TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- "There is no bigger compliment than when a customer comes in and says a friend referred me to you."
That's a quote of an example of motivation to owning a small business, but it doesn't necessarily mean that small businesses will always be successful. For instance, the above quote was from Nicole Melton, who owns Nikki's Niche: a lingerie shop in eastern tallahassee. But her recent economic struggles have threatened to close her business down.
"I'm getting to the point where it's maintaining but its not enough", said Melton. "And then i thought 'Well all the people that have helped me get to this point, maybe they can help me push that little bit extra i might need to keep the doors open'."
Local businesses, being smaller, usually rely on the revenue generated by returning customers and the word of mouth that they spread to others. Larger companies can afford to use larger means of advertisement and not just rely on word of mouth alone.
" To spend sixty dollars on something or i can come and help somebody locally and come home with more for my money", said customer and pin-up model Shevi Delux.
For now, Nikki's Niche remains open, and like many local businesses in town, she wants it to succeed.
