Small Business Saturday: Everything You & Your Business Needs to Know

Buy From Small Businesses

The most straightforward form of support is to buy from small businesses. Next time you make a purchase, consider if you could make the same or similar purchase from a small business. Is there a local store in your community you could go to instead? Or could you buy the product you’re looking for directly from the small business instead of on Amazon?

When you begin your holiday shopping, consider each of your purchases and where your money will end up. Small businesses support communities, expand industries, and build amazing places to work, but they can only thrive if they have our support.

Spread the Word

Support Small Business Saturday without a financial commitment by spreading the word within your personal and online networks. Share social media posts from small businesses so that more people in your network can learn about the occasion. Tell your friends, family, and colleagues about Small Business Saturday to get the event as much traction as possible. A simple share online can really help a small business get their message out into the world, and it won’t cost you anything.

Look for more information about Small Business Saturday and general small business promotion with the hashtags:

• #smallbusinesssaturday
• #smallbizsaturday
• #smallbiz
• #smallbiztrends
• #shopsmallbiz
• #shopsmall

Become a Neighborhood Champion

A Neighborhood Champion is an ambassador and promoter for Small Business Saturday in their community. They are typically small business owners themselves or community organizers. Neighborhood Champions help out by spreading the word to local shoppers about the small businesses in their area, either through social media efforts or word of mouth.

You can spread the word by conducting interviews with local business owners, hosting podcasts, writing blogs, or organizing community events. You can also reach out to specific small businesses in your area and encourage them to participate.

You can become an official Neighborhood Champion by signing up with American Express.

Take Advantage of Small Business Saturday Deals and Offers

On Small Business Saturday, many businesses have promotional opportunities, which makes supporting them all the more rewarding. Look for deals from your favorite small businesses and search for promotions using the hashtags #smallbusinesssaturday, #shopsmall, and #smallbizsaturday.

Promote a Sale or Offer

Add extra incentive for shoppers to consider your store by holding a promotion or sale. You’ll have the attention of shoppers, so think about how you can make your product or service stand out. Not able to lower your prices? Consider adding a free gift with a purchase, or a free piece of content such as a downloadable tool or ebook.

Unveil a New Product

Do you have a new product you’re about to launch? Use Small Business Saturday as an opportunity to announce or unveil a new product or service. The perfect opportunity to make an announcement is when you have the world’s attention. You will be more likely to get social media shares leading up to and during the event, so be sure to take full advantage of this. It’s not often enough that there’s a spotlight on small businesses.

Boost Your Online Presence

In the days leading up to Small Business Saturday, you can increase your social media presence by sharing your promotions and those of other businesses. Take the time to engage with small businesses online to increase your own exposure.

Follow other businesses and people that are using the Small Business Saturday hashtags on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Like, share, or retweet content and posts from participating small businesses. Leave comments on posts that are meaningful and supportive. Go beyond a one-word comment by relating to the business, asking a question, sending encouragement, or using humor. This extra online engagement will get your business noticed by people and businesses outside of your current circle of contacts.

Connect With Other Small Businesses

Small businesses need to stick together. Support other small businesses at every opportunity so that they will want to do the same in turn. As a small business, you know how difficult it can be to get your business off the ground and to keep it running. Extend an olive branch to small business owners in your community and in complementing industries.

How can your business work with other small businesses? Consider everything your business needs to buy each year including all products and services. Do your purchases support small businesses? Are there changes you can make that would support your local community, your industry, and the small business economy?

This Small Business Saturday, reach out to other small businesses that you may be able to work with. It’s possible they could use your product or service as well, and if not, they may recommend you to someone who can. Small businesses thrive when they support each other.

Blue Summit Supplies is a Small Business

Blue Summit Supplies is proud to be a small business, and we love supporting other small businesses across the country. Being in the office supplies industry, we are able to focus our efforts towards helping other small businesses grow, thrive, and stay organized. 😉  

We prioritize working with small businesses and truly enjoy sharing advice, resources, and tools that help offices maintain organization, productivity, and office etiquette. Thank you to all of the small businesses out there who work hard each and every day to support small teams.

We are pretty tiny ourselves—we only have a dozen employees, including Larry—and we wouldn’t have it any other way. As a small team, we can prioritize team engagement, wellbeing, and personal growth to build a happy and productive office culture. To learn more about how our small team works, check out our Behind the Blueblog stream, which highlights everything from How to Have a Good Day at Workto Creating Your Company Core Valuesto why you should Bring Your Dog to Work.