Support Small Businesses This Holiday Season

The Future of Small Business is in Your Hands

It is 2020 and it is funny to me that we are still focusing on size so much.  I mean, aren’t we beyond that now?  When it comes to people’s body size, we as a culture are still acting as if smaller is better–but we’re also acting as if bigger is better when it comes to shopping. In the last year we have seen an enormous spike in the online sales of retail giants AND small businesses struggling to get the attention of the American people. 

Why is that? 

Aren’t we what politicians keep calling the “backbone of our country”?

The truth is…No. Small businesses are not respected as the backbone of our country, but we are the heart and soul of our country. I know small businesses aren’t always easy to shop because not all of us are online yet. To be honest, creating and maintaining a website is not as easy as the GoDaddy commercials lead you to believe. They are actually extremely costly and time consuming.  Small businesses don’t offer the massive selection of different manufacturers of thing-a-ma-jigs that e-commerce mega giants do, but what we do offer are quality goods at a fair price while being a part of your stories.  

Small Businesses are the Heart and Soul of America

At the heart of it all small businesses offer relationships and support. 

Online mega-giants have never cried with you while you talk of your recent cancer diagnosis. Huge coffee store chains don’t worry when they haven’t seen you in a while.  

Big box stores don’t give you their cell phone number to “call anytime” when they find out your husband is in hospice.  

Major department stores don’t care about your eating disorder struggles or that your son’s wedding is coming up and you “don’t want to embarrass him.”  

That “heart and soul” IS small business.  

We are not just a business– we are your community, your cheerleaders in life, and your sounding boards when times are tough.  We are your friends, donating to local charities and sponsoring your daughter’s softball team.  Small businesses are here for you when you need us most.  We see how excited you get when you walk into our stores and we remember your name or how you take your coffee.  We see how elated you are on Christmas morning when you open the “perfect gift” from your sister that we helped her pick out.  We SEE you in a way a big box store or online mega-store never can … and now we need you to SEE us.

It’s Now or Never

In this day and age of Small Business Saturday campaigns, I can honestly say there has never been a more critical time in our country’s history to shopping small businesses as it is this holiday season. This year’s pandemic and FORCED months-long closures have decimated small businesses throughout the country.  Small businesses and restaurants are struggling to survive with little to no assistance from the government. Don’t let the talk of loan forgiveness and small business grants fool you. If we even qualify for such programs we are not getting a fraction of what we’ve lost.   

We need YOU now.  

We need your support even if it is commenting on a social media post or just buying a pair of socks.  

Let me be clear, there is no purchase too small this year when it comes to small business. When you purchase from a small business you help to plant the seeds of hope in the heart of someone who has put everything they have and all that they are into their business.  

The future of small business in America is up to you now.  So on behalf of all small businesses, I would like to say thank you for your support this Holiday Season.  We are honored to be a part of your stories now and, God willing, in the future.  

Peace,
Jan