Our Best Tips For Supporting Small Businesses This Holiday Season

TipsHolidays
Written By Amber Reesor

With the pandemic drastically affecting lots of businesses earlier last year, I tried the best I could to shop for my gifts from small and/or local businesses at Christmas time. I was a little bit intimidated about sourcing out the right gifts for everyone on my list, but with a little bit of patience and effort, I quickly realized that not only was it possible, it was also really fun. I love finding new shops and brands that excite me and love being able to support them when I can. In the spirit of another season of giving right before us, I thought I would share my tips for gift shopping from small businesses this holiday season so you can feel a little bit less intimidated and a lot more excited about it, too.

Do you like to shop small? With the holiday season already feeling overwhelming and extra busy, it’s easy to prioritize convenience when it comes to buying your gifts. But the reality is that a lot of small businesses still really need our love and attention this year. Enduring a second full year of the pandemic has affected us all in different ways, but for small businesses, it’s been unprecedented. With opportunities for exposure, like holiday markets, out of the question and general operational expenses, like shipping costs, rising, we need to do our best to support them in any way we can. And that doesn’t necessarily mean just with our dollars. Whether you shop for all of your gifts from small and/or local shops or don’t, I hope these tips for shopping small this holiday season can encourage and help you. Let’s put the effort in to doing our part to support them.

Embrace the mentality of less, but better.

Shopping from a small business rather than a big box store often means that our dollars may not stretch as far. But I think it’s important to reframe our thinking about the implications of that. Our society functions on the mentality that more is more, but this is most often a really false and detrimental belief. Small businesses are run and operated by really passionate people who often find great value and satisfaction in their craft and/or product. They have a lot riding on what they are putting out into the world, so the quality of their product matters to them. A lot. Your dollars may not stretch as far in terms of quantity, but when shopping from small businesses, they often stretch much further in terms of quality.

I think this is a really good conversation to have in a big picture context, but especially at this time of year when consumption can often overpower the intention and purpose of gift-giving in the first place, it’s all the more important. Shopping from small businesses can give you the opportunity to reconnect with the meaning and intention behind gift-giving, rather then the expectation and guilt associated with more that so many of us fall prey too. I bet that if you give a friend a really thoughtful and personal small-batch made gift, it will touch them in a way that a big gift bag full of lots of gifts couldn’t. When you shop small, you may not be able to give as many gifts, but you’re really giving more enduring and valuable gifts. Less, but better.

Get personal.

One of the biggest benefits of shopping from a small business is that you have the opportunity to personalize your gift for your recipient. Whether it be an engraved piece of jewellery or a custom pet portrait, you know that it will have an extra layer of sentimental value because it will be one-of-a-kind. Even if the gift you choose isn’t specifically customizable, a lot of small businesses will include a handwritten note or additional personal touch and those details make a difference. Put short, my tip here is essentially to take advantage of the customization options that small or local businesses can offer. That special touch can take something from a nice gift to an irreplaceable treasure.

Start your shopping early.

A big barrier to shopping small at the holidays is that it doesn’t always lend itself to a short timeline. Customization options and general shipping (when shopping online) take more time for turnaround than Amazon Prime. I know that some people prefer last-minute shopping, but if you decide to shop small this holiday season, you will need to be proactive in your shopping. Many small businesses will post and share their own date cut-offs for guaranteed Christmas delivery, but generally, you will need to purchase your items by December 1st.

So, what if you are normally a last-minute shopper and the whole early shopping thing feels overwhelming? My best tip is to make a list of all the people you’d like to buy gifts for this year and start to brainstorm ideas for items they may like or need. Then start slowly chipping away at purchasing the items on your list as you come across them. It’s a simple hack - just a little bit of planning - but it makes a huge difference in how prepared you feel to start your shopping. Be sure to check or cross them off once you make the purchase.

Share your favourite small businesses with others.

These last few tips are for those who, logistically or financially, may not be able to afford exclusively shopping from small businesses, but still want to support the businesses they love in whatever way they can. Exposure is a huge deal for small businesses who don’t have the same resources for marketing as big businesses do. If you can offer some free advertising, do it! Share some of your favourite shops with other people in any way you can, whether that be through word of mouth or by shouting it across your social media platforms. Sometimes others will respond by sharing some of their favourites too, which in turn may expose you to even more wonderful businesses to support. It’s free and it matters, so see if you can do your part.

Details matter and can make a big impact.

If your gift recipient asked for a specific gift this year that you can’t purchase from a small business, there may still be ways that you can support a small business through additional details. If I already have a gift lined up for someone, I like to think of little ways I can make it even more meaningful, like by adding a custom-made ornament to the wrapping or a small-made Christmas card from a local shop. These smaller items are often much more affordable than purchasing a full gift, but still support a small or local maker. This is also a great way to add a more personal and customized touch to a big-box item - just imagine the delight of receiving an ornament with your family painted on it or a gift donned in a beautiful reusable cloth gift wrap. These extra small-made details go a long way in making your gifts feel extra special and can help support a small business in a small - but mighty - way.

Maybe you’re fully behind the idea of supporting small businesses, but you just don’t know where to start. One of my favourite places to explore new-to-me businesses is on Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace that feature handmade and vintage sellers from around the world. The algorithm is pretty good at picking up on your geographical location, and so they do a good job at feeding you shops and products from your own country, but they do also expose you to small businesses that exist internationally. It’s a small business gold mine! But other than exploring Etsy, these are a few of my own personal favourite small businesses. Many of them are Canadian, but there are a few international businesses that deserve your attention on this list too.

Our Favourite Small Businesses To Shop

I’m going to be putting out a few gift guides over the next couple of weeks that highlight some of my favourite small business gift picks for different recipients - kiddos, girlfriends, partners, you name it! Be sure to check back for those if you need some specific inspiration for shopping small business gifts this holiday season and to see even more wonderful shops that you could explore. But for now, tell me below - what are your favourite small businesses to love on?

 
Amber Reesor http://amberreesordesign.com
Previous

Shop Small Gift Guide: The Kiddos
Next

Paint Changes Everything | ORC, Week 07