Small Business Saturday events planned nationwide

The October edition of the Business Review USA is now live!

Founded by American Express® in 2010, Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses nationwide during the critical holiday shopping season.

According to the 2012 Small Business Saturday Insights Survey, 81% of small business owners said Small Business Saturday is most effective when communities band together and host events.Last year, U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday reported spending $5.5 billion with independently-owned businesses on the day based on the Small Business Saturday Insights Survey. This meant that small businesses across the country got their holiday season off to a strong start, as millions of U.S. consumers “shopped small” on Small Business Saturday and made a big impact on local communities.

Based on this insight, American Express has created a Neighborhood Champions program, working with business organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., the Latino Coalition and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) to organize Small Business Saturday events in communities throughout the country. To date over 1,000 Neighborhood Champions have signed up to rally businesses in their municipalities to partake in local activities leading up to and on the day.

Planned Neighborhood Champion events will occur in all corners of the country on November 30th and include:

• A holiday open house and parade in Golden, CO;
• Pop-up shops at the local farmers market in Koloa, HI;
• A treasure hunt through local businesses in Frazier Park, CA; and
• A holiday festival with over 50 windows decorated with a Shop Small theme in Corning, NY.

During these local events, shoppers will have the opportunity to pick up Shop Small® tote bags and fill them with gifts purchased from local small businesses in their neighborhood on Small Business Saturday.

Neighborhood Champions joined the program by providing a description of their plans to organize events or activities and a list of at least 10 local businesses that they plan to rally. After registering, they received an activation kit that includes giveaways, welcome mats, balloons and banners.

“Last year, thousands of small businesses from around all over the country took ownership of Small Business Saturday and consumers responded,” said Mary Ann Fitzmaurice Reilly, senior vice president at American Express OPEN. “Based on our research, we believe the day can be even more successful when businesses band together to make Small Business Saturday a true celebration for the neighborhoods they support.”

SMALL STEPS TO SUCCESS

As part of the Neighborhood Champion program, American Express offers event organizers a number of tips to make the most of the day including:

1. MAKE IT A CELEBRATION. Throw a parade on your main street. Host a community block party or downtown fair. Design an event that showcases what local businesses have to offer and inspires people to participate and “shop small” on the day. And, don’t forget that you can leverage existing events in your town to help make the most of Small Business Saturday.

2. MAKE IT MEMORABLE. Dress up the town with signage, banners, and balloons to help the cause stand out and call your community to action on the day.

3. ENGAGE MORE SMALL BUSINESSES AND HELP THEM PARTICIPATE. The more small businesses you can get on board, the bigger the day can be.

4. ENGAGE THE WHOLE COMMUNITY— Create a festive atmosphere with face painting, balloon animals, and cotton candy to help attract families with young children.

5. TALK IT UP! In meetings. At the grocery store. Over dinner with friends. The more passionate you are spreading the word; the more others will be doing the same.

About Small Business Saturday

November 30th marks the fourth annual Small Business Saturday, a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 in response to small business owners’ most pressing need: more customers.

About the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey

The second installment of the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 1000 males and females 18 years of age or older. The sample was collected using an email invitation and an online survey. The study was conducted anonymously by Redshift Research on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express between November 24th and November 25th, 2012. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%, at the 95% level of confidence.