Want to stop Disney and Amazon from taking over the world? Shop at small businesses. 

OK, that’s not the only reason you should frequent the small businesses in your community and beyond. Here are some of the top benefits.

Support your community

Businesses in your local town support and enrich the community by employing people, creating economic opportunities, and improving cash flow in the area. In addition to creating jobs and trading with other local businesses, they contribute to community taxes, work with local charities, and sponsor teams and events. By supporting local businesses, you’re keeping the money in your community. 

Reduce your carbon footprint

A shorter supply chain means a smaller environmental impact. When you shop local, you’re not contributing to wasteful packaging and shipping. You’re not just supporting the community: you’re supporting the environment.

Get better products

You can find things for cheap on Amazon, but when you shop at small businesses, you can often find higher quality items. Many of these are custom-made and cater to the tastes of the local community or niche audience. As such, they offer a wider variety and are much more personalized than what you’d find in a big store selling mass-produced items.

Enjoy better customer service

Rather than shopping at a faceless corporation, with a small business, you’re buying from a person. Most of these have a smaller store and fewer employees, which means you can expect much better customer service than in a big store. The owner is also more invested in providing a good experience for customers.

Support small businesses by paying in cash

So how can you really support those small businesses? Pay in cash. 

When you pay with a debit or credit card, the business often gets hit with interchange fees (charged by your bank, processing company, and/or card company). For example, if a business makes $100,000 a year but all its customers pay using credit cards, it would lose about $2,500 to card processing fees. 

Paying in cash, on the other hand, tends to save small business owners 2-3% of the transaction price. Plus, it gives business owners access to the proceeds right away, which can be a life-saver.

Of course, some businesses are starting to transition to only electronic payments, as this can make the checkout process easier and reduce the hassle of transporting cash back and forth from the bank. 

So at the end of the day, it’s always best to be prepared. Show up with cash, then ask the cashier or store owner which payment method they prefer.

Congrats. You’re well on your way to becoming a small business shopping hero!