Supporting Small Business Makes a Big Impact

Mother Rose, manager of Underground Books, African American book and gift store  in Oak Park.

We all know the Thanksgiving drill - eat your weight in turkey and fixin’s, take a tryptophan-induced nap, then plot your Black Friday shopping strategy. We search through all the newspaper ads trying to decide which stores have the best deals to warrant getting up at the crack of dawn (or worse- midnight!) to go stand in line with 300 strangers, all vying for the latest greatest toy or electronics at the lowest prices of the season. Americans are projected to spend a whopping $59.7 billion this year on Black Friday deals, and an additional $2 billion on Cyber Monday deals online, according to Saveup.com. But how many of us know about Small Business Saturday?

Small Business Saturday was founded in 2010 by American Express to help small businesses get more exposure during one of America’s biggest shopping weekends of the year. It encourages shoppers to patronize local brick-and-mortar businesses that are small and local, like corner bakeries, family-owned restaurants, neighborhood dry cleaners, independent bookstores, “mom and pop” coffee shops, etc. The Small Business Saturday movement quickly took off, yielding over 100 million shoppers patronizing independently-owned businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving last year.  So why exactly do we need another excuse to spend our hard-earned money this weekend?

Dollars and Sense

Small business Saturday is more important than just a trend or fad- it makes economic sense. According to the 3/50 Project (an effort to encourage everyone to spend at least $50 a month in locally-owned establishments) for every $100 spent in locally-owned independent stores, $68 returns to your local economy through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you take that $100 to a national chain store, only $43 returns to the local economy. That same $100 spent at an online retailer?  $0 for your local economy.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!!!

Karen Mills with the Small Business Administration says that small businesses have been responsible for creating two out of every three net new jobs in the U.S over the last two decades. Today, over half of all working Americans own or work for a small business. Scott Shane of Bloomberg Businessweek reported this past spring that since the economic recovery began, small and midsize companies have been producing more jobs than their larger counterparts and creating them at a faster pace than during the recovery from the 2001 recession. Shane cites the ADP Employment Report that shows companies with up to 49 workers employed 2.6 percent more people in March 2012 than they did in July 2009, when the economic recovery began. Similarly, businesses with 50 to 499 workers employed 3.2 percent more people than they did at the start of the recovery. Companies with 500 or more workers, however, employed 0.2 percent fewer people this March than in July 2009.

Small businesses aim to please

When you walk into a small local boutique or bakery, chances are you may be serviced by the proprietor. This gives you the opportunity to learn all kinds of info about their products or services directly from the expert, like the inspiration behind their business, where they source their materials, or when the nest shipment of your favorite product will be available. Small businesses often rely more heavily on referrals than larger corporations that can afford big marketing budgets. Because of that, local business owners tend to take more care to get to know you, their customer, and preserve their relationship with you so that you provide repeat business and share their business with your friends. Local businesses are often more likely to hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling.

Support your YP peers
Research shows people between the ages of 25 to 34 are the most likely to start a business or be involved in other entrepreneurial activities.  Estimates from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor show that 17.3% of individuals between the age of 25 and 34 are involved with either starting a business or managing a new business.  Research also suggests that businesses started by young, college-educated individuals are also the most likely to have high growth potential and are among the most technologically innovative.

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Tweet about it!

Tell us what you’ve done to participate in Small Business Saturday this year, let us know about a great business you think we should patronize, or give a shot out to your favorite local entrepreneur.  Be sure to send it to @GSULYP and include #SmallBizSat. 

Visit YP's Holiday Small Business Directory here.

-Mia Orr