
Small businesses are all the rage these days. One look over on social media and you will find hundreds or even thousands of these small businesses originating from various regions. Some of these might also be from your local area. The rise of globalization and wide spread of the internet has made it possible for a lot of people to start their own minor business. Now-a-days, it looks like if every second person you meet runs a small business of some sort. Most of these people usually do it as a hobby or the business acts as a way of generating some extra cash for them. With the prevalence of small businesses these days, it is possible that some of your contacts have also started a small scale business of their own. When one says small scale business, it means like someone who sells stuff through online stores like Etsy or Shopify or someone who works as a part time artist.
The fact is that small businesses have not done very well in the last two years. The worldwide economy has taken a massive hit due to the wide spread of the coronavirus. A survey conducted on the impact of the virus on small businesses showed that most businesses were already massively impacted during the first few weeks of the pandemic. In addition to this, 43% of these businesses had to be temporarily closed due to the imposed restrictions. People who mostly conducted business through online also experienced a drop in their business activities as Covid made many people jobless. So if you have a friend that runs a small business, then it might be a good thing to help your buddy out by supporting his or her business venture. So how can you support your friend’s small business? In this article we go through certain things that you can do to support and boost your friend’s local business. Let’s take a look:
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Table of Contents
Volunteer to help them out
Most of the people that run small businesses usually tend to work alone. Now, this might not be a bad thing but sometimes the workload becomes way too much to handle for a single person. Being the only person to run a small business means you are responsible for everything: taking orders, managing orders, packaging of products, shipping of products, dealing with customer complaints if any etc. In other words, it can be a lot of busy work and if the only person at work gets sick or has to take a leave to attend some family business, it can negatively affect their business. So it is a nice gesture to ask your friend if they need any help even if they don’t ask for it. Of course, you have your own responsibilities and may not get the time to do so but volunteering to help during the holiday season could be a good way to ease their burden especially if you have no plans of your own. If you are going to kill some time, why not help your buddy’s small business out. You could help them with packaging or shipping or basically any task that needs done.
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Purchase their business products
Sometimes the most obvious route is the best route a person can take. Your friend runs a small business? Go help them out by purchasing their products or services they offer. Keep in mind you don’t have to shop big or spend a lot of money to expand their business. Just purchasing their products here and there is enough to contribute to their budding business. Starting a small business with new ideas or products is always a difficult thing to do especially in the current era where the market place is over saturated with products of different kinds. Some people may not even shop at their friend’s small business due to the “he’s going to be fine” mindset. You can support your friend’s business in a lot of ways but purchasing their products is still the best way to go about it. If you are in need of something and your friend sells it as part of their offered products, then make purchasing from your pal your number one priority.
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Promote your friend’s small business on social media
The rise of social media has made it possible for many people to create and promote their small businesses. Now, social media is not completely necessary for a person to run a successful business. For example, there are people who run small businesses and are quite successful in their local areas negating the need to promote their stuff online. But it is undeniable that having a presence on social media and an audience that follows you produces a positive image of your small business. The best thing thing about social media is that it allows you to expand beyond your territory when it comes to business promotion. You can advertise your business to a huge number of people all around the world. So take it upon yourself to help your friend out if their small business has a presence online. Like their page, their posts, comment on their posts; share their posts with your friends and family etc. Your contacts will probably have a bunch of people your friend is unfamiliar with. Tag them on social media to boost your friend’s business.
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Refer their business to your own circle
A portion of this has already been covered in the previous point but social media is not the only platform you can use to promote your friend’s small business. Most of the businesses are strengthened through referrals as they allow more people to learn about your products or services. So try referring your friend’s business to many people as possible. If you work at some place or run a business of your own, try referring your friend’s business to your colleagues. If you are someone who works as a blogger, then write a blog about them. Share his business with your friends and family. The best way to do so is through a business card. Handing people business cards is a good way to garner more attention to the business. You could also do so by printing and handing over fliers if that’s your cup of tea.
Conclusion
Overall, it is best to help your friend expand his small business in any way you can. Remember that your friend will need all the help he can get especially if he is new to this line of work. At first, these things usually seem difficult and stressful. So make sure to support and back up your friend’s business in any way possible.
For more information on how to start a business Entrepreneurship Group has a number of informative article to help guide you through your entrepreneur journey!
Here are some helpful articles by Entrepreneurship Group to get your business off the ground:
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What is Entrepreneurship? 2022
Entrepreneurship: How to start a business in 2022
11 different areas within a business
How To Learn About Business 2022
Blueprint For Success Business 2022
2.Business Planning:
How To Write A Business Plan 2022
How To Evaluate A Marketing Plan 2022
How To Create A Professional Online Presence (2022)
How To create a business profile 2022
3.Business set up:
How to decide on a business name? 2022
Low cost Business Name registrations 2022
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8 Best Accounting Software Programs For Small Businesses 2022
11 Best Project Management Software Programs for Businesses 2022
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4.Business managing:
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4.Entrepreneur Health and well being:
Simple Healthy Diet Guide For Business Owners 2022
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Founder of Entrepreneurship Group, Lachie Hiriart