suburbs of Albany, New York, there is a small village called Loudonville. A thriving community that is as rich in history as the capital is. I have been in this community since 2002 and I can see myself staying here until the end, or even the end! Several weeks ago, I saw another local business close its doors for good. I was sad to see it happen. I met the owner and he explained that the monthly operating costs killed his small business. He said there just wasn’t enough income to offset the overhead, so he packed it before it packed him. Sad nonetheless.

That night I was talking to my wife, Stephanie, about being upset that the owner of this business couldn’t get by in the current economic environment. George Bush and Barack Obama, apart. It seemed that the Capital District was being consumed by a shark frenzy of corporate giants. Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Chili’s, Papa John’s, Cheesecake Factory, and Borders were crushing the little man.
I informed him that there was something I wish I had done to help him; that’s in addition to being a solid boss. That’s when he shot up and said, “You can!”

I replied, somewhat questionably, “How? There are only so many nights we can eat out.” He went on to tell me that while I couldn’t do anything about this failing business, I could help others use my own business.

In addition to being a computer administrator, I also help National Grid customers save a great deal of money each month on their National Grid electricity and gas supply. The energy supply in the state of New York was not deregulated and that meant savings for those customers. Now I’ve been helping hundreds of local neighbors, friends, and family save every buck and earn vacation reward points just for paying their National Grid bill like I normally would, but I never thought of helping businesses. Electricity and natural gas seem like such residential products.

So what Stephanie told me to do was introduce the savings program to all of our local stores, restaurants, stores, etc. favourites. Even those we didn’t even sponsor before. In this way, in addition to putting money into their business as a client or future client, she would also be giving them a way to cut their profits! I thought the idea was brilliant.

So the next day, I went to my local pizzeria and had my usual slice of BBQ pizza. As the slices came out of the office, I thought about what my wife mentioned. Along with my $10 bill, I offered my program to the store owner. She liked what she heard and signed up for her National Grid account soon after. Because his furnaces are constantly burning, his business consumes a lot of energy. He I was so happy to hear that he saved $437 on his first month’s bill! Multiply that by 12 and that’s more than $5,000 a year I was saving. He gave my family a cake and some chicken wings on the house for that night! While I didn’t do this for free food (no complaints), I knew it was a good thing and was grateful that my wife provided us with a way to help stores in our community. Instead of someone who retails energy, I felt like someone who was helping out, you know? Someone who was contributing to their environment. It felt good.

I hope this article has given you an idea of ​​how we can all find a way to help our community. From shopping locally to saving on your expenses, we can all make it happen.

Good luck to all the local businesses out there. I wish you the best and hope to find your establishment in the future. Send me an email and tell me where you are.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top