Spend Your Money with Small Businesses in 2022

The chances are that you've already finished all of your Christmas shopping this year. Hopefully, you've supported some small businesses when making your purchasing decisions. However, most people do the bulk of their shopping through large retail brands and global corporate giants.

So, why should you make the change and support local and small businesses?

Small Businesses Care!

When you buy from a small business, you're buying from someone who has invested a substantial amount of their personal money and time into the product you are purchasing. So, it's a given that they will really care about their products. Often, the product is very personal to the small business owner, and a lot of the time, they have made or designed it themselves.

This fact is usually (but not always!) going to result in a superior product. An assembly worker on minimum wage in a corporate-owned factory doesn't care too much about what they make, beyond doing enough to get fired. However, the baker who's using her gran's recipes or the jewellery maker creating designs that they love will give it everything.

Keep Profits Local

When you buy from a large company, most of the money you spend is not going to the people who make your items. Instead, the majority of profits go to shareholders very far from where you live or to millionaire or even billionaire CEOs who stash the money away in tax havens.

If you make your purchases from a small crafter, maker (or even freelance copywriter!), that money will get used in the local economy to pay someone's rent, bills and food. Small business owners aren't usually wealthy, so they will appreciate every order!

Environmental Impacts

Global companies ship... well, globally! And this comes with a considerable carbon footprint. While many large companies now have policies on climate change, this is, for the most part, a marketing strategy only. If you buy a handmade item, the chances are that it's come straight from the maker to your door. It's not been shipped over from another continent, sat in a big warehouse, on to a smaller shop, and then to your door.

Additionally, in my experience, many small businesses these days really do care about the environment and climate change. They see the impacts that it's having on their local area and care about how the world will be for their children and grandchildren.

No matter the good intentions coming from the top, any large corporate structure has any environmental standards watered down. Decisions must be filtered through accountants, profit margins must be justified to shareholders, and the overriding goal is always to put profits first, however short-sighted this might be.

Shop Small, Shop Local!

So please, when considering your shopping habits in 2022, consider moving away from the big brands. Use a local restaurant instead of getting the burger from the big chain with the weird clown. Don't buy that stuffed toy from the supermarket; get that unique one from the lady you saw on Facebook. You'll probably have a better experience, and you'll certainly be helping out a business that really needs it!