Staff Spotlight: Supporting Small for Greater Impact on Main Streets
November is entrepreneurship month! Here are three benefits of supporting small businesses in your community.
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The countdown to Small Business Saturday® on November 26 has begun and for some communities the holiday shopping season is already underway. For Main Street leaders to small business owners alike, this time of year is full of possibilities, excitement, and good cheer. Even so, creating opportunities to welcome visitors downtown and into stores—in-person or online—can also be a source of stress and uncertainty. We're here to help!
Whether you are a seasoned American Express Small Business Saturday Neighborhood Champion or an entrepreneur joining this national movement for the first time, we’ve gathered a roundup of resources to support your “shop local” marketing efforts.
Resources for Main Street Leaders
From organizing Shop Small® activities during the winter holiday season to supporting your downtown merchants all year long, Main Street leaders play an important role in fostering economic vitality in their communities. Developing and implementing a holistic economic vitality plan for your Main Street takes commitment, time, and access to the latest resources, trends, and best practices.
To support Main Street leaders who are coordinating efforts to uplift existing businesses and nurture emerging entrepreneurs, we have gathered a selection of new resources and time-tested tools to provide you with inspiration and handy tips ready to share.
Get Ready for Small Business Saturday 2022!
Small Business Saturday is just around the corner... and there’s still time for you to rally your merchants and invite your community to shop downtown on November 26. Check out this blog post for our top 5 tips to make your Small Business Saturday a success!
Quick, Easy and Data-Backed Tips to Share with your Businesses Right Now
In October, we invited you to join the conversation about preparing for Small Business Saturday. We received excellent responses from the network, including insightful tips from Sheila Scarborough, Co-founder of Tourism Currents, that are tailor-made for helping small businesses get their digital houses in order. Consider sharing these quick, easy, and data-backed tips with your businesses right now:
- A Claimed & Current Google Business Profile – Make sure your business’ profile on Google is claimed, completed, and up-to-date. Pay particular attention to ensuring that your operating hours, address, and contact information are current. Why is this important? This information directly feeds into Google Search and Google Maps, two tools that shoppers use to find and select places to shop, grab a bite, and enjoy. Need help? Here’s how to verify your business on Google.
- Active & Accurate Social Media Profiles – Make sure your social media profiles include details about your location, hours of operation, what you offer, and the link to your official website. Where space allows, consider identifying your business as independent and locally owned. An active and accurate Facebook page is an invaluable tool, too. Although not all age groups actively use Facebook, many younger folks have accounts and will check a business’ Facebook page to see if it is open and to confirm information provided on other sites.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Guide
Successful entrepreneurial ecosystems depend on cross-sector partnerships and collaboration. Main Street programs are in a prime position to convene key partners to assess gaps and opportunities within the local ecosystem. The annual holiday shopping season is a prime opportunity to put many entrepreneurial ecosystem principles to work. From hosting pop-up marketplaces to creating temporary (or permanent) people-centered spaces in your downtown, our entrepreneurial ecosystems resources are tailor-made for supporting your shop local initiatives.
The Future of Retail: Creative Approaches to Place-Based Entrepreneurship
As trends suggest a long-term shift away from traditional brick-and-mortar retail, Main Streets will need to continue to find new ways to draw people downtown. This guide provides a roadmap on how to adapt to the evolving retail landscape by capitalizing on what Main Street has always done well: providing experiences, serving as incubators for entrepreneurs, offering socially conscious local products and services, and fostering social engagement through innovative programming and place. It also includes a retail audit tool you can use to ensure your downtown is positioned to thrive well into the future.
Resources for Small Businesses Owners
For many small business owners, Small Business Saturday is the biggest shopping day of the year. According to the results of the American Express 2021 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, total reported projected spending among U.S. consumers who shopped at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $23.3 billion1, up 18% from $19.8 billion in 20202 and an increase from pre-pandemic spending in 2019 ($19.6 billion).
This year, even with high inflation rates and a possible recession on the horizon, the shopping season is poised to remain strong. While Small Business Saturday has had a resounding impact on small businesses since its launch in 2010, the challenge remains to keep shoppers shopping small throughout the holiday season and beyond. To support small business owners who are addressing this issue on the ground, we have put together a list of helpful tools, resources, and funding to encourage shopping local all year round.
Tools & Resources
- Main Street Online Tool
- It’s always a good time to get online and work on improving your digital presence – this is especially important before and during the holiday season! Our quick and easy Main Street Online Tool, developed in partnership with GoDaddy, guides you through this process by identifying the best solutions for your unique e-commerce needs and providing you with a roadmap to implement an effective online strategy.
- The Shop Small Resource Hub by American Express
- Access free materials, resources and tools from American Express to help your small business grow and thrive--no matter the stage you’re at.
- Business Class
- Business Class by American Express provides tips, insights, and inspiration from business owners like you to help you navigate challenges and uncover new ways to grow, adapt, and thrive.
- Meta Boost
- Brought to you by Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc.), Meta Boost gives an extra “boost” to small business owners through free trainings, events, resources, and more. Main Street America is partnering with Meta Boost to co-promote live workshops and trainings across the country in 2022, but if you haven’t been able to make it to an in-person training, there are plenty of free resources available online.
Funding/Grants
- Inclusive Backing Grants
- Presented by American Express and Main Street America, Inclusive Backing Grants are available for eligible small business owners from underrepresented communities. The next round of grants will open in early 2023.
- Backing Historic Restaurants
- With support from American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation offers the Backing Historic Small Restaurants Grant Program to aid restaurant recovery amid ongoing challenges related to the pandemic. The application period for 2022 has closed, but stay tuned for more information on the next application period coming soon.
Blogs, Research, Webinars & Guides
- Findings from the Winter 2022 Small Business Survey (2022)
- The Revitalizing Small and Local Businesses Act (2022)
- Connect with Customers and Manage Your Business Remotely (2020)
- Small Business Research Report (2020)
- Restaurants in Recovery (2020)
- Using Local Search Trends to Attract More Customers to Your Main Street (2017)
Whether you’re a Main Street leader or a small business owner, we hope this list provides a few practical tips and resources that help make your Small Business Saturday and holiday shopping season even more successful. Make sure to stay tuned to our social media channels, Main Street News e-newsletter, and our blog for more shop local content coming soon.
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1 The American Express 2021 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey was conducted by Teneo on behalf of American Express. The study is a nationally representative sample of 2,426 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older. The sample was collected using an email invitation and an online survey. The study gathered self-reported data and does not reflect actual receipts or sales. It was conducted anonymously on November 28, 2021. The survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.0%, at the 95% level of confidence. Projections are based on the current U.S. Census estimates of the U.S. adult population, age 18 years and over.
2 The American Express 2020 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey was conducted by Teneo on behalf of American Express. The study is a nationally representative sample of 2,572 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older. The sample was collected using an email invitation and an online survey. The study gathered self-reported data and does not reflect actual receipts or sales. It was conducted anonymously on November 29, 2020. The survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.0%, at the 95% level of confidence. Projections are based on the current U.S. Census estimates of the U.S. adult population, age 18 years and over.
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Fremont, CA © Fremont Economic Development
For an Inclusive Recovery, We Need Support for Small Business and the Groups that Help Them
BDOs are place-based organizations that help small businesses and entrepreneurs to flourish. They have been on the frontline of support for the country’s hardest-hit entrepreneurs throughout the pandemic and have been working to enable thriving commercial corridors throughout the crisis.
Main Spotlight: Five Takeaways on Supporting Entrepreneurship from Matthew Wagner, Ph.D.
Matthew Wagner, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer at Main Street America, was featured on Breaking Down Barriers: a podcast from Startup Space highlighting stories of community leaders who break down barriers to entry for underserved and unrepresented entrepreneurs.
Main Spotlight: Windows of Opportunity — The Transformation of Empty Storefronts on Main Street
A vacant storefront is the perfect stage to creatively promote the available space or to showcase other businesses and events in the area.
Ripon, WI © RetailWorks, Inc
Small Businesses E‑Commerce Usage Continues to Increase as Holiday Revenues Were Mixed: Results from Our January 2021 Survey of Small Business Owners
We heard from 289 business owners in 35 states plus the District of Columbia in our new text message-based survey of small business owners across the network.
Community Spotlight: Paving the Path from Pop-up to Permanent at the Batavia Boardwalk Shops
The Batavia Boardwalk Shops are freestanding, purpose-built structures acting as seasonal pop-up locations for entrepreneurs, offered in tandem with a business incubator program.
Batavia, IL © April Duda Photography
Business Spotlight: Black Entrepreneurs Leading By Example in Chicago
For Black History Month, we want to recognize and celebrate the Black business owners and entrepreneurs who have overcome challenges and obstacles in launching and running their own businesses, thanks to resilience, creativity, and hard work.
Main Spotlight: Pop-Up Retail: Not Just For Start-Ups, And Other Learnings From Its Evolution
As a vital place factor within an entrepreneurship ecosystem, pop-up programs allow for emerging businesses to test their product, gain consumer feedback, and promote their brand at an extremely low cost. In essence, allowing for a ‘fail-fast’ product development cycle.
Asheville, NC © Ablohkin
Coping with the COVID Crisis in the Midst of the Holiday Rush: Nine Takeaways from Our December Surveys of Small Business Owners and Main Street Programs
In early December, as the COVID-19 crisis intersected with a peak moment in the holiday shopping season, we surveyed small business owners and Main Street programs to learn more about how they were managing.
© Cindy Shebley
Jump off the Business Recruitment Train: The Real Returns are in Cultivating Local Entrepreneurship
New research by Main Street America suggests greater returns on our missions and resources can be had by transitioning to more deliberate economic vitality work centered on cultivating new business development from within our own communities and neighborhoods.
Community Spotlight: Storefront Activation Through Storytelling in Fredericksburg, VA
Fredericksburg Virginia Main Street (FVMS) is taking storefront activation to a new level with their new initiative, the Scan & Love Project, which tells the stories of business owners through personal and engaging videos.
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting Tina’s Timeless Threads
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Center of the Yarniverse
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting The Bankery
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting BuzzBomb Brewing
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting The Owl Wine Bar & Home Goods
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting Griff Goods
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program: Spotlighting Mockingbird Bar and Tacos
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
Economic Gardening Takes Root: Redesigning the Bricks & Clicks Business Retention Program During the Pandemic
Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance explores how they redesigned their Bricks & Clicks Business Retention Program during the pandemic.
Business Spotlight: Women-Owned Businesses on Main Street (Part 3)
Meet some amazing women business owners!
New Survey Results: How Small Businesses are Managing the Pandemic and Social Unrest
Read the results of our survey aimed at understanding how business owners are managing the recovery from COVID-19 and responding to recent protests and social unrest related to police violence against Black Americans.
Research Spotlight: Black-Owned Businesses on Main Street and Beyond
Our research team dug into some of the data about the state of Black-owned businesses on Main Street, the structural challenges they face, and how Main Streets can support them.
Main Spotlight: Holiday Shopping During COVID: What Should Main Streets Expect?
Matt Wagner explores how the pandemic may affect the shop small holiday weekend.
Main Spotlight: How Rural Economies Can Leverage the Rise in Remote Work
COVID-19 has led to a rise in remote working. How can small and rural towns leverage this shift to create vibrant local economies?
The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Businesses: Follow-up Survey Report
Detailed findings from our follow-up survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses to better understand the continued challenges businesses face as the crisis evolves.
Main Spotlight: Recovery and Revitalization Depend on Understanding Human Psyche
How does psychology impact the recovery of our downtowns after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Local Impact: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday® is more than a day to shop. It’s a nationwide movement that shines a spotlight on the importance of supporting small businesses in communities across America.
Community Spotlight: Benson, North Carolina
The Town of Benson started a special project to highlight their downtown businesses.
Community Spotlight: Berkley, Michigan
The Berkley Downtown Development Authority (DDA) proudly debuted its Downtown Berkley Shopping Bag for a Cause through a partnership between Better Life Bags.
Main Spotlight: Learnings from the ESHIP Summit
Supporting new and existing small businesses, and the entrepreneurs who run them, represents a vital aspect of the revitalization of downtowns and neighborhood business districts.
Creating Equitable, Inclusive and Transparent Cities: A Year in Review
The Equitable Economic Development Fellowship is a two-year, one million-dollar effort funded by the Surdna Foundation and the Open Society Foundations to help equity, transparency, sustainability and community engagement become driving forces in local economic development efforts.
Community Spotlight: Mini-Grants Offered to Small Businesses in Jefferson, Iowa
The Jefferson Rotary Club partnered with Jefferson Matters: Main Street to offer mini-grants for building facades and storefront signage to two dozen businesses for up to $500 each.
A Memorable Makeover on Main Street
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) partnered with Retailworks, Inc., a commercial interior design, display and branding firm headquartered in Milwaukee, to launch Wisconsin’s Main Street Makeover Contest.
Creative Discovery on the Maker Trail in Enid, Oklahoma
Kelly Tompkins of Main Street Enid shares more about the Maker Trail project and how it inspired creativity and helped people discover downtown.
City Sidewalks, Dressed in Holiday Style
Too often, as we’re strolling our favorite Main Street, we pass empty or dark shop windows that make us want to hurry home a little bit faster. Imagine instead, a charming streetscape adorned with vibrant, lively window displays, showcasing retailers’ favorite products and seasonal gift ideas.
Community Spotlight: #ShopSmall in Goldsboro, North Carolina
Small Business Saturday promo pic from Downtown Goldsboro, North Carolina, showing all the folks who took the pledge support a small business in their community.
Using Local Search Trends to Attract More Customers to Your Main Street
We’ve put together a practical list of some of the things that local store owners can do right now to help them capitalize on this increasing trend in local searches.
Network Spotlight: Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week
From authentic comfort food to farm-to-fork fresh and everything in between, these restaurants, bars, and cafes are key to the thriving social, business, and residential life in the historic commercial districts in Main Street Iowa communities.
Fab Lab Sparks Rural Opportunities
Located in southeast Kansas, Independence (pop.8,799) is home to Fab Lab ICC, which is on track to be the world’s leading innovator in combining entrepreneurial mindset education with a fab lab maker space.
Community Spotlight: Morganton, North Carolina
The craft beer industry is playing a key role in the rebirth of Main Streets and neighborhood commercial districts across the county.
Rethink Storefront Accessibility to Rethink Community Viability
Appealing to mobility-challenged shoppers yields benefits beyond the store.
Sparking a Movement in Small Business and Small Towns
Being the only person in the know can be fun, exhilarating even. Except when you are the one person out of 600+ in a room and you know bad news is coming.
The Lowdown in Downtown LaBelle
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Pop-Up Altavista 2.0
Altavista On Track, the local Main Street organization, is working to cultivate and sustain local entrepreneurs with an educational business launch competition, Pop-Up Altavista 2.0.
The Bright Center: A Space for Winchester’s Bright Minds to Create, Innovate and Thrive
In Winchester, Virginia, one woman’s vision and commitment to downtown’s revitalization created an innovative community space for the Creative Class.
Why Business Retention and Expansion Plans are Important for Downtowns
A business retention and expansion plan, properly implemented, not only helps keep businesses open but possibly even helps them expand.
Business Investment Guides: “Think B.I.G.”
The first rule of conducting business is “make it simple.” The easier it is to pay for merchandise, get entertainment or obtain a service, the more likely it is that people will take advantage of those options.
Small Box – A Creative Retail Project
Main Street communities across the country are no stranger to seeking creative strategies to solve their most nagging issues – vacant buildings, marketing downtown, bolstering retail to name a few.
Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Heart of Boston’s Main Streets
To understand the role that immigrant business owners play in Boston’s small business ecosystem, you need only to walk through any Boston Main Streets district.
Measuring the Economic Impact of Storefront Improvements
Façade appearance is a critical aspect of the overall aesthetic appeal and unique character of downtown.
Sign Design Guidelines
A lot of signs are necessary to make a downtown work well, but not every community knows what a good sign system looks like, or how instrumental it can be to the creation of a successful downtown.
Improving Performance in Main Street Iowa Communities
Main Street Iowa, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center, created a one-of-a-kind three-year program to provide help for performance venues located in Main Street districts.
