By Gwen Davis

Owning a small business isn't easy. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be like climbing Mt. Everest, either. 

This past summer, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce hired communications consultant Allison Carney to interview 25 small businesses members to figure out what are the most common shared experiences and challenges. While the final report won’t be out until the end of November, on Thursday evening, the Chamber held a dinner where Carney told members the gist of what the interviews suggested.

"The purpose of the study was to define common challenges and common resources facing the West Seattle small business community,” Carney said at the dinner, which included dozens of members. 

Carney first talked about the joys most businesses owners find from doing business in West Seattle.

"Pretty much every person I spoke with felt that West Seattle was a special place,” she said. "They felt this was like no place else, and that this was incredibly important. Many people felt a community here, and many cited the importance of small business in that community.”

But many challenges exist as well. The seven most common complaints members cited included: parking restraints, space and infrastructure problems, dealing with homelessness, the cost of doing business, non-supportive relationships with the City of Seattle, feeling helpless and a lack of community.

Regarding space and infrastructure, owners are worried about displacement as rent gets higher and higher.

“One owner said: ‘If my building got sold, I'd probably go out of business,'” Carney related.

While people feel safe in West Seattle, Carey said that owners reported that homelessness keeps getting worse.

“Homelessness is growing and they feel like there’s no way to stop it,” she said.

Additionally, the cost of doing business was  a prominent issue.

“It was the largest concern and showed itself in different ways."

Some owners were confounded by the city’s minimum wage. One owner said servers were making $60 an hour. Others said they wanted to give benefits to their employees, but it’s not always economically feasible. Another owner confided that cutting holiday leave was the only way they got through the recession.

Also, business owners don’t feel like the City of Seattle treats them cordially.

"It’s really about the distance people feel to the city and the lack of prioritization they feel,” she said. “They are feeling alienated. One owner said: 'I don’t feel like the city cares about small businesses, they care about Trader Joe’s, but we are just a blank.” 

Small business owners can feel helpless, she continued.

"'We feel helpless,’” one business owner reported, Carney said. “'We hope it’ll get better but it’s exhausting. I’m about to pick up and move to Burien.’”

Other members said they "feel completely alone".

A lack of community was the final issue raised in the study. 

"This is a vibrant community but it’s changing,” Carney said. "The Junction is the third fasted growing neighborhood in all of Seattle. There are feelings of disconnect to the new people coming in. That connective tissue that made Seattle known and loved is thinning out. There are businesses that have tight relationships with each other, but others are feeling isolated from their neighbors.”

Carney reported that one member talked about how the general public doesn't know how many businesses  there are in West Seattle — how people don't know that they actually don’t need to leave the neighborhood in order to get their needs met.

Owners stated that small businesses need to be preserved.

Carney said that one member stated: “We think West Seattle is such a special neighborhood — if we don’t persevere these small businesses, we’re going to lose one of the most special aspects West Seattle has to offer.’”

Another member said: "'We’re trading a neighborhood for logos.'”

After Carney’s presentation, attendees had an opportunity to brainstorm topics related to operating a small business with other people at their table. The topics — one for each table — included: marketing, human resources, customer retention, safety and city regulation. A table caption from each table then reported back to the group at large what was discussed.