By: Rhett Buttle
November 25, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is Small Business Saturday and is a day for supporting entrepreneurs in the best way possible – by doing business with them. While it is important to shop small year round, the last two months of the year are traditionally the busiest time of the year for small businesses and it is when they bring in a significant portion of their annual revenue.
Supporting small businesses during the holidays goes a long way for many reasons. When consumers spend with small businesses, their dollars stay local, supporting businesses that fuel the local economy and community. You can support local businesses, like Gritz Cafe, a women owned restaurant specializing in soul food and southern cuisine in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to a study by American Express, $0.68 of every dollar spent at a small business remains in the local economy and it also creates an additional $0.48 in local business activity due to employees and businesses also shopping locally.
In addition, small businesses create nearly half of all American jobs and shopping small during the holidays helps them create more local jobs, and in turn more economic opportunity. Small businesses lost over 9 million jobs in the first quarter of 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but despite historic losses, they gained 5.5 million jobs in the quarters following and continue to create millions of jobs annually. This is due not only to the efforts by business owners to continue serving their communities, but also due to support from their neighborhoods.
“Small Business Saturday has historically been the official start of the holiday season for small businesses and entrepreneurs. While the economy shows signs of recovery, small businesses continue to face challenges to growth due to lingering inflation and catching up from pandemic era losses, meaning it’s more important than ever to shop small. We encourage consumers to support the over 32 million small businesses across the country, who create millions of jobs and represent the bedrock of our economy,” said Angela Dingle, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy, which leads the Small Business Saturday Coalition.
Shopping small makes a big difference in elevating local businesses and entrepreneurs who are some of the strongest drivers of economic growth and job creation in the country. Find participating small businesses in your area here, and if you are a small business owner, you can get free Small Business Saturday marketing materials for your business here.
At its core, Small Business Saturday is about driving business to the small businesses that make our communities unique so that they can continue to grow and thrive. Businesses across the country are continuing to navigate a challenging economy post pandemic and need the support of their community now more than ever.
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