How To Support Small Business

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Recently we’ve seen a big push behind how to support small businesses and local businesses, but not all of us know how to support small business or shop local. Hashtags like #shopsmall or #shoplocal have become increasingly popular on social media.
As someone who has been involved in small businesses since I was just a kid, I’m going to go into as much detail as possible on how to support small businesses!
Or you can just skip to the video if you don’t want to read all of this 🙂

Why Shopping Small Matters

Supporting The Workforce

47.8% of all workers in the United States are employed by a small business!

When we shop small, we are also supporting each other. 
Many of these workers will turn around and support other small businesses, which improves the local economy.

Local Manufacturing

Most small businesses supply local goods. 
Typically a small business does not have the resources to import large quantities, so they often get their goods made locally.

When you buy locally, you’re supporting other small/local businesses with just one purchase!

Dreams Come True

When you shop small and support local businesses, you’re making someone’s dream come true.

Every small business starts with a dream to do something big.
Every time you hire a small business, or buy products from a small business – you’re helping them turn those dreams into reality.

How to support small businesses and shop locally?
There are loads of ways to help support small businesses, beyond the obvious shopping with them.
Let’s dive into the details a bit.

1.) Shop Small / Shop Local

When people say to shop small or support local businesses, it sounds easy and simple. Most of the time though, it means going out of your way and spending a little more time.
Easy is going to Fred Meyers and grabbing everything you need in one place.
Most small businesses only have one type of thing you’re looking for. They might make accessories or shoes, or maybe they make things for pets like dog beds and healthy dog food.

Most of the time it’s hard to find these businesses because google usually pops up with the larger businesses. 
When you look for pet food in my hometown – it does not show you the family-owned pet food business just outside of time, just the pet sense and pet store.
This is the exact reason we created Cyntergi – so it was easier to find small businesses near you, or that made that unique item you were shopping for.

You will be surprised to see how many small businesses are close to you that you’ve never heard of before. Sometimes you just have to look a little bit, and you’ll find everything you need from small businesses!

2.) Leave Reviews!

Often times I forget to leave reviews, and I am sure I’m not the only one.
A huge percentage of online shoppers look to reviews to help them make a decision – especially when shopping with a new company, or getting a product they have never tried before.

Whenever you find a product you like, make sure you leave a detailed review.
If the delivery driver runs over the package and then throws it through the neighbor’s window when they deliver it – don’t leave a bad product review.
It hurts the average rating for something that the small business has absolutely no control over – and doesn’t help future customers learn about the product or business.

Pictures with reviews are great too! I have pictures with google reviews that have been viewed almost 20,000 times just for small businesses. 
Pictures can make all the difference, so take several!

3.) Social Media

When you ask yourself how to support small business, you can’t forget about social media.

Almost every single small business will have some form of social media. 
Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
Or maybe they have a YouTube channel you can subscribe to! 
You can also tag them in your posts, so when you get coffee at that small coffee stand or you check out the little flower shop – post a picture and tag them in it!

Every like, share, and comment helps in more ways than one.

Beyond just the exposure from you sharing their social media posts – it’s always super important for ranking higher on search engines like google.

Google takes social media activity into account when determining your domain authority, which is a big part of ranking higher up on the page.

So every time you like, comment, and share something on social media for a small business – it helps in a number of ways!

4.)Local Eateries

Whether you live in a small town or a big city, there are going to be tons of small eateries that you can support.

There are always so many choices for little coffee stands to pick from. Most of them will have a different type of coffee ground they use or different techniques for making their drinks. 
Some of my favorite drinks have been a special that just one coffee stand has. 

FOOD TRUCKS! Everyone loves a good food truck. You’ll find food trucks in the small towns, but you will see more of them in the city or bigger towns.
You can find just about anything you can think of and sometimes you’ll find things you haven’t thought of.
The food is always super fresh and has a unique spin on it that you can only find at that one food truck.
Food trucks are commonly priced right, so you can grab some really good food without breaking the bank.

Non-chain restaurants are easy to find as well! There is something comforting about getting some really tasty food at a little sit-in eaterie as well. Plus the air-conditioning on a hot day is a plus!

5.)Farmers Market

Just about every town has a farmers market of some kind. 
This is an amazing place to go and find some small and local (or at least nearby) businesses that you can support.

Many times you’ll find food-related items. Everything from fresh bread, veggies, cheese, to homemade sauces.
You also find lots of small crafts businesses.

We found a great small business that did etched glass!

You never know what you might find, but it’s always worth a look around!

Plus you might find some kids with a little lemonade stand with fresh cookies too! On a hot summer day, cold lemonade and fresh cookies are pretty dang hard to beat.

Just a few pictures from some of the amazing small businesses we have listed!

When people ask how to support small business, it isn’t too hard – you just have to spend a little extra time and it can make such a huge impact on a small business owner’s dream.

Share those pictures, write the reviews, tag your friends in social media posts. 
Word of mouth is an extremely powerful tool – so just talking about small businesses can be a big deal.

It’s time to put small businesses
in the spotlight

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If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us at info@cyntergi.com