Surprise! Owning a small business is difficult and SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY is a great day to support all the local shops that you want to stick around.
Last year we shared some of our fav small shops in LA, but this year we want to talk about the WHY & HOW of shopping small in every city.
We get it - running to a superstore or using a megacorp to get everything under the sun is certainly convenient, and very few people have the resources to bop around from a bakery to a deli to a clothing store to a electronics shop, etc... to get the highest quality, hand-made, artisan goods.
But, if you're able, we challenge you to mix it up, maybe even just once a week.
- GROCERIES: Hit the supercenter for groceries, but hold off on the produce, and instead buy fruits and veggies from a farmers market taking place on the way home.
- DECOR: Instead of the reproduced Ikea print, explore Etsy or even Instagram & TikTok for new artwork for your wall, and purchase a piece that puts money directly into the hands of an artist.
- ONLINE PURCHASES: Making a big Amazon.com purchase? See who the individual sellers are and try to order directly from their website so they get to keep more of the profits.
But why do small business owners need your support more than large businesses? A very large reason is ECONOMY OF SCALE. Take donuts, for instance - if you look at cost per donut, it's cheaper when you buy a dozen vs. only buying one. That same concept is true for small businesses in regards to:
- PRODUCTS & MATERIALS: we don't have the upfront capital to invest in an order of 20,000 candle jars at once, nor the physical space to store 20,000 candle jars at once. So we order smaller batches and we pay higher prices.
- EMPLOYEE BENEFITS: A Health Insurance plan can be more expensive when there's only 15 employees vs 500. A small business owner then needs to make the call between providing quality benefits for employees, or creating lower prices for customers.
- MARKETING: A couple people doing social media vs. an entire marketing team evaluating market trends and creating SuperBowl HalfTime commercials result in very different levels of Brand awareness.
So when you decide to spend a little more to support a small shop, it helps spread the benefits to a whole crew of regular people at said small shop vs. the pockets of the already wealthy investors of a megacorporation.
And much like you, WildFlora is constantly making the tricky choices and doing it's best to find the balance between providing quality vs. affordability for customers. So thank you to those who see the difference between our arrangements and the grocery store bouquets. We appreciate you.
(.... Also, speaking of grocery store flowers, maybe this would be a good time to mention that we'll have a little WildFlora bouquet stand in the new Studio City Erewhon grocery store that's opening this month - look at them - supporting small businesses!)
And this isn't to say that businesses other than the small ones are bad - WildFlora itself is happy to grow. Most large, successful businesses started small, so just remember to support the ones you truly believe in, and then you can be all hipster and say "I knew them when they were one tiny, little shop!"
Here are some WAYS to Support Small Businesses not just on Small Business Saturday, but ALL YEAR ROUND
- SHARE THEM: Word-of-mouth is one of the main ways WildFlora customers find out about us. Whether you mention a small business in conversation or blast it out on your social media (*cough*@wildfloradesign*cough*), personal recommendations go a LONG way.
- LEAVE A REVIEW: Yelp, Google, Facebook - all of it.
- DO A LITTLE RESEARCH BEFORE SPENDING: Give a few minutes to actively search for a small restaurant or bar or store that's only in your city. Shopping small is good, shopping local is great!
- EXPLORE: Meeting a friend somewhere on a free day? Go 30 minutes early and walk around, explore the area - maybe you'll find an incredible plant & flower shop that's been there since 2014, but you just noticed it!
- ACTIVELY DIVERSIFY: Keep diversity in mind as well. Seek out small businesses owned by women and people in the BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. There's even an app called Blapp, just for mapping Black-owned businesses.
- USE CASH: Businesses pay fees when customers use credit cards, so use the dolla dolla bills when you can.
- KEEP IT CLEAN: notice garbage or an empty coffee cup lying around outside a small business? Just pick it up and toss it in the can. For everyone really.
- BE FLEXIBLE: The chain supply issues are hitting small businesses haaaard this year, so channel your inner grace if things don't go as planned, and do you best to be open to alternatives when possible.
- CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: People in small shops wear MANY hats, and sometimes small things slip through the cracks. Did one price tag not match the rest? Or is there a typo on the website? Put on your kindest voice and let us know directly, so we can continue to improve the experience for you and everyone else.
