WESST Blog

From September 13 – 15, we salute National Small Business Week, a time to celebrate and appreciate the entrepreneurs and small businesses that keep our economic engine purring!  WESST once again would like to focus on local shopping and supporting local entrepreneurs to highlight the role small businesses contribute to the nation’s economy.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) founded National Small Business Week in 1963. Small businesses leveraged the opportunity to influence their local community, reward loyal customers, and partner with other small businesses.

In honor of National Small Business Week, we’ve come up with a few ideas to help you celebrate:

• Share your story and build your brand. Leverage National Small Business Week to raise your brand awareness by using the hashtag #SmallBusinessWeek in your posts. Get seen by other businesses as well as their customers as you showcase what your business is all about. Make a short video about your business or write a blog that highlights your entrepreneurial journey so that others can learn from your experiences.
• Network and engage on social media where you can ask questions and use polls to boost engagement on all your social media platforms.
• Say it loud! It’s hard to toot your own horn, especially when you’re super busy, but National Small Business Week is just the time to connect (or re-connect) with your customers with a creative email campaign. It’s a way to express your genuine commitment to them in a way that compels customers to return.
• Say “Thank you!” to all the people who continue to support your efforts by providing a perk such as a storewide discount, give a coupon for customers who participate by supporting your social media page, or signing up for your email newsletter.
• Think gift cards! These are a great way to reward customers for spending, whether they shop online or at your storefront. To bolster sales during National Small Business Week, offer a gift card to anyone who spends more than a certain threshold on an order. Or provide different gift card amounts to reward different order sizes.
• Plan ahead. Be sure to get your promotional events published in event calendars, online and in print.
• Connect with your team and boost morale around being a small business. You can give out your own awards to employees for National Small Business Week or give a thank you gift to each of your staff.
• Collaborate with another complimentary small business to boost sales and tell your brand story. Cross-post on social media; hold a Facebook Live event to talk about your products.
• Visit the WESST Client Directory, where you can shop local and find unique products, gifts, and services. When you spend your money locally, it benefits us all!
• Learn something new! Attend one of WESST’s no-cost training classes to sharpen your business skills and get tips and tools that you can use all year.
• Ask for help. The WESST consultants are just a click away. If you need assistance with your business, visit the Business Consulting page on the WESST website today!