We all love to support locally owned businesses but sometimes it's hard to know how. Below, we'll break down KPC Unlimited's favorite ways to support local.
Spend local
It may seem obvious, but spending a little money at a small business is a huge way to support local. Small businesses rely on every dollar that comes in to keep the doors open. Spending money with them is your way of telling a small business owner you want to keep them around!
Bonus, supporting a local business supports your community, as well. According to LocalShops1 "of every dollar spent at a locally owned business, about $0.70 stays local. Of every dollar spent at a national corporation, less than $0.40 stays local."
Buy their wares as gifts
This is a great way to not only spend with the locally owned business but also share their greatness with your friends and family. Better yet, buy a gift card so the recipient will actually go in and see how great the local business is for themself!
Buy yourself a gift card
You might think this is the same as spending with the locally owned business, but a gift card is immediate revenue for the locally owned business, even if you're not quite ready to buy. Bonus - you've got a ready-made gift for that birthday you'll inevitably forget!
Buy merch
Not only is this a sale for the locally owned business, but you're advertising for the business every time you wear or use their branded merch.
Bonus - all the rest of these suggestions are FREE to you but invaluable to the business owner!
Talk about it
Love a business? Tell a friend! I can't tell you how many small businesses I've tried after learning about it from a friend or family member.
Encourage a local business owner
We all need a little encouragement sometimes. Small business owners can get so wrapped up in working the business that sometimes we forget to take a step back and see the fruit of our labor. A compliment goes a long way!
Ask for referrals
Along the lines of talking about my favorite small businesses, I make a point to ask others about theirs. When I'm looking for a specific service or type of food, I ask a friend head to social for their suggestions.
Share on your social
Tag the business so your friends, family and followers can check the business out for themselves. This is a lot like talking about your favorite locally owned businesses, but has the ability to have a much larger reach, since the post can be shared. You can also share your post to community pages to give it even more reach!
Interact with their social
Social platforms prioritize posts that get more interaction, meaning the more likes, comments and shares a post gets, the more likely it is to show up in others' feeds as well. And that's free marketing to your favorite locally owned business!
Better yet, like, subscribe and share!
Sign up for their newsletter
Not only will this keep you in the loop for upcoming specials and hopefully get you the occasional coupon, but email blasts actually work like social, in that the bigger audience a locally owned business has, the more highly prioritized the marketing will be by the infamous algorithm.
Write reviews
You may or may not know that Karen of KPC Unlimited (that's me!) lives tiny and travels the country with her husband. We're always looking for locally owned businesses to support, no matter where we are. Since the temporary nature of our lifestyle makes it hard to get recommendations, we rely heavily on Facebook and Google reviews. Reviews are a great source of information for potential new customers/clients and provide free marketing for the business. Writing reviews is like giving a recommendation to everyone on the internet!
Say thank you
Locally owned businesses are often smaller and can't necessarily afford to provide tons of benefits to their staff. What they can offer their in experience and a feeling of ownership is often much more valuable, but those workers still need support. Tip well when you can, treat staff with respect and remember that a simple thank you goes a long way.