Go BIG on SMALL Business Saturday

Are you a small business shopper? Are you making any plans to go shopping on Small Business Saturday? Why or why not? I would really like to know. What do you think are the benefits of small business shopping?

For my town, small businesses are very important for our local economy. Not only do the small businesses provide a variety of products and services but also make jobs available to the community. Small towns do not get a lot of large chain businesses because the money isn't here for them to make. For example, some of us would love to have a Panera Bread Company or Starbucks in our local town but we are realistic to know that there isn't anyway they can make as much money in a town of 6,000 vs. a city of 30,000. Small town people rely on small business to provide them with some comfort services or necessary products and in turn the community keeps on thriving.

If you live in a small town your support of the local businesses is vital to your community. If you do not live in a small town, you still have small businesses that need your support. Any support given to a small business is support for your community as a whole. I am not saying that you shouldn't shop at large brands in your community because they also feed your local community. My point is that this is a reminder for you to look out for and support those small, local businesses in your community.

There are a lot of examples that I could share with you about how your small business support helps your community. I can also list numerous ways your community would suffer if you didn't support local businesses. One example (of many) that I do want to share is something personal from my town of 6,000.

We have a small movie theatre that works hard to keep the cost down on admission and snacks. They really make their money at the snack bar. If we go to the larger adjoining town to the movies we pay double what we pay in our small community movie theatre. This double cost includes concession stand sales. If my family goes to the larger theatre it is because of a movie that we want to see right now and are too impatient to wait for it to come into our small town. It might also be because it is not scheduled for our town. When we go BIG we spend BIG. If we wait and go SMALL then we spend SMALL. Which is better for our pocket book and for our local economy? Yes, small town services are economical. Not only do we save on the cost of admission and snacks but we save on gas money. Do you have services like this in your community that you skip over and go to larger towns or big brands and spend more? Why?

Think small this holiday season and help your local economy! I know that a small business owner will thank you! Support Small Business Saturday on November 24th!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for American Express. I received a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.