@mlanger @anon_opin @dbsalk

one of the saddest things I see is when small businesses neglect their independent website for Facebook, and then don't even bother to update the bit of FB that you can see without having a login, to the point you don't even know if the business is still operating as their last post is 3 years ago!

I think the wider problem is a lot of business owners don't really *want* to communicate with their customers (and then wonder why they go bust within a few years)

@vfrmedia @mlanger @anon_opin @dbsalk

One further level of abstraction: a lot of business owners want to close down their business and sell off the land on which it's situated for housing (frequently much more lucrative than running a business could ever be); but they can't get planning permission unless they can convince the local council that they've really tried to operate the business and it hasn't worked out: going bust within a few years is exactly their intended outcome.

@only_ohm @mlanger @anon_opin @dbsalk

I think in many cases (particularly in my part of England) its landlords who would be doing this, hence renting out a location to a risky enterprise wihch is likely to fail? Or in other cases the business owners are old and going to retire anyway, so they don't have that much trouble showing the Council they *were* running the business.

OTOH I see the same thing happen in sectors like automotive where there is high demand and many businesses seem to be constantly busy (or at least give the impression of being so by being hard to contact by normal means, although this is often because they don't hire admin staff any more and the same mechanics doing the work have to field the customer communications)

@vfrmedia @mlanger @anon_opin @dbsalk

Funnily enough, both the automotive repair businesses that existed in my youth in the village where I live have gone down the "shut down and sell off the land for housing" route - in at least one case, with the local council being decidedly displeased about it.