The 12th annual Small Business Saturday takes place this year on November 27, 2021 (the Saturday after Thanksgiving). American Express created the event as a counterpart to promotions supporting big-box retailers (Black Friday) and  Cyber Monday which encourage shoppers to buy products through big box retail stores and mega-online e-commerce channels. While local holiday events that promote holiday shopping have been around for decades, Small Business Saturday helped turn the day into a national marketing event that reminds consumers why it is important to support small and local businesses, products, and services.

According to the U.S Chamber of Commerce, shoppers have also been eager to jump on board and support their local small businesses. Last year, the U.S. Small Business Administration reported Americans spent nearly $20 billion on Small Business Saturday, and in the years before that, consumers spent a cumulative $100 billion-plus related to the event.

Small business owners and their customers understand the importance of supporting small and local businesses

56% | Percentage of small business owners who agree that customer support is more critical than ever. (1)

78% | Percentage of owners who say holiday sales will impact their ability to keep their doors open in 2022. (1)

“The past year has presented unique challenges for small business owners across the country. It has never been more vital to support the small businesses that make our communities unique and contribute to the culture of our neighborhoods. Small Business Saturday provides us with an opportunity to connect with our local community and remind them to get out and shop small all holiday season.”

Nicole and Michael Nicholas owners of Aunts et Uncles in Brooklyn, NY

Advice from shoppers on ways small businesses can encourage seasonal shopping

A recent survey of holiday shoppers commissioned by Union Bank revealed the hurdles consumers say they are facing this holiday shopping season. (2)

When asked what would make the consumers more likely to shop at a small business this year, here are some of the responses.

64% | Offer holiday sales
59% | Offer unique, exclusive gifts
49% | Provide free local delivery’
48% | Offer online ordering
47% | Offer price breaks
46% | Provide a cheery, holiday experience

“Purchasing locally handcrafted items or the gift of an experience, such as a concert, can be more personal and more fun,” Deborah Small, professor of marketing and psychology at Wharton Business School recently told ConsumerReports.org. “By choosing something handcrafted or locally grown, or making a purchase that helps support a neighborhood business, your gift will be more personal and authentic,” she said.

See SmallBusiness.com posts throughout the years.

”Photos:
Nicole Nicholas, Aunts et Uncles, Brooklyn, NY via American Express
Gettyimages.com

Sources

(1) The American Express Shop Small Impact Study consisted of two studies conducted by Teneo on behalf of American Express. The consumer survey was an anonymous online survey conducted from October 13-18, 2021 among a sample of 1,013 adults 18 years of age and older. The American Express Shop Small Impact Study consisted of two studies conducted by Teneo on behalf of American Express. The consumer survey was an anonymous online survey conducted from October 13-18, 2021 among a sample of 1,013 adults 18 years of age and older. Consumer data is weighted by five variables: age, sex, geographic region, race and education to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population, 18 years of age and older based on U.S. Census data. The small business owner survey was conducted online among a sample of 523 small business owners/managers in the U.S. from October 12-19, 2021. Respondent companies must conduct sales in a physical location in one of the following industries: arts/entertainment/recreation, retail trade, restaurant/bar/coffee shop/hotel/hospitality, or personal services.

(2) Union Bank Small Business Holiday Spending 2021 Survey: Research was gathered through an online survey commissioned by Union Bank and conducted by global independent research firm Edelman DxI. The survey was completed by 1,000 U.S. consumers (age 18+) and 200 U.S. small business owners, sampled to be nationally representative. Data was collected between Oct. 5 and Oct. 13, 2021. The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points.

A version of this essay by SmallBusiness.com founder Rex Hammock first appeared on SmallBusiness.com on September 11, 2014.

In addition to the emotional responses we all experienced while watching the horror of 9/11/2001 unfold, I, like many small business owners, was overwhelmed with sympathy for the hundreds of small business owners and their employees whose companies, shops, and restaurants were inside and in the shadow of the Twin Towers.

Photos like the iconic one showing people fleeing the area — running by small shops and eateries — have stuck with me as vividly as the more graphic and horrid shots from that day.

For business purposes, I had been in the Twin Towers several times before 2001, but other than the towers and Wall Street, I was not familiar with the surrounding neighborhood.

For seven years after 9/11, I had a daughter who lived adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial Plaza. I’ve spent several days walking throughout the neighborhood that rose up from ashes to become an awe-inspiring tribute to those who died that day; and to the resilience of New York City, the region, and the nation.

The photo on the right was shot at about the same location as the 2001 photo (using Google Maps’ Street View). It captures the vibrancy you can feel today among the shops located in what is a far more trendy neighborhood than it was before 9/11. (Something true of neighborhoods throughout New York City.)

Small business owners and their employees helped revive the neighborhood before the trendy chains started moving into the area. Like in other areas of Manhattan, these small merchants are discovering that higher rents are making it harder and harder to survive.

To me, the men and women who returned first to the neighborhood are small business heroes. While others travel from around the world to shop at famous stores that now have locations in lower Manhattan, I always make it a point to support the shops that once existed in the shadow of the Twin Towers.

Now, there is a global pandemic that is going to test, once more, the resilience of small businesses and the marketplaces they serve.

It is testing the resilience of small businesses across the nation and around the world.

Let us continue to be inspired by the heroes of 9/11.

But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the … sun, and that means another morning of opportunity to share some Shakespeare quotes that can be bent into great suggestions for those who own and run small businesses.

(Note: Like many things regarding Shakespeare, there is debate about precisely when he was born and died. We’re following the tradition of observing both his birth (1564) and death (1616) on April 23.)

See also on SmallBusiness.com | On The 400th Anniversary of Cervantes’ Death, The Top 35 Small Business Quotes From Don Quixote

1. To business that we love we rise betime, And go to’t with delight.

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 4, Scene 4

2. There is a tide in the affairs of men…

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3

3. Screw your courage to the sticking place, and we’ll not fail.

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7

4. All things are ready if our minds be so.

Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3

5. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

6. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3

7. The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.

Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2

Also on SmallBusiness.com |  Monday Morning Small Business Motivational Mashup: Goethe & Star Wars

Featured Photo: By Shadowgate via Flickr | cc-by-2.0

First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

First inaugural address 
(March 4, 1933)

You want to be greedy when others are fearful. You want to be fearful when others are greedy. It’s that simple.

Warren Buffett

Charlie Rose Show
(Wed, October 1, 2008)

GettyImages

Lemonade stands and other curb-side kid-businesses are a staple of summer. Unfortunately, so are the spoilsports who complain about the junior-sized ventures. But be fore-warned, naysayers. Not only are small businesses the second most trusted institions in the U.S., the small businesses run by small kids are likely the most beloved small businesses there will ever be. That’s why we’re loving the stories we are seeing this summer about the reaction to those who call the authorities to shut down the kids.

Don’t be like #PermitPatti

After a video of a lady calling the police (or perhaps just pretending to) asking them to shut down an 8-year-old’s bottled-water-stand went viral worldwide, support from the neighborhood — and from around the globe — started pouring in. And because her reason for selling bottled water was to raise money for a trip to Disney World, a singer named Jonathon Brannon @BrannonMusic even sent her four tickets to the theme park.

Minneapolis 13-year-old discovers the downs and ups of a start-up

Wanting to make enough money to purchase new school clothes for the fall, 13-year-old Jaequan (“jay-kwan”) Faulkner opened a hot dog stand in his front yard earlier this summer. At first, things were going great. His stand, “Mr. Faulkner’s Old Fashioned Hot Dogs” even got a shout-out endorsement on the Facebook Page of Bike Cops for Kids, a community outreach program of the Minneapolis police department.

But like many small business owners discover, there are always some bumps on the road to success. For example, Jaequan discovered that to serve food to the public, his stand was required to have a city health inspection. And like “PermitPatti,” someone complained about the stand because it was not officially permitted.

But instead of having to shut down his hot dog stand, Jaequan received hands-on help from the staff of the Minneapolis Health Department, the Minneapolis Promise Zone and the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) who all joined together to help bring Faulkner’s hot dog stand up to code.

The health department staff even chipped in to help pay for his $87 permit.

“We’ve been working with Jaequan on the business side of things, like basic business, finance, marketing, pricing… he’s really been excited about all of it,” Ann Fix, program manager for the Northside Food Business Incubaor through NEON and Appetite for Change, told Heidi Wigdahl, a reporter at Minneapolis’ KHOU News 11.

In the process, Faulkner learned another small business lesson: “Surprisingly, I’m like, dang the city’s not the bad guys in this situation. They’re actually are the ones who are helping me,” Faulkner told Wigdahl. “It makes me feel kind of—not kind of—really proud that people know what I’m doing.”

Country Time Lemonade launches Legal-Ade to bring permits and fines up to date

While it’s being done with a clever, humorous twist (kudos for the photo above), Country Time Lemondade has launced Country Time Legal-Ade, described by the company as “a crack team ready to straighten out lemonade stand-related permits and fines. Legal-Ade will defend kids’ right to a lemonade stand and all the benefits they bestow.”

While the program has a fun twist, it also has some serious longterm bite to it:

Any child fined for running a lemonade stand without a permit can have his or her parent apply for reimbursement. To apply, simply upload the image of your child’s permit or fine along with a description of what your lemonade stand means to your child, in his or her own words.

The submission will be reviewed by the Legal Ade team and if it complies with the terms, the youngster will receive the exact amount to cover the permit or fine, up to $300.00*. (Visit CountryTimeLegalade.com for complete details.)

As you can guess, there’s a social media twist to the program, as well. Every re-tweet the Country Time Legal-Ade video below receives, Country Time will donate $1 (up to $500,000) to help kids next year and beyond.

(Note: If you don’t see the video here, click to and re-tweet this tweet on the @CountryTime Twitter account.)

Kids across the country are getting busted for operating lemonade stands without a permit. We’re taking the lead to #SaveLemonadeStands by paying for kids’ fines + permits this year. For every RT this gets we’ll donate $1 (up to $500,000) to help kids next year + beyond.

— CountryTime (@CountryTime) June 7, 2018

Photos: Facetime, Twitter, Country Time Lemonade

“It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a good or for a service that converts economic resources into wealth, things into goods….The customer is the foundation of a business and keeps it in existence.” | Peter Drucker

By the time of his death in 2005 at the age of 95, Peter Drucker had become one of the world’s most influential business management scholars, writers and consultants. He received awards from governments and corporations worldwide, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

Such awards are presented to people who go against their era’s common wisdom. As a recent Forbes essay on The Origin Of ‘The World’s Dumbest Idea’ pointed out, Drucker challenged the popular notion that a company’s mission can be focused on building shareholder wealth. Creating and serving customers are the only reasons businesses exist and grow, Drucker taught.

During the decade following his death, and especially in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the explosion of the digital economy, Drucker’s insights on business have become even more influential. Having history prove one correct does that.

Drucker’s philosophy is behind the success and growth of countless companies ranging from shops on Main Street to giant companies like Whole Foods, Apple and Amazon: Serve the customer, he said, and the shareholder’s wealth will grow.

Serve your customer. That’s why your company exists.

VIA | Hammock Inc.

He Who is At Sea Sails.
He Who is on Land Judges.

(Click illustration for a poster-size version)

(Click illustration for a poster-size version)

Photo: ThinkStock

When you work at SmallBusiness.com, you begin to see small business lessons everywhere. Even when you are selecting movies to watch on Netflix, you’ll see a movie title and think, “that film has a great message about small business.” Indeed, we think there should be a Netflix category called, “Small business lessons from movies.” Here are five we recommend for the category. (See also: Our favorite small business movie of all time.)

1. The Pursuit of Happyness

(Image via wikipedia)

This drama follows a year in the life of an unemployed and, at times, homeless medical equipment salesman as he fights desperately to provide for his son.

Small business lesson: Never stop believing, never stop trying, never give up.

2. Ghostbusters

(Image via wikipedia)

Three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City decide to start their own ghost-catching business.

Small business lesson: Never underestimate the power of a catchy slogan and jingle: Who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters!

3. Office Space

(Image via wikipedia)

In this comedy cult classic, three coworkers struggle through the daily clichés of working in a mind-numbing bureaucratic cubicle farm for “da man.” Striking out on their own, they find success — indeed, far, far too much success.

Small business lesson: Meaningless bureaucracy and silly expectations do nothing but make companies meaningless and silly.

4. Forrest Gump

(Image via wikipedia)

Though simple-minded, Forrest Gump is still wise enough to follow his heart. And along the journey, he finds success in business … and in life.

Small business lesson: Running a small business is like a box of chocolates.

5. Jerry Maguire

(Image via wikipedia)

Sports agent Jerry Maguire is struck by a moral epiphany and feels compelled to share it with his entire firm. He gets fired. Now on his own, he chooses to stick to his moral philosophy as an independent agent representing the only client he has left.

Small business lesson: Show them the money.

If you’re struggling and trying hard to hold onto a dream, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden provides the kind of inspiration it takes to reach audacious goals over seemingly impossible odds. But that’s the type of inspiration it takes to lead NASA toward the goal of having a manned mission to Mars. And, at many times along your small business journey, Bolden also provides the kind of inspiration that can help you make it to your next goal.

As a teenager, Bolden overcame racism to receive an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964. He went on to serve in the Marine Corps as an aviator, flying more than 100 combat missions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Bolden later became a NASA astronaut and traveled aboard the space shuttle on four missions. After his last space flight, he returned to the Marine Corps and achieved the rank of major general. Then in 2009, he was appointed the 12th Administrator of NASA.

Today, Administrator Bolden is inspiring NASA, the U.S. and the world, to dream big with manned missions to Mars.

If, in the struggles you face running a small business, you think it’s time to throw in the towel, you may be correct. Failing at one thing is not the same as being a failure. But before you decide to give up on a dream you believe is challenging, but still attainable, listen to this inspiring interview with Bolden that aired on NPR’s Morning Edition today (2/9/2016).

Photos: NASA

(Photo: Mike Brown, owner of Death Wish Coffee, winner of Small Business, Big Game | via: Intuit QuickBooks)

Perhaps the biggest winner of Super Bowl 50 won’t be the Broncos or the Panthers. It may be Mike Brown’s 12-person small business, Death Wish Coffee, purveyors of the world’s strongest coffee. (And when they say, “world’s strongest coffee,” they mean it.)

Sometime during the game’s third quarter, 100 million Super Bowl viewers will see a 30-second commercial for Mike’s small business, the winner of this year’s Intuit QuickBooks contest called Small Business, Big Game. More than 15,000 small businesses entered the competition for the chance to have a commercial promoting their business created and aired at QuickBooks’ expense. 

Not including the media coverage the commercial and the Death Wish Coffee story has garnered,  the value of the air-time and production of the commercial has been estimated to be more than $6 million. (To get a sense of the production quality of the commercial, Oscar winner Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi) was the cinematographer).

In addition to the commercial, the competition’s winning small business owner received some superstar mentoring from celebrity-entrepreneur Bill Rancic, the first winner of The Apprentice. (Rancic has worked with Quickbooks on the entire Small Business, Big Game project.)

About 48 hours before the game, SmallBusiness.com founder Rex Hammock spoke with Bill and Mike about the experience of becoming—at least for one very super night—the most famous small business in America.

On the experience of having fame and business success occur simultaneously

(Photo: Bill Rancic, left, winner of the first season of The Apprentice, assisted QuickBooks in the Small Business, Big Game project, including mentoring Mike on the game-changing challenges he’d face following winning the contest. | via: Intuit QuickBooks)

SmallBusiness.com | Mike, this has to be a surreal experience you’re going through. Are you having an “out-of-body” thing?

Mike | Yes, definitely. Every morning when I wake up, I say, “Thank you God, this is actually real.” It’s been like a dream, it really has.

SmallBusiness.com | Bill, you are one of the first people who many of us can recall seeing become both a business success and celebrity at the same time—on one of earliest reality game shows I can recall. You were the first winner of The Apprentice and in the process, became somewhat of a rockstar. What kind of advice have you been giving Mike about handling the celebrity part of what he’s already going through, but is about blast off even more?

Bill | I don’t know if Mike needs much advice. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s well grounded. Most importantly, he has surrounded himself with great people. Lots of of times when you are thrust into the spotlight quickly, you aren’t prepared for the opportunists you instantly attract. Mike is not the guy who is going to fall prey to those. He understands the opportunity that’s been handed him. He’s worked hard for it.

Most importantly, he’s grateful.

When something like this happened to me 13 years ago, I was always very grateful for what was given to me. I never, never took it for granted. I was given an opportunity of a lifetime and I seized it. Mike is being given the same kind of opportunity of a lifetime this Sunday—and he knows it.

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, the Death Wish Coffee crew took to the streets of San Francisco to build on the excitement the commercial has generated for the product.

On how a small business prepares for the orders that will pour in after a commercial on the Super Bowl

SmallBusiness.com | Mike, one of the most compelling parts of your story is that Death Wish Coffee will be the smallest business to ever have a Super Bowl ad. You have 12 employees now. How do you go from that to meeting the demand of the orders you’ll get Sunday.

Mike | A year ago today, we were a six person company. When the competion started, we were a nine-person business and now we’re a 12-person business. The people on our team are amazing—I don’t just hire anyone. At one point we counted, and each one of us had the responsibilities for 20 jobs.

They’ve been working sun-up to sun-down to make sure we do a good job. And we’re working with some vendors, all small businesses surrounding us, who are also working around the clock. We have two local roasters who are also working with us to make sure we have enough coffee to go on Monday.

(Photo: The smallest business ever to have a commercial on the Super Bowl, this staff photo was taken a few months ago. The company now has 12 employees and several a network of supportive vendors. Oh, and another thing. Their product is helpful when working long hours. | via: DeathWishCoffee.com)

On why the voters found Death Wish Coffee such a compelling business to support in the contest

SmallBusiness.com |  Bill, all three of the finalists—and before that, the ten finalists—were great examples of small businesses at their best. But they were also very different versions of successful small businesses. What was it about Mike’s company and story that appealed to the millions of people who voted for Death Wish Coffee in the Small Business, Big Game contest?

Bill |  There is so much about Mike and Death Wish Coffee that resonates and connects with people on several levels. When he decided to start a business, he had no income from a trust fund or any fancy pedigree. He is a guy who put his life savings on the line and moved back home with his mother at the age of 30 so he could afford to start a business.

He built his business one order at a time, the old-fashioned way. And I think people really connected with that. That’s the American dream: You can have an idea and if you work your tail off and make the commitment, you can do it. Mike is a living testament of that. That’s what connected with people. They loved the idea. They loved the concept. But they also fell in love with the story and Mike’s ambition and work ethic.

How listening to customers helped Mike ‘pivot’ to success

(Mike says, “I wasn’t that great at owning a coffee shop,” but he learned how to succeed by listening to customers from behind the counter. | via: DeathWishCoffee.com)

SmallBusiness.com | Mike, you’ve said the idea for Death Wish Coffee came from what you learned by listening to the customers of your coffee shop. They would say, “give me your strongest cup of coffee.” But ironically, you’ve said you weren’t that great at running the shop, which was your original business idea. In the startup world, they would call that “pivoting.” Your success seems to hinge on your willingness to be flexible enough to view the conversations you have with customers as a roadmap to better opportunities.

Mike | One of the best parts of having my coffee shop—and not doing that great at it and not having much money to hire anyone—was that I had to do pretty much everything. That meant I was behind the counter all the time and I got to know the community—and be a part of the community. They became my friends. And every day they came to the shop early in the morning and we would visit. They would tell me what they wanted and I tried to deliver on it. So when they would say, “give me the strongest coffee you’ve got,” I started trying to do it.

On gratitude

(Video: While it may not have the production value of a Super Bowl ad, this thank you video has the heart of a small business and captures the reality of what the 12 employees behind the Death Wish Coffee brand are all about. Via: Death Wish Coffee, YouTube.)

On the importance of a commercial that not only promotes Death Wish Coffee, but celebrates small businesses in general

SmallBusiness.com | Bill, you’ve been around lots of small business owners who have found ways to succeed. Mike’s is a great story, but the greatest thing about it is that it represents the stories of millions of others.

Bill | And that’s the reason QuickBooks wanted to do Small Business, Big Game. They wanted to shine a light on small business, to celebrate what small business does for country’s economy, and the economies of each community where they are found.

The Death Wish Coffee commercial that will appear during the Super Bowl