7 ways to prepare your business for Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday—the last Saturday in November—often gets overshadowed by its popular siblings, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you have a small business, don’t ignore this opportunity to encourage your neighbors to shop local—specifically at your business.

American Express (AmEx) started Small Business Saturday in 2010. According to their 2023 Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, shoppers spent an estimated $17 billion supporting independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday. And, AmEx Small Business Economic Impact Studies found that the benefits of shopping at small businesses have a rippling effect. Did you know that:

• Sixty-eight cents of every dollar spent at a U.S. business stays in the local community.
• Each dollar spent at a small U.S. business generates an additional 48 cents in business activity because employees and businesses purchase local goods and services.
• In the 2023 survey, 59 percent of U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday actually shopped or ate at a small business and 61 percent of them strongly agreed they had found a place they would return to and become a regular customer.

While a QuickBooks-commissioned survey predicts holiday spending will drop in 2024, the survey also says a whopping 93 percent of consumers plan to shop at small businesses for a total spend this season of more than $76 billion at small businesses. So get ready to kick off the season in style by promoting Small Business Saturday 2024 on November 30. Here’s our checklist with ideas to help you prepare:

Create a plan with these Small Business Saturday ideas

Spread the word

Advertise all of your Small Business Saturday events in marketing outlets like social media, emails, text messaging and more. Need some inspiration?

• Restaurants can tweet that diners get a free appetizer with every dinner that day.
• Nail salons can text customers about their “buy a mani, get a pedi” deal.
• Clothing stores can post on Facebook that shoppers wearing an ugly holiday sweater will get 25 percent off their in-store purchases.
• Book stores can email shoppers about their book-signing event with a local author.
• Coffee shops can put up posters letting customers know they’ll get a triple punch on their loyalty card for any Small Business Saturday purchases.
• Accounting firms can offer a 15-minute consultation session for the first 25 who share their LinkedIn post on Small Business Saturday.

Update your phone greeting

Pre-record your business phone messages with holiday music, store hours and Small Business Saturday promotional offers. Just remember to change the recording once the festivities are over. By the way, if you’re looking for a small business phone starter kit with service that makes updating greetings super easy, check out Ooma Office.

Get people in the door

Entice shoppers to visit your establishment with a special drawing for door prizes. Be sure to get email opt-ins on the entry ticket so you can tell them about upcoming promotions throughout the year.

Stock your shelves

Double-check that you have the right amount of products and supplies so you’re less likely to sell out of all your popular items on Small Business Saturday. Although items blowing off the shelves isn’t the worst problem if you know you’ll be able to restock before the holiday. Just be sure to collect contact info so you can tell customers when their items arrive.

Staff appropriately

Be sure to schedule enough employees to handle customers quickly and efficiently. Have a backup plan in place in case one or two employees call in sick that day.

Keep your internet running

Today’s businesses depend on a reliable internet connection to run their phone system, website, checkout scanners and payment terminals. You definitely don’t want an internet outage to happen during Small Business Saturday, or really anytime. That’s why it’s important to have an affordable small business internet backup solution like Ooma Connect in place. It detects when your primary internet channel is intermittent or has failed and automatically switches over to a wireless internet backup stream to save the day.

Make the day festive

Create a joyful vibe with decorations, music, scents and complimentary refreshments that evoke fond memories of past holidays. Depending on your business, you can encourage staff to wear their party clothes to work. Or, if they don’t want to risk getting their holiday clothes dirty, provide them with holiday-themed work aprons and hats. You could even create a little friendly competition by offering a prize for the team member with the best outfit.

Find additional Small Biz Saturday resources

As mentioned earlier, Small Business Saturday was started by AmEx in 2010. A year later, the U.S. Small Business Administration joined them as an official cosponsor. Together they have been spreading the word to help businesses and urge customers to shop small.

• Assets for Small Business Saturday: Download social media artwork from American Express.
• Assets for All-Year-Round: Download artwork for social media posts and printable 8.5 x 11 posters from American Express.

Encourage neighbors to shop Small Business Saturday

We hope you borrow a tip or two from this post to support Small Business Saturday. With a little planning and creativity, you can help shoppers celebrate Small Business Saturday 2024, get a jump on their holiday shopping and find their new favorite spot to shop local. Let the ripples begin.