Supporting independent, locally owned businesses has become a holiday tradition in recent years with the advent of events like Small Business Saturday. But this sentiment extends far beyond the holidays — after all, the locally owned shops, boutiques, and services that define your community operate year-round, not just the last two months on the calendar. Frequenting the locally owned establishments around your town benefits not just the owners but your community, thereby enriching the quality of life for everyone around you. Check out some ways small businesses help their cities and towns and why you should support them all year.
Shopping small gives back to your community.
Studies show small businesses provide a greater percentage of revenue to the local economy than corporate-owned businesses do. Compared to large retailers that only circulate an average of 13.6% of their profits into local economies, the small “mom-and-pop” stores in your community contribute about 48%. This means the more revenue small businesses generate, the more money injected into the local economy.
Small businesses employ your neighbors.
Communities depend on small businesses for employment. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports there are more than 34 million small businesses in the country. Those businesses employ 45.9% of the workforce, and furthermore, small businesses created 17.3 million new jobs between 1995 and 2021. When you support small businesses, you enable them to provide income for those around you and help provide a better quality of life for your community.
Small businesses prioritize customer service.
Ever go to a big box retailer and feel you can’t find an employee when needed? Generally, this experience is absent from small businesses as owners and managers strive to establish relationships with their customers with personable, attentive service. Additionally, small businesses often have access to the same vendors as their large-scale counterparts, meaning they can offer the same products you’d find at bigger stores and small-batch items exclusive to local businesses. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, small business owners are usually more likely to order the item for you to keep you satisfied.
Small businesses support local makers.
In addition to some mass-produced items, small businesses carry a variety of goods produced in your community by friends, family, and neighbors. For example, Oh, Olive! features a variety of handmade products from makers like Veronica Foods (Oakland, CA) — which sources olive oil, olives, pasta sauce, and balsamic vinegar, the latter of which is imported from Modena, Italy — and makes for some extraordinary punch recipes — as well as tea from Door County Coffee & Tea Co. (Sturgeon Bay, WI) and spices from Galena Garlic Co. (Galena, IL). So, when you support these businesses, you support the passionate and skilled artisans who make your community unique and help them achieve the American Dream.