Why you should support and invest more in local and small businesses
Small and local businesses are one of the biggest contributors to our society. They produce products and services that are affordable and beneficial to the masses.
Here are 4 other reasons why you should support and invest in local and small businesses:
1) Local and small businesses provide more job opportunities.
When small or local businesses open, they will need people who will work on different aspects of the business such as marketing, production, finance, and the like.
Supporting small businesses increases local employment and helps people who are most in need. This does not only help the business itself but also the Philippine economy both at the local and national levels.
According to the DTI 2020 MSME Statistics, small- and medium-scale enterprises now account for 62.66 per cent of all jobs in the Philippines. This means that without small businesses, many Filipinos would be unemployed.
2) Supporting local and small businesses also means supporting small distributors and suppliers.
Investing in local and small businesses stimulates their ideas, creativity, hard work, and passion.
It makes them more motivated to grow their business.
Due to limited profit, small businesses purchase from small distributors and suppliers because of favourable terms and easier credit.
When small businesses grow, you also help small-time suppliers and distributors to grow.
3) They value customer engagement and relations more.
Since small businesses don’t have marketing budgets, they value and engage with their customers on a more personal level.
They earn the customer’s trust and loyalty for their business through face-to-face personal interaction. You also get good personalized service.
Your opinion as a consumer is valued and respected as it reaches the right person which is almost always the business owner.
4) Built from advocacy, or “for a cause.”
Some of these local and small businesses were “built for a cause,” or for advocacy. Their profit does not just circulate within the business itself but also helps and supports people who are in need.
These people invest and sacrifice their own personal resources in order to help less fortunate people.
It is one of the biggest reasons why you should support local and small businesses. These social entrepreneurs make an impact on disadvantaged people groups.
Making it big thanks to community support
A lot of local brands in the Philippines are also finding success because of the support of their community.
One great example of a small business that eventually made it big, thanks to the support of the local community, is Colourette Cosmetics, a Filipina beauty brand founded by Nina Elliane Dizon-Cabrera, a cosmetic entrepreneur and influencer, which offers multi-use makeup at friendly prices.
Colourette [1] was founded in 2015 and is now continuously expanding because of its good quality products, the support of Filipino consumers, and its pursuit of innovation.
The company is known for developing products that are fit for everyone regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation and occupation, as well as age and gender. For Colourette, beauty is all about embracing and expressing yourself – for #BeautyInAllWays, always!
“We’re a homegrown local brand, and we’ll always be proud of our roots,” shared Colourette in a post on its website. “What started as a small group of women with a dream has now grown into a team of people numbering in the hundreds. And we can only grow from here!”
The company is just one of the many successful startups here in the Philippines, and this suggests that in order for a local startup or small business to succeed, it needs support from society. And the best way to gain support is through the effective retelling of your brand story.
So, how can small business enterprises like Colourette tell their brand story better?
To make their brands seem more appealing, startup businesses now need to learn how to integrate storytelling into their marketing and communication efforts.
After all, today’s small businesses can no longer afford to promote their products using boring and overbearing marketing tactics as it can easily turn off consumers.
According to Seth Godin, a self-made entrepreneur and marketing guru, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories that you tell.”
On his blog, he explained what makes a story great — “A great story is true. It is not necessarily because it is factual, but because it is consistent and authentic.”
“Today’s consumers are very good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that’s just been slapped on,” he added.
If that‘s the case now, how then can you actually support small businesses?
Many people prefer to buy from established brands rather than purchasing from small businesses. There are other ways, aside from sales, to support them.
- Your positive review and a few social media shout-outs for small business startups can already make a big difference.
- Use the power of the Internet. Follow local businesses on social media so that the algorithm pushed these small businesses out to more people.
- Engage with their content. Again, this is about the algorithm. If the bots see that you are engaging with content from local small businesses, the more likely that people similar to your profile, like neighbours, will see the content.
- Simple word-of-mouth. Spread the word to your family and friends, and recommend them to your community. There is nothing more powerful in marketing than the first-hand recommendations of loved ones.
- Share photos and videos on your own social platforms. And ask friends to do the same.
- Attend night markets, farmers markets, and local events. You can discover new businesses and buy their products. Bring your squad along.
- Volunteer your time, energy and skill. If you know marketing, you can really make an impact on small businesses by helping them get more customers in the community.
Instead of picking up a cake from a well-known grocery store, try purchasing one from a local bakery.
The next time you shop online, pause before adding to your cart. Many of the items that you’d like to buy are probably available at your local community store anyway.
Do your research and see how else you can help small businesses to do better in your community.
Now more than ever, supporting local businesses has become very crucial to the community. Your next purchase could be their lifeline. You help entrepreneurs keep their whole staff employed.
Small businesses are actually the economic heart of any town or community.
Thriving small businesses create local jobs and support local charities. They also offer a variety of goods and services for you to choose from. When you support the upstart brands, you also support their families, their dreams, and the local community as a whole.
Conclusion
The bottom line is helping small and local businesses not only helps small-time entrepreneurs and the economy grow but also allows you to make a positive impact on people in need.
By supporting local and small businesses, you are helping shape the local community’s confidence in its identity. You are helping them enrich local culture and traditions as well as promote sustainability. So, for your next purchase, why not try purchasing a locally-made product or service? You get what you need, and you also help someone in need.