“When you buy from a small business, you are not helping a CEO buy a third vacation home. You are helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, a mom put food on the table, a dad pay a mortgage, or a student pay for college.”
With Son & Daughter Day almost upon us, now is a better time than ever to realize how important small businesses are to American families. Here are a few reasons to start shopping small:
Job Creation– The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that 28 million small businesses are operating in the United States alone, and that these businesses are accountable for 66% of all new jobs within the country.
Tax dollars stay local– Businesses pay sales tax to the city and county the business is located in. These tax dollars are used to support public schools, libraries, parks, and roads, as well as funding public service workers such as firefighters. According to Civic Economics, about 48% of each small business purchase goes back to the local economy compared to about 14% from purchases from big box stores.
Giving back– Small businesses are more likely to develop relationships within the neighborhood. These stores can serve as community hotspots, such as a coffee shop holding an open mic night, or as community support systems such as a pizza shop sponsoring a little league team.
Competition– A marketplace of hundreds of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and lower prices over a longer period of time.
Customer Service- Generally, small businesses will have much better customer service than big businesses. These small businesses survive because of their customers, so they thrive to keep each and every one coming back time and time again, whereas a chain store usually will not feel the loss of one unhappy customer.
Supporting small businesses is vital to the local community, so rather than waiting until November 25, 2017 to shop on Small Business Saturday, stop by your local mom and pop store today!
Amy Simpson, B.S. Business Administration 2018
Intern
Artwork adapted from freepik.com
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I always try to support small local businesses as much as possible, mostly due to the fact that I run one too!