Buchanan Supports Small Business Saturday

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It’s November again and Small Business Saturday is almost on us once again. Last year I wrote about the need for your community to Support Small Business Saturday. This year I’m highlighting what the small town of Buchanan did to support the event.

Many cities leave the promotion of Small Business Saturday to the local chamber of commerce or some other organization. However, in many small towns, there isn’t a chamber of commerce. It’s either on the businesses themselves or the city itself. The Town of Buchanan grabbed the torch and ran with it.

For a town of just over 1,000, Buchanan goes all out for Small Business Saturday. There are carriage rides, kids singing Christmas carols, an outdoor community market, Town Tree Lighting, and the ability to take selfies with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The Town even promotes visitors to, “stay late to enjoy dinner and a movie at the historic Buchanan Theatre”, which usually plays a Christmas-themed movie that evening.

Be Web Ready

One way to support the event is to create a page on your community’s website dedicated to it. Buchanan’s page is relatively simple and straightforward. It doesn’t provide specific details as far as dates and times, this can be left to your social media accounts.

But it does provide information as to the importance of the event to the businesses in town:

“Make a difference while you shop when you choose to be part of Small Business Saturday.  Your commitment to shop small and shop locally owned businesses helps keep these businesses healthy and growing while making a major contribution to the local economy. Did you know? Statistics show when you shop at locally owned businesses 68 cents of every dollar stays in the community while every dollar spent at a national chain, only 43 cents stays in the community. This makes a huge impact on the local economy.”

The page also thanks two local banks, who were likely financial supporters of the event.

Proclaim the Day for Small Business

One easy way for a community to show support is for the City Council to approve a proclamation. This show of support may be seen by some as a token move, but if the local media picks it up, it’s free advertising for the event and for the local businesses. Here are three examples of Small Business Saturday proclamations.

Buchanan, Virginia, Small Business Saturday Proclamation

Waterford, Wisconsin, Small Business Saturday Proclamation

Elizabeth, Colorado, Small Business Saturday Proclamation

Each one of the proclamations is different, but they may be helpful to your community in drafting your own proclamation.

Make Every Saturday Small Business Saturday

To research this article, I took to Buchanan’s Facebook and Twitter (@TownBuchananVA) feeds. Typically, I sift through the social media feed of the subject community to get a feel for the community, or in this case, the event. Although I knew I had to scroll back nearly a year to check out last year’s Small Business Saturday. For many towns of Buchanan’s size, this can be relatively easy though as social media posts for small towns are often a smattering of posts that you can scroll through relatively quickly. But not Buchanan. Their Twitter often has multiple posts a day.

But I didn’t have to go far.

They make every Saturday a Small Business Saturday! Sure, they may not have events going on EVERY weekend, but posts like these are a regular occurrence on their social media page. Why not promote your small businesses each weekend? They help to make a solid economic base for your community.

Your Community Can Do It Too

The fact that the Town of Buchanan can support local businesses, even with their small size, goes to prove that your community can do so as well. The energy that this town of just over 1,000 puts into the event is hard to do. But it is well worth the work!