This week I am kicking off a #shoplocalcampaign to celebrate all the small business owners out there. Don’t worry, for once in your life this year, this isn’t the kind of campaign asking for votes of any sort.
Shopping small business has always been extremely fulfilling to me. I find usually there is so much character in local shops and restaurants. These businesses make me proud of my community and my state.
For those of you that don’t already know why there is so much hype about small business, let me provide you some facts from the Independent We Stand website:
- Independent retailers return more than three times as much money per dollar of sales than chain competitors. Independent restaurants return more than two times as much money per dollar of sales than national restaurant chains.
- If just half the U.S. employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.
- Small businesses employ 77 million Americans.
Plus, coming from a crafter, homemade items are the best and small restaurants have the tastiest foods. I often consider shopping local a creative life choice, since someone somewhere out in your town had a vision and then made it come true.
So here’s the scoop.
What is the #shoplocal campaign?
#SLC is my personal adventures with small businesses! Since I live in two cities right now, that means I could be covering any place from Middlesboro, KY to Lexington! Trust me, there are a lot of small businesses in that two hour drive. My aim is to post weekly about
What kind of businesses will be covered?
Well, I’ll be the first to say that the two most common small businesses I go to begin with the letter “F.”
Food.
Fashion.
Coffee. (although it doesn’t start with “F”)
However in a way this project will help me expand my horizons, searching for more small businesses to explore in discover. I’m not ruling any kind of business out of the picture!
Why should I read?
I personally love reading about the success from business stories. It makes me happy to hear that someone’s dream came true out there is this scary world. Who knows? Maybe I’m the only one, but if you’re ever in the Appalachian area, perhaps this will come in handy!
You can get involved too!
Whenever you feel like sharing your experience with a small business experience, simply tag me on Instagram (@brandi.amanda.blog), or send me your blog link! Hashtag #TLC or #shoplocalcampaign will be trending on Instagram, if it isn’t already. Every week I would enjoy adding links up to other blogs/businesses to share this movement!
You can expect a post every Tuesday, starting next Tuesday. Have a small business you especially enjoy shopping at? Show them some love by giving them some coverage. After all, although in name local businesses are “small businesses” they are such a big part of our American dream!
To find out more about Independent We Stand, check out their website here!
I can’t wait to hear and share about local businesses.
[…] For a little bit of a recap, last Tuesday I shared that I was starting a new project that involved giving local businesses some street cred. You can read the original post here. […]