It’s that time of year again! First comes Thanksgiving, then it’s off to the races for some Holiday shopping with so many shopping events to choose from! Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then all the countless sales that happen before the big Holidays.
But do you support small businesses by shopping small? If you already do, or are thinking about supporting local businesses this Holiday season, then get ready for Small Business Saturday.
When you shop small, not only do you help your neighbor support his family, but there are many benefits to both you and your community. Here are just a few…
1. When you shop local you can enjoy higher quality products and services. Have you ever had an idea for a product or service that would you thought would make your community better? Well, that is the driving force behind every locally owned business. They took their ideas and ran with them, and fully committed to their mission to serve their community. Because of this, they take pride in their product and/or service and strive to give you the best shopping experience possible.
2. Keep more money in your local economy. Did you know when you shop with locally owned businesses more of your money stays in your community? It’s true! It’s estimated that $68 of every $100 stays in your community when you shop small, whereas only $43 of every $100 spent at larger stores stay in your area.
3. Local businesses tend to be more reliable. We’re not talking about customer service (although we’ll get to that in a minute), we’re talking about companies being there for you when you need them. You may notice a trend with bigger businesses and chain stores closing your favorite store even though they always have a line out the door, simply because it’s not as lucrative as other locations. This is just one way that big businesses cut costs at the expense of the consumer. With small businesses, as long as they have support from their community, they are here to stay and will go above and beyond to stay loyal to their customer base.
4. Locally owned businesses bring in more jobs and better wages. Remember when we talked about how locally owned small businesses have better products because they care about their community? Well, the same idea applies when it comes to employment and wages as well. You see, small business owners have a vision to improve their community through their products and service, and when employing workers, they apply the same principle. They want to improve the lives of the people that work for them and they treat them like family. So why is this good for you? Not only does it improve the local economy, but it also creates a worker that is happy, takes pride in their work, and strives to provide the best service possible.
5. Expect stellar customer service. We’ve all had horrible customer service experiences, most of the time with bigger companies or chain stores. When you call their company for help, you tend to get passed around from person to person until you finally end up talking to someone that you don’t even understand. But not with small, local businesses. When you shop small, you will find that most of the time their customer service is handled in-house by their friendly staff. Because they care about their community and their staff is treated like family, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that they strive to provide the best customer service possible.
This Holiday season, we hope you will consider shopping small. A great way to do this is to celebrate Small Business Saturday, which will be held on November 30th, 2019.
Happy Holidays!
