When you give your money to a big business, you don’t know who you’re impacting and you don’t get to see the impact your support makes. However, when supporting a small business you are truly making an impact in the lives of real people, entrepreneurs, and families.
Your purchase is helping the business owner put food on his/her family’s table and allowing them to continue pursing their dream business.
When you think about all of that, and how many different types of small businesses there are, it’s hard not to choose a small business over the big guys. We have another post detailing the importance of supporting small & local businesses.
A List of Easy Ways to Support Small Businesses
You can support small businesses in a variety of ways! Some of these ideas for support are free and don’t even require spending money!
Buy From Small Businesses
This is one of the best ways to support your favorite business because it keeps them going. Without people buying their products there would be no business. Some small businesses even use part of their profits to give back to the community through nonprofits, special initiatives, and more.
Once you’ve bought some items and have determined you love the product and the business, there are other actions you can take to further show your support. And there are many FREE ways to support small businesses.
Review Your Purchase/Give Them A Rating
Reviews and ratings are extremely important for a business’s success. They help get the word out and give others more information about a business. Most often a potential customer will trust a review before they trust an ad. So with these reviews and ratings a business gains promotion and credibility, among other positive things.
There are a plethora of places you can leave a review for your favorite small business. A couple of big ones are Facebook, Google Business, and Yelp. A lot of online brands appreciate reviews directly on the product you purchased too! The business may have a preference or other suggestions, so sometimes it’s good to ask the owner where they’d like you to leave the review.
Post About Them On Social Media
In addition to giving a review, you can also spread the word to your community. A great way to do this is by posting about the business on social media. Some great examples can be posts like product reviews, showing yourself shopping at the business, and showing the products you purchased.
Tag Them On Social Media
When you are posting about the small business you are supporting you’ll also want to tag them. This helps your audience get directed to the business’s page. You can tag them in a lot more than your posts. There are opportunities all over social media.
If you see posts asking for product recommendations and the business sells that product, tag them in the comments. Another idea is to spread the love to multiple small businesses by doing a Small Business Saturday tag where you share your favorites.
Engaging With Them On Social Media
The last social media tip on this list is to spend some time engaging with the business online. Like their pages, comment on their posts, or take it a step further and share their posts. All these activities are getting the business seen by more people, which the owner will appreciate.
Buying Presents From The Business
During the holiday season when you think of buying presents consider buying from small businesses. Not only are you supporting them by buying their products, you may also be giving them new customers.
For example, say a friend loves candles and you know a great small business that makes candles. You could gift them one. When the candle runs out and he/she wants more, or maybe they want more in general for other places in their house, you can direct them. You’ve just given a great gift to your friend and a new customer to your favorite candle business.
Refer A Friend
If you’re reading this at some point after the holidays, it may make more sense for you to refer friends to your favorite business instead of buying gifts. This can also be called word-of-mouth. By referring a friend to a small business you are helping both parties out. You’re helping the friend fulfill a want/need and the business gets a new customer. It’s truly a win-win.
Attend Events They Host
Businesses host events all the time to promote their products and get more involved in the community. It could be a special sale, workshop, or some other special event. When these events happen make it a point to not only go, but take some friends along as well.
Give A Big Tip
If you are feeling extra generous, and have the means to do so, another great way to support a small business is to give a big tip. As I mentioned before, the money you spend/give to a small business directly affects those that work there. You’ll get to see/hear about how grateful they are for your support. I find that a special moment to be had.
Collaborate/Offer Services
The last way you can support a small business is by offering to collaborate or offering up your services. Do you own a small business and sell products that go well with another business? Why not ask about collaborating on an event and getting both your customer base together?
It will be a fun way to get introduced to new potential customers and you can introduce your customers to a complementary product/business. This will boost both businesses.
If you’re not a small business owner that sells products, but you do offer services, why not offer those? Let’s say you are a photographer. You could offer your favorite shop a brand photo session to help support their growth. That’s one of many examples of offering a service to a business.
Now that you know different ways to support your favorite small businesses you can go show them some love this holiday season. I’d love to know which ones you frequent. Let me know your favorite businesses in the comments.