The next week is filled with special days beginning with Thanksgiving on Thursday, Black Friday and even Cyber Monday. Saturday is a special day for us at On Time Logistics and the other many small businesses in the United States.
Small Business Saturday started a few years ago as a way of reminding people to shop at local small businesses. Black Friday specials are mostly about the big box stores and you know what, that’s OK. We work closely with the big stores too as we fulfill some of their delivery needs.
We love the fact that small businesses (defined by the Small Business Association as any company with 500 or fewer employees) gets its own special day.
Much of the focus for Small Business Saturday urges shoppers to visit local stores but we at On Time Logistics want to take a few moments to talk about another Small Business Saturday consumer: the small business.
As a provider of services that are mostly geared towards businesses, we see every day how valuable it is for small businesses to support each other and to do business with each other. When small businesses do business with each other, they are investing in their local community and ultimately, in themselves.
Sometimes it is so easy to go to the larger, national providers for services and products because they are known. You’d probably be surprised at the number of services and products that are available to your business right in your own backyard including everything from warehousing and logistics (that’s us!) to payroll services.
Here’s four suggestions on how to find the local services:
- Do a simple Google (or Bing if that’s your thing) search. Most businesses have some sort of online presence and you can find out how to meet your specific needs from the Internet.
- Search places like Angie’s List for professional services. This way you can also get reviews.
- Call your local chamber of commerce to get suggestions. It will be limited to their membership list, but most mid-sized metro areas like Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa and Little Rock have a pretty good size chamber membership.
- Ask your friends on social media. You don’t have to do it from your company page, in fact we recommend that you don’t. Ask from your personal page and see what your friends say and recommend.
Do you plan to shop small this Saturday? What about other days? If you need help with deliveries or storing items in a warehouse, we are your small business to call.