We hear all the time that it’s important to support small businesses, but do you know how much of an impact this actually makes on your community?
Let’s take a look at all the benefits of shopping small and local this holiday season.
Benefit #1: Local Growth
When you shop small, that money goes back into your community. So in essence, you are helping grow and keep a more sustainable local economy. Successful small businesses not only help local growth through revenue and charitable support, but through their taxes as well. And those taxes, both property and sales tax, all go back into supporting the local community for funding of special projects, increasing property values, and funding local police and fire services.
If you spend $100 locally, about $68 stays local whereas if you spend $100 at a non-local business, about $43 stays local.1
Benefit #2: Easy to Adapt
Because of the nature of small businesses, they are much more adept at adapting to local needs. Everything from climate concerns to employment, small businesses are able to flex faster to accommodate the needs of both their customers and new regulations.
Benefit #3: Jobs & Wages
Small and locally-owned businesses not only create more job opportunities, they also tend to pay better wages than large companies. They also offer a variety of job experiences for individuals and promote entrepreneurship.
Benefit #4: Variety & Unique Experiences
Local businesses add unique experiences and a variety of products and service that are harder to find in big businesses. From coffee shops and bookstores to local grocers, banks, and clothing stores, local businesses have unique identities and products that are more personal.
They also tend to innovate more, which promotes healthy competition, and then creates more innovation, personality, and character within the community.
Benefit #5: Recycled or Low-Maintenance Space
Many small businesses have smaller spaces, work out of the home, or even use existing buildings for their new offices or stores. This eliminates not only unsightly large stores, but also eliminates the amount of maintenance needed to run their businesses. This impacts their overall environmental footprint and supports the local community by not having empty buildings. It also eliminates the need for new infrastructure to be created to support their business.
Benefit #6: Supporting Your Friends & Neighbors
At Home State Bank, we thrive on supporting our communities and those individuals and businesses within it. For us, supporting small businesses means supporting our neighbors and friends. Whether it’s to put food on their table, to save money for education, or to buy a new home, we know that what we put into our community comes back tenfold for our community and it’s members!
This holiday season, we encourage you to consider shopping small and supporting your own community. You may even be surprised at all the gifts you can find locally compared to big businesses.
For fun, we’ve asked our team members what they want this holiday season from their favorite local places! Follow us on Facebook as we share what each department said!
1. https://medium.com/@BBBNWP/10-ways-small-businesses-benefit-their-local-communities-7273380c90a9
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