#ShopSmallSabado: Supporting Small Businesses Worldwide

#ShopSmallSabado Join our team around the world

The concept of Small Business Saturday has become increasingly more popular all around the world as more consumers are rising to take action to support local businesses. In between the overwhelming marketing that occurs for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, lies a relatively new holiday which glorifies the value of American small businesses, Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday is now a national holiday which started in 2010 to celebrate small businesses and encourage more consumers to shop locally at the beginning of the holiday season. The holiday aims to capture consumers to purchase by highlighting the importance small businesses have on the economy, as well as the opportunity to purchase unique products and services within their own community. 

Small business customers shopping at store with cashier

As an American-Peruvian organization, we want to examine how the ideas of “shopping small” vary around the world. In the United States, this holiday aims to promote the importance of supporting local businesses that serve as the backbone of the American economy. However in a developing country like Peru, this concept is new and foreign because people are inherently already supporting small businesses. 

In communities such as Huaycan, where Huaywasi and LLI are based, there are NO name brand stores or restaurants. Every business is locally owned and independent, which as we know is much different from communities in the global north that are full of name brand stores and large chains. 

Irene, LLI’s Communication & Development Manager, recently said, “Living in Huaycan, supporting small businesses also means supporting local entrepreneurs in the community, it means supporting her/his family and their willingness to grow.” 

 Huaycan, Lima, Peru

This year to raise awareness on reasons to shop small, Huaywasi and LLI have created the hashtag, #ShopSmallSábado, to highlight our team's involvement and provide resources on ways that YOU can support small businesses! 

The map below highlights some of the wonderful local businesses our entire team is supporting all around the world for #ShopSmallSábado. As Huaywasi’s Program Manager, Deb, stated, “We believe it is increasingly more important to support not only small businesses, but specifically small businesses that support other small businesses.” 

#ShopSmallSabado with Huaywasi and LLI map of team's favorite small businesses and local shops

We understand that the 2020 Holiday Season is unlike any other and many are facing health, financial, and employment scares. To those that are able to this year, we want to encourage you now more than ever, to support small businesses and specifically those with ethical and sustainable missions! 

1. Pay Now, Shop Later

2. Refer a Friend

3. Show Love Directly

4. Engage on Social Media

5. Have a Little Patience 

  1. If you want to get your friends or family members a gift but you can’t think of the perfect idea, gift cards are always one of the best ways to go! Purchase gift cards from your favorite small businesses this holiday season so your loved ones can shop for their ideal gift when the time is right and the shop is able to earn some money to get them through these difficult times. 

Many gift cards are also able to be sent online (Huaywasi’s Included!) so you can still send love while staying safe this season! 

2. Referral programs are a great way to show love when you might be feeling some financial pressure. Many small businesses offer referral programs where you can send your friends and family a specialized discount code to save on their order and in return, you also get a discount off your next purchase! 

Here at Huaywasi, we know everything is better with friends which is why we are proud to offer our Give $15, Get $15 program where you can give your friends a $15 coupon on their first order and then you will receive a $15 coupon when they make a purchase from your link! Click this link to login into your Huaywasi account and refer a friend now! 

3. A great way to support your favorite local business love directly, without even spending a penny, is to leave a review online! If you’ve purchased a product from them, even if it was a long time ago, you can still leave them a review online! Comments and direct feedback from consumers go a really long way and it’s a great way to show the shop’s credibility. 

You can also post your review on 3rd party sites, such as Google or Yelp, to help the small business out even more! 

4. Another great way to support small businesses, for free, is to follow them on social media and engage with their content! Likes, comments, shares, and tags only take a few seconds out of your day, but it makes the world of a difference to these small shops!

5. Finally, please have patience this holiday season! As more consumers than ever before are turning to online shopping to complete holiday orders, shipping times may take a bit longer than usual. Oftentimes it is completely out of these small businesses' control to make the process go any faster so please be patient with everyone! 

5 Ways to Support Small Businesses

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