We all know bills have increased, the prices in our supermarkets have sky-rocketed and fuel prices have gone a bit insane. We've all had to tighten the purse strings at least a bit and as a result, our small businesses are feeling the pinch. Here are five ways you can support a small, independent business in the UK today.
- Share their posts
- Shop local
- Use your voice
- Leave positive reviews
- Buy your gifts from them
Share their posts
Social media has become an incredibly difficult place to market yourself as a small business. Many of the algorithms are designed to push you into paid advertising, so the reach can be abysmal no matter how good a post may be. If your favourite small businesses have social media platforms, you can share their page and content to help widen their audience. This one is an especially great tip because it's free to do. Everyone is keenly aware of the cost-of-living crisis at the moment but you can still make a difference even if you're not in the market to buy anything.
Shop local
Many towns and villages across the UK are lucky enough to still have small shops offering food, clothing, flowers and more. But, they need people to visit them and choose their products over products from the huge corporations. I appreciate in a world where you can order something cheap on a big site and have it arrive the next day, you might wonder what the point of going out to brick shops or visiting a smaller site is, but this isn't just detrimental to your local small businesses, it's also destructive to the environment. If it's genuinely your only choice to shop in this way, then no judgement, but many of us do have the ability to spend a little more to shop local (and sometimes it doesn't necessarily even cost more!)
Use your voice
Small businesses have often been at a disadvantage in the UK because there can be limited differentiation in regulation between a small, independent business and a gigantic, international corporation. In fact, it seems the smaller businesses are punished more while the larger ones can often avoid paying tax here despite possessing huge portions of the market share. You can use your voice to ensure you support the small businesses you know and love. Tell your MPs if you think a policy disadvantages smaller enterprises and vote for those that have small business issues at heart.
Leave positive reviews
If you've had a lovely experience with a small business and you love their products, consider leaving a positive review. There are an increasing number of scams and schemes online and people become naturally suspicious. By leaving a positive review, you can help your favourite businesses stand out and reassure fellow customers that they're trustworthy.
Buy from them
This one might seem obvious but if you have the money spare, the absolute best way to support a small business today is to buy something from them. At Folk and Finds, we have curated products from an array of wonderful small businesses, including The Happy Badger for fun bookmarks, Bookishly UK for beautiful literary postcards and Thistle Candles Co. for deliciously scented soy wax candles. Plus, if you buy on Folk and Finds, £1 from every sale will be added to the Folk and Finds Fund which will be donated back to small businesses and community projects across the UK in the form of grants.
These are just some of the ways you could support a small business - which one will you do today?