This year due to COVID-19 outbreak all across the world, businesses of all sizes have been hit hard. With social distancing and lockdown still in place at some places, the operations of many businesses have been affected. Bigger businesses have started to get back on their feet, since they are well known, as people usually buy from them, but it’s the small businesses that are struggling to get through these tough times as they work on low budgets with limited resources.
I have always made it a point to support small businesses and have encouraged people to do the same, and I believe during these times they need our support more than ever. Therefore, I want to use this platform to support small businesses. A small way to give back through the medium of this blog. You can also checkout my previous blogs here.
Over the years, I have worked with or shopped from many small brands and sometimes I feel like they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Hence, to support the small businesses, I started a Support Business Campaign on my Instagram. As a part of this, I am sharing some awesome small brands using hashtag #SupportSmallBusiness and calling out more brands who want us to feature them in our Support Small Business Campaign. Below are some posts that I have done for this campaign. Two posts are for small Indian wear brands and two posts are for small western wear brands.
This is the first post I did for announcing the #SupportSmallBusiness campaign on my Instagram. In this I featured few small Indian wear brands.
My second post for this campaign was dedicated to western wear brands. In this one I featured few small western wear brands.
In the next post for this campaign, I featured a list of all the Indian wear brands I have worked with or bought stuff from in the past.
Last but not the least, I did a post featuring a list of all the small western wear brands I have loved over the years.
Here are a few ways in which you can do your part and support small businesses.
Ways to support small businesses
1. Shop from them
Buying from small and local businesses is the best way in which you can support them. Whenever you are looking to buy something, try to find small businesses that sell that stuff and shop from them. While going out to eat or ordering food online, prefer local restaurants and eateries.
2. Support them on Social Media
Support the small businesses by following them on your social media. Help them get more exposure by liking, sharing and commenting on their posts. Whenever you buy something from a small business, post a story or picture tagging them and using their hashtags.
3. Tell your friends and family about them
Work of mouth is the most powerful way of supporting a small business or any business in general. If you come across a small brand with good products make sure you spread the word by telling about them to your friends & family and encourage them to buy from them.
4. Buy their Gift Cards or Vouchers
If there is nothing on your buying list, you can help small businesses by buying their gift cards and vouchers. You can also opt for gift cards and vouchers for gifting during the holiday season instead of physical gifts. Gift cards have a long expiration date so the recipient can redeem it whenever they want.
5. Leave a positive review
A positive review from a customer goes a long way for a small business, as it helps other potential customers to know more about the brand and their services. Before buying from a brand people usually check the reviews they have and are more likely to buy from them if they have positive reviews.
The pandemic has and is still impacting businesses in various ways and these are few things you can do to support them. Our small steps and efforts can help local businesses in ways that we can’t even imagine. So, next time while buying something do not forget to consider a small brand.
If you are a small brand who wants to be a part of our Small Business campaign, you can reach out to us on archana@fashionforroyals.com or DM us on Instagram.
