I suppose that every entrepreneur has hopes and dreams for what their ideas might accomplish or become- some probably want to change the world; some want to be rich; some take pleasure in building that better mousetrap; some want the freedom to run their own business. For me, I hope that Cogster will fill a very important void in our economic system, and can inspire a small change in the way our society thinks about the relationship between local businesses and local consumers (and yes, those others too).

During my time in the MBA program at Penn State, I had the pleasure of working at a Small Business Development Center (SBDC). I was able to see first-hand how many local people there are out there with great ideas, big dreams, and not enough money. Despite having some fantastic local banks in our community, there was still a missing piece. How was the small business owner to find that initial money to get him going? How was he going to get the couple thousand dollars to make a minor improvement? How was she going to tell her local customers about great spur-of-the-moment deals in a cost-effective and targeted way?

Cogster can help small business owners and local folks to get together and help each other. Ideally, the local folks get great deals, feel good about what they are doing, and find themselves living in a more healthy and stable local economy. For businesses, Cogster can provide the loyal, long-term customers that small businesses need, valuable working capital, and a great way to advertise to the local people that value you the most.

It is important to say that I have nothing against national or international businesses. They provide important services, valuable jobs, and innovation. However, in each community it is the small businesses that give the community its character and define the local customs and values.

Over the last couple decades, two very sad trends seem to be occurring. On the one hand, small businesses have an increasingly hard time competing with national chains. At the same time, there seems to be less and less sense of community between people. Maybe the two are linked. Either way, there has never been a better time to focus on ways to support the businesses run by our friends and neighbors, and to let those businesses help make our lives a little fuller.

Cogster has the potential to bring money together with those businesses that need it. More importantly, there is a chance that as we bring local consumers and businesses together to support each other, we can strengthen the bond between people and their communities, making everyone feel like an important cog in the local wheel.

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