Small Business Saturday 2024

Small Business Saturday was created during the midst of the recession in 2010. Conceived by American Express, the event encourages holiday shoppers to shop local the day after Black Friday. Since then the event has grown significantly.

Not Just for the Businesses

Most communities leave the event to the local chamber of commerce, if there is one. But for the smaller communities, there is often no chamber of commerce or other organization to lead the event.

Even if your community has an organization to lead the charge in preparing for Small Business Saturday, the local government should take a role in the event. This annual event doesn’t just help your local retailers, it helps your overall community. From the sales taxes drawn from the event, to the paychecks of those who work the it, Small Business Saturday helps your community’s overall economic base. So your local government should play a role, no matter how small, in celebrating the day.

A few communities have moved the kickoff of the holiday season activities to that day. It actually makes sense as it is at the start of the shopping season. The shift is also not that far from the typical holiday kickoff event, which is usually near the start of December. The main drawback is committing staff to an event that cuts off their Thanksgiving break. Hence, the level of community involvement in Small Business Saturday needs more thought than a knee-jerk reaction.

Social Involvement

One way for a local government to become more involved with Small Business Saturday is through social media. This may be relatively simple if your community has a chamber of commerce or other entity organizing the event. The social media campaign may have already been created. Then it is almost as simple as copying over into your own accounts.

As social media postings are programmable with the right apps, they can also be done well ahead of that Saturday. Although it is important to post during an event, posting early and often ahead of a Small Business Saturday is important as well. Although this blip from American Express below stresses the importance for retailers, communities should take heed as well. It shouldn’t just be the local chamber of commerce either, the local government should get in the mix too.

Dollars and Cents of Buying Local

A year ago I came across a great article from one of my fellow Nebraska planners about the importance of buying local. Chad Bunger, on his blog Queen City Planner, breaks it down in a post entitled “The Dollar and Cents of Buying Local.” In it, he delves into the Local Multiplier Effect (LME) and its involvement in assessing the impact of purchases from local businesses.

So many communities are quick to chase and even incentivize well-known national retailers. But the truth of the matter is the return to the community of purchases at independent local stores greatly outweighs national chains and especially online stores. As depicted below, for every $100 purchase at an independent local store, $48 stays in the community. More than three times the amount staying in the community when purchasing from an out-of-town chain store.

In Closing

You don’t need a full economic impact analysis of Small Business Saturday on your community to know just how beneficial it is to your community. Just talk to your store owners they’ll tell you themselves. Regardless of what or who convinces your community leaders, it is a good idea to support your local small businesses with an organized event during Small Business Saturday.