Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.

The big one: Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday is November 26, 2022, in the US.

In the UK, Small Business Saturday is 3rd December 2022.

Expect a lot of media attention

Organizations love to do #ShopSmall events, and media love to cover them. It’s their annual reminder to pay attention to local stores.

Check your local organizations, chambers, business groups and your local media. Ask if anyone has received a “neighborhood champions” kit with goodies like signs, posters or shopping bags. Who can forget their doormats?

No neighborhood champion in sight? Be your own champion and get the Shop Small resources for small business owners here. For 2022, there’s a national map you can list your business on and tools to customize signs and graphics with your business info.

Plan now how you’ll promote to tie into the big boost.

Jump on the bandwagon

Use everything from the Shop Small resources as well as the special Shop Indie Local Saturday logo, above.

Watch for posts from your fellow local stores. More of them may be online this week gearing up for the rush of activity. Make sure you find, like and share their stuff.

Tomorrow: let’s get artistic

Continuing the post-Thanksgiving rush with Artists Sunday. Then we’ll share tips for Cider (not cyber) Monday and Giving Tuesday.

See the whole series:

Read all our articles in our Shop Indie Local series.

Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.

Reprint or share this article:

Shop Indie Local is our group theme for holiday marketing this year. You have my permission to forward these articles to your local retailers, merchants association, chamber of commerce, downtown development group or any one else you think would benefit from them. All you need to do is list the author as Becky McCray of SmallBizSurvival.com and then let me know who you are sharing with.

Photo (CC) by Ron Mader, on Flickr

Small Business Saturday has come and gone.

What worked? What did you do? And what do you wish you would have done?

Now is the time to answer those questions. Yes, I know that for many of you it is also the holiday shopping season and you have just run the gauntlet of getting the decorations up, putting out the first sale flyers out and participating in Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And staring you in the face are the remaining 19 days until Christmas.

But it’s crucial to examined what worked and to keep doing it throughout the season (Actually, you want to keep doing it until Small Business Saturday 2018 when you can up your game even more).

2017 Small Business Saturday was bigger and better than ever. You can find lots of articles addressing the results. The National Retail Federation reported that 55 million shoppers visited small businesses that Saturday.

That was a look at the national scene. My colleagues, Tait and Kate, addressed why your success is so important at a more local level, your community, in “Small Towns and ‘Shop Local’ Do Matter.”

And we can take it down even further to your own store. A successful Small Business Saturday promotion meant money in the till. Just as important, though, it meant more awareness of your store, more foot traffic, and more coffee-time conversation about what you have going on.

Those last items are crucial for long-term sustainability and success.

Small Business Saturday

So ask yourself and your customers, what worked? Then do more of it.

It is much more effective if you continue something that worked then to let it sit for several months, or until next year, and try to resume the activity. Customers will remember know what you did and respond if you continue it.

So reboot your Small Business Saturday successes. Make them a regular part of your effort.

Small Business matters on more than just one day.

What event will we celebrate on Nov. 25th?

Pat yourself on the back if you said “Small Business Saturday.”

No, there isn’t any cake (well, there could be) and no one is getting any presents (at least not on that day, although we hope lots of them are purchased from your local businesses that day). Streamers and decorations also probably will be missing.

So why a celebration?

The celebration, which began in 2010, is an effort to promote and encourage shoppers to buy from local small businesses, a central core of our economic sector.

Small Business Saturday occurs between two other major shopping days: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And while both of these days include small businesses, those who launched Small Business Saturday felt that this one day would be a good reminder.

Small Business Saturday is an awareness campaign. The hope is this one-day focus will encourage you to shop small and shop local throughout the year.

Small businesses represent more than 90 percent of all U.S. businesses. They provide a substantial part of our gross domestic product and employ more than 50 percent of all employees. They also are the starting point for nearly all firms that are now the major companies we know.

The small businesses are key contributors to a community’s quality of life.

So get ready to celebrate. Encourage local events and publicity for your local businesses. And most importantly, shop small.

Small is big!!

Small Business matters on more than just one day.

Nov. 28 is Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday began in 2010. It was created to encourage people to do some of their holiday shopping at local, small businesses.

Every year, the event has grown. You will see and hear advertising for it. Social media will be full of posts and tweets encouraging people to stop in and check out their local merchants.

According to economists, small businesses are a driver for job growth. They are where most business ideas get started. Finally, they form the core of the local economy, especially in rural areas.

So why say all of this in a column focused on helping small-business owners? I want to give you a challenge.

Be the leader. Be the leader in building awareness. Plus, be the leader by your example. Make buying local, buying small a key element of your business operation, and of your personal life, if it already isn’t.

Remember, you lead by example. Those examples form who you are. They’re part of your reputation. And your business reputation is key to your business success.

Believe me, people are watching.

So engage with your community as a store owner and as an individual citizen.

Be the leader in shop local, not only on Nov. 28 but throughout the year. Your customers and community are watching.

Make “shop local, shop small” a win-win for everyone.

Small Business matters on more than just one day.

Since 2010, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been designated “Small Business Saturday.” It is a day to recognize small businesses and what they bring to a local community. 

You probably know the direct impact of the small businesses in your community. They provide needed goods and services. Everyone needs to be reminded of their contributions and encouraged to shop small whenever I can.

You know the people. The owners take care of you because of the local connection.

Yet providing goods and services is just the beginning of what small businesses offer. Many of them provide employment. They also generate sales tax revenue that helps support local needs such as roads, parks and emergency services.

Research also has found that these small-business owners give back to the community in terms of charitable donations. In addition, some provide people to work at charitable events. Also, check how many posters you see in their windows or on their display boards that advertise such events. For some of the bigger events, their entire front window encourages community spirit.

In addition to dollars and other resources, the small-business owners give their time. Often, you find these small-business owners as local leaders, elected officials, and participants in civic and other organizations. If the town has a volunteer ambulance or fire service, they probably are involved.

The bottom line: They are crucial in developing and maintaining many of the aspects that form the ‘quality of life’ in communities, be that community a small, rural town or an identifiable district within a large city. The owners just respond when asked. They keep things going.

Across the U.S., more than 90 percent of businesses are small. The vast majority of those business have fewer than 20 employees. Many have fewer than 10 or even five employees. Yet they generate a substantial portion of our gross domestic product.

Small businesses are not only sellers in the economic system, but they also are buyers and consumers of goods and services, thus adding more to their total contribution. They typically also are the point of departure for new ventures that may, one day, be a major corporation.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of a community. On Nov 29, stop in at your local small businesses. Make some purchases, but also say thanks for what they do for the community and you as a consumer.