By ANNIE SPILMAN
Small business drives our state’s economy. It accounts for 99.8 percent of all businesses in the state and employs 45.6% of Texas’s private-sector workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Small businesses are owned by and employ our friends and neighbors. They support everything from school sports to charities, and on Saturday, Nov. 24, we’ll have a chance to support small businesses.
That’s because the Saturday after Thanksgiving is Small Business Saturday. It’s a day when local retailers and restaurants step up and offer unique merchandise and meals and the kind of service you won’t find at any of the chain stores.
I think of Small Business Saturday as the opposite of Black Friday.
Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, has become the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. It’s when bargain hunters get up early, sit in traffic, circle the mall parking lot looking for a space, fight the crowds, and stand in long lines to save a few bucks on things no one asked for or even wants.
Small Business Saturday, on the other hand, is about parking close to the door and finding things you can’t find at the malls or chain stores. Instead of putting up with temporary workers who don’t know their way around the store, you’ll probably be dealing with longtime employees and maybe even the owners who will do whatever it takes to help you find the perfect gift and encourage you to come back the rest of the year, too.
Small Business Saturday began in 2010 as a marketing campaign launched by American Express to promote small businesses, but as NFIB’s state director for Texas, I can tell you that Small Business Saturday isn’t a gimmick. It’s a powerful incentive to #ShopSmall and support the businesses that keep our communities strong.
According to a survey by NFIB and American Express, 108 million shoppers spent $12.9 billion at independently owned businesses on last year’s Small Business Saturday. The survey said 43 percent of U.S. adults shopped or ate small on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Most of those people said they shopped or ate at more than one independent business, and that’s why marketing to clients is essential, so using tools for email management is really helpful for small companies to control their businesses.
And remember: When you shop at chain stores or restaurants, most of the money goes to some corporate office somewhere, but when you shop local and shop small, most of that money stays in the community.
This year make a difference in your community: Shop local on Small Business Saturday.
