3c hapter - Index of

50 Locavesting
to keep in our lives. For me, it’s my favorite local wine shop,
where a visit invariably involves a lively discussion of Italian food
with Mathew, the owner, and the swapping of recipes before he
points us to his latest fi nds. It’s a very different experience than,
say, a trip to Trader Joe’s. As with Supreme Court Justice Potter
Stewart’s famous defi nition of pornography, you know a locavestor
business when you see it.
It is a diverse group. According to the SBA, 29 percent of nonfarm
small businesses are owned by women, and 21 percent are
owned by minorities (there may be overlap in the groups). But
what binds them is their independence, passion, and ambition.
For some, that means rapid growth and perhaps someday joining
the ranks of America’s top companies. Others have more measured
growth goals and little interest in the “get big fast” track. In
fact, only one out of fi ve entrepreneurs seeks “maximum growth,”
according to an SBA study. The majority simply want to manage
an enterprise that is a comfortable size and scale. 8 In an age of
corporate gigantism and profi t primacy, that is refreshing.
“I think business school culture, and more recently Silicon
Valley culture, places way too much value on the high growth
potential venture,” says David Fisher, a small business consultant
and former economic development offi cial in Hawaii. “It’s like
saying, don’t bother to take a walk in the park if you are not planning
to go to the Olympics. I have helped a lot of people develop
businesses that do under a half a million a year in revenue, yet
have happy owners and workers and a happy community.”
Locavestor entrepreneurs are often motivated by broader goals
than simply extracting the most possible profi t. As Sagar Sheth
explains, “When an entrepreneur says ‘my goal in life is to see one
hundred people employed,’ that’s so much more valuable than a goal
of seeing a million dollars in your pocket. There’s something to be
very proud of in that.” In the three years since he and his partner
started Moebius Technologies, they have not paid themselves a salary.
“That’s what it takes, and we understand that,” says Sheth. “We know
that if you’re going to build a beautiful business, a sustainable company
that hires people and grows, you have to make sacrifi ces.
And local? That, too, can be in the eye of the beholder. Local
is a loose term that can be applied to a tight knit neighborhood, or