When we think of businesses, we often think of international companies like The Walt Disney Company, McDonald's, and Nintendo.

Each of these companies, through globally recognized mascots like Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald, and Mario, respectively are internationally known as shown through their constant media presence like television, movies, games, and billboards. If you ask a person on the street if they know these characters, chances are they will say "yes."

Don't let this notoriety allow you to forget the local businesses, though. They might meet the needs those global companies can't fulfill.

Local businesses are everywhere from villages to big cities. Sometimes, companies may not deem a town with only hundreds of residents as worth their time. That's where local businesses come and fill in the gap.

For example, The Wynne Home Art Center is a local art exhibit where regional authors like Jerry Bennett showcase their work to the public. Since local businesses are often not rich, they must price their service and programs reasonably. Many of The Wynne Home Art Center programs such as classes, artist talk, and movie events are free and if they are not, they have affordable prices to accommodate their audience.

Not only that, customer service is also often a lot better.

With big businesses, they often have lots of excess employees like cashiers that when technological advances come, they are easy to lay off and save the cost. Most local businesses, on the other hand, do not have an excess number of employees to support. Often, they only have a few or even a sole proprietorship—a business ran by only one person.

That means making a first impression on customers is crucial.

They often only have one shot to impress people who don't know about them but bother to glance at first sight. Being friendly to customers is not only an encouragement to get more sales, it is a must to stay in business.

Local businesses can also give customers better deals than nationally-run chains.

For example, the chicken parmigiana I order at Olive Garden would run $15.49 alone, and that's before adding drinks or anything else one may want. Compare that to Huntsville's local Luigi's Italian Grill which runs $12.99 for the same thing, and that's not considering if a customer decides to eat it during lunch.

When the time comes to decide where to eat, speak with your wallet by supporting your local businesses.

At the end of the day, local businesses can serve as an important source of networking.

If a company needs help starting up a business and need a freelancer to help them advertise it, you could see if they need assistance. Should this be successful, the employer may continue to do business with you and might even consider hiring you. Of course, saying this is a lot easier than it really is, but it is far harder to get the desired job with a large business, let alone move up in it.

Always be open to looking at local businesses since they may open up doors you may not have expected!