5 Ways to Support Small Business & the Self-Employed during COVID-19
5 WAYS TO SUPPORT NON-ESSENTIAL RETAIL SMALL BUSINESSES & INDEPENDENT ARTISTS DURING COVID-19
Do you know who the largest employer is in Canada? I bet you will say Walmart, Tim Hortons, McDonalds, or perhaps one industrial company or another. The correct answer is small businesses. Across Canada (and our friendly neighbours in the USA) small independent business owners, employers, independent artists & contract workers are no doubt the hardest and quickest hit by unexpected forced closures and halts to production during any season; COVID-19 has proven to be the case. In light of onslaught of closures, self-isolation, social distancing and the acceptance of inconveniences now for the sake of the large reward of eradicated coronavirus later; we at Sapling & Flint thought it was important to remind everyone that by making small conscious retail choices now, you may be impacting the life of a small business in your hometown tremendously. They will be able to pay their 1-10 employees, cover their rent through this crisis; they are putting food on the table without having to remove themselves from the beautiful entrepreneurial contributions they are making to their local communities. We hope with these 5 ideas below, we can remind you of some ways you can continue to support small business in your home town!
- MAKE THE CONSCIOUS CHOICE TO SHOP LOCAL: The first questions is always to ask yourself “can I buy this at the corner store instead of a giant box store?” Even if they are to closed to the public over COVID-19, if you call ahead they might be able to accommodate pre-packing your order for you to pick up!
- GIFT CARDS: Is your favourite music or clothing store closed? Call/Email and ask if you can get a gift card for when they re-open! 💳
- SHOP FOR BIRTHDAYS & HOLIDAYS TODAY!: Many of your favourite small businesses are online. Have some birthdays or holidays you will just be shopping for anyways in the upcoming months? Why not shop now in your jammies at home? 🏡
- PRIVATE COMMISSIONS: Come on, we ALL have that artist that we buy all the t-shirts, posters & stickers from. We’re HUGE fans of them. You’ve been saying “One of these days, I’m gonna ask them to make me something custom”. You’re gonna do it anyway, why not ask them for that custom work today, when you know they’ll need it most?
- SHARE/LIKE THEIR POSTS: As always, you don’t always have to buy to support your local & small independent businesses. Give their social media accounts a follow! A share! A like! You never know how you might be able to drum up some business for them!
Happy shopping!