Hello Again!

first of all - I hope this doesn't come across as rant-y, you do you!  I'm just spreading a few fun facts about what your spending impact could do, so let's get started!

Okay, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have definitely been picking up speed in Canada over the past five years, and debatably mark the biggest shopping weekend of the year.  This last weekend in November typically marks the kick off of the holiday shopping seasons; a great way of getting gifts for loved ones, on sale! Win-win right?  

Well, from a small business owner’s perspective, it might not be, and let me share why.  Black Friday is a big-time event for the big box stores and multinational corporations. People flock to Walmart, Best Buy, etc. to get the best deals on the latest gadgets.  This leads to a huge cash flight, sending our earned dollars out the door of our local economy and around the world.

So here’s my call to action - shop local this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  

And here’s why you should: 

Two-thirds of every dollar spent in locally owned small businesses stays within that community.  Pretty good rate right?  And I can totally back that up. I make local dollars, and I spend them here as well, to support the community that supports me. It’s as easy as that.  But it gets better. Every dollar spent in a local shop creates an additional 50 cents of biz activity in that local economy. This effect is due to the supply chains, the employment bases, and the profits earned by small businesses.

Basically, all of those numbers mean your impact on small businesses could be huge this holiday season!  And who doesn’t like huge impact! Let’s run an example. Let’s say 50% of Calgarians spend $50 in local businesses in our city, here’s the impact broken down: 

• 668,000 people spend $50 = $33.4 million spent
• $33.4 million x two thirds = $22.4 million stays within our local community
• $16.7 million in additional local business activity is generated (50% of the local cash spent)

Those numbers are super significant!  And I use Calgary as an example because that’s where I do business, but think about those figures across the country.  Those big numbers are meaningful spending, keeping local businesses up and running, keeping people employed, keeping our economies moving, keeping tax dollars rolling in, you get where I’m going here?

So next time you hit ‘continue to checkout’ on Amazon, think about how hard you have worked for your money, think of those earned dollars as votes - who are you willing to vote for? Who are you willing to support?  What business practices can you get behind?

Small businesses close to you are running great sales for local goods during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, I’m sure of it! Go take advantage of those, and feel good doing it!  There are a million reasons to do it; the lower environmental impact of local goods, the economic benefits, etc. etc. but let’s not underestimate the warm and fuzzy feeling you get by supporting your community and doing business with people that are passionate and knowledgable about their business!

Go out there and support local, and be damn proud you did!

That’s all for now Without Co. Crew

- Michelle