5 Ways To Show Gratitude On Small Business Saturday, Year-Round

ACROSS AMERICA — Saturday is a good day to let small businesses know how grateful you are for their presence in town by spreading some green their way on Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express, is the shopping event sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday to give local businesses a fighting chance for a share of your holiday gift budget.

“Shop Small” is a year-round event, though. At Patch, we think showing gratitude for them should be a year-round thing, too.

Patch explores the intentionality of gratitude in "30 Days Of Gratitude." Come back to Across America Patch every day through November and read more about gratitude.

Here are five ways to show gratitude to local businesses:

1. Commit To Buying Local

America’s small businesses have been pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic. Empty storefronts send a woeful message about the vitality of a town. A recent survey conducted by American Express found that 84 percent of Americans find the empty storefronts a turnoff that negatively affects local communities.

Also, keep in mind that 67 cents of every $1 spent at a small business stays in the local community, according to American Express, which for more than a decade has sponsored Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday that follows Black Friday — an event that tends to favor chain and big-box stores.

• RELATED: Small Business Saturday 2021: ‘Shop Small’ This Holiday Season

2. Recognize The George Baileys Out There

In Frank Capra’s holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bailey set aside his own dreams and became a banker who helped build the fictional town of Bedford Falls, New York. He is filled with despair and contemplates ending his life until he is visited by an angel who takes him on a retrospective tour of things that wouldn’t have happened — through his business, but also personally.

“Each man’s life touches so many other lives,” Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class, explained near the end of the film. “When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he.”

America’s small businesses are the same. They touch lives.

3. Send Small Businesses A Letter Of Gratitude

All gratitude for this one goes to conpoto, which develops software for local businesses. The company even offers a sample letter. We’ve included some excerpts to get you started:

“Thank you for being part of what gives our town the flavor it has. Thank you for giving people a reason (outside of family) to come visit.
“Thank you for making sure the kids have a sponsor for their sports teams because it helps defray the cost for struggling parents and while we’re talking about sponsorships, thank you for the donations you make to our school PTAs and the events you sponsor. …
“You’ve baled us out of more last-minute situations than we care to remember, and each time you do, the recipient remarks on how thoughtful the gift is. That makes us feel good. Thanks for not charging extra for that.
“Thank you for working the long hours it takes to get a small business off the ground. Thank you for employing our community and giving us the option to work close to home. Thank you for the money you contribute to our tax base. Few people think about that when they need our fire department or police officers. Your taxes help with that, too.
“Thanks for helping us keep costs down by providing what we need close-by. We know there are probably times when you struggle to open, because like the rest of us you wonder if you’re doing the right thing. You are a small business owner. You are. …”

4. Don’t Pay With Credit Cards

Credit card transactions cost money. That’s why many small businesses prefer cash, an old-fashioned personal check or a debit card. The fees they pay to the issuer of the credit card is typically around 2 percent or 3 percent of the total purchase, though for some cards the fee is even higher, according to The Balance.

That may not sound like a lot. But for small businesses and entrepreneurial startups with thin margins, that can add up.

Debit card transactions cost less. Checks are also safer for the merchant, though some may not take them if they’ve received a slew of bad checks or ever had a customer stop payment.

5. Tip, Gift And Say Thank You

Not all small businesses are retail establishments. Don’t forget to tip or provide some other gratuity to the people who serve your meals, cut your hair, manicure your nails, ink your tattoos, deliver your groceries or — well, the list is endless.

How much should you tip? Use common sense and scale it to the service you received. But Jodi RR Smith, owner and president of Mannersmith Etiquette & Consulting, located outside of Boston, offered this advice to the personal financial services company Bankrate:

“The pandemic has completely upended tipping etiquette. In a regular year, end-of-year tipping is a ‘thank you’ for services provided over the last year. In a pandemic year, it becomes critically important because most jobs we tip for are at the lower end of income production. It can really affect their ability to pay their bills."