We thought long and hard about whether the Northborough Guide should be a comprehensive Review Site. While we love the idea of local residents being able to share honest experiences with their friends and neighbors, we also acknowledge that these types of sites can put a lot of undue burden on small business owners. With the abundance of review-enabled sites that are out there now (Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Google… just to name a few), business owners now find themselves having to constantly monitor and respond to customer feedback—all while having to manage employees, pay the bills, serve their customers, maintain storefronts or equipment, market their business, and so much more. For a small business owner, well, it’s a lot. And we didn’t want to add to that burden.
But more importantly, Northborough Guide was founded on the principal of supporting local business in order to grow our local economy. Our goal is to build these businesses up, not tear them down. When our local businesses thrive, we all benefit. So we decided that the Northborough Guide Business Directory would seek recommendations only. After all, isn’t that what most of us usually ask for when seeking input? “Can you recommend a painter? A dry cleaner? A dentist? Did you like that new restaurant on the corner?”
So, in the immortal words of our mothers, and their mothers before them:
If you don’t have any thing good to say—save it for another site.
Sincerely,
The Northborough Guide Team