The only thing guaranteed in life — including motherhood + entrepreneurship — is change.
Sometimes, that change hits harder than the average. At the time of writing this post, we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Change is hitting the global economy HARD right now.
People are panicking + rightfully so.
As women, we’re huge influencers in the global economy. We do almost 80% of the household purchasing.
Whether or not we’re buying anything at all has a vote. What products + services we’re buying has a vote. But also how we’re buying has a vote.
And when faced with the challenge of change, I want to encourage you to shop small. Support the men + women next door through the uncertain times.
Here are my best recommendations for helping small businesses financially + virtually. 👇🏼
How to Support Small Businesses Financially
Purchase gift cards
Budget ahead for date nights + dance lessons by buying in-advance. This gifts businesses some flexible capital to stay afloat financially.
Order in-advance
No one might be thinking about Mother’s Day on St. Patrick’s Day, or Christmas in July. But you can be. Buy the gifts you‘re going to be buying anyways — just earlier + from small businesses instead of with last-minute 2-day shipping from big box stores.
Offer to pick-up + drop-off
Shipping + delivery costs eat the profits for small business owners. You can help offset that financial challenge + give businesses the “labor time” back by offering to do your own local pick-ups/drop-offs. Doesn’t have to just be food! Also, tip delivery drivers generously.
Request reschedules over refunds
Ask to redeem lessons at a later date instead of asking for your money back altogether. This keeps the money in the small business + still gets you what you wanted when you purchased initially.
Be flexible about location changes
Many brick-and-mortar businesses will need to break leases, move locations, or maybe skip the locations altogether + transition to house calls or virtual services.
Stay open-minded: that expression “a house is just a house; it’s the people make it a home” applies just as much to businesses.
How to Support Small Businesses Virtually
Post on social media
Yes, it can really be that simple. You might frequent the local hole-in-the-wall coffee shop for the best breakfast sandwich + free WiFi every week, but just because it’s familiar to you, doesn’t mean it is to everyone.
Do the “obvious” not-so-obvious + give a virtual shout-out. Take an extra few minutes to frame up a great picture to go with it, tag the location + the business’ social accounts + add some relevant hashtags.
Host a virtual pop-up
Get your friends + family together online for a virtual party. When you do this, you’re helping increase brand awareness + might help encourage some sales for the small business.
Business owners are happy to do all of the planning + execution if you just provide the guest list + show up on event day. As a happy bonus: hosts are often thanked with free products + services. Win-win!
You can learn more about virtual pop-ups from me by saying hello here. 👇🏼
Write a wholesome review
Give the 5-star review (if you mean it!) AND take the time to write a full paragraph (or more!) explaining why. This helps to highlight the genuinely great features of your favorite small businesses, so that when business does ramp back up, they earn + retain customers better.
How do you support small businesses financially and/or virtually?
If you’re a business owner, how do you prefer to be supported? I’d love to expand this post.
If you’re looking for a way to start supporting small businesses, join me in hosting a virtual pop-up with Beautycounter.
Profits I earn from these virtual pop-ups go back into The OrganicMommyCEO Community where I teach moms how to start + grow businesses that help them stay home with their kids more.
