It’s Small Business Week in Saskatchewan – a time in which many of us reflect on the contributions that these businesses make to our community.
We’ve all heard the statements about the impact of small businesses. They’re a driver of our economy. They create jobs. They make up the vast majority of our business community. They allow people to pursue their dreams. They’re tireless supporters and champions of the cities, towns and villages where they operate.
These statements, and many odes of praise that we hear, are all true. And these are just some of the reasons why it’s vital to support them.
During the 19 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the contributions of small businesses have seemingly been celebrated more than ever. We’ve heard about the importance of shopping locally. We’ve seen the hashtags like Local Love.
So many small business owners were forced to close, or pivot on the fly, while some stores were able to stay open in the first few weeks of the pandemic.
Many small businesses moved quickly to offer some form of online shopping option, if they didn’t have it before, while others expanded their digital offerings. It didn’t offset the money lost by having their stores closed, but it helped a little.
But we have seen a number of businesses close for good in our communities in the past 19 months. Many others have been hurting. They’ve managed to remain open, but it hasn’t been easy, and the uncertainty of the pandemic only adds to their stress.
When you travel to a small town, you see the impact of small businesses, because it’s all they have. You won’t see a national or international chain anywhere, except for maybe a bank or a service station. People outside of that town may not have heard about the stores and services in that community of 500, but the residents know all about them.
And since there are so few secrets in a small town, it’s incumbent on that small business to offer quality products, with excellent customer service, from people who give a damn. If they have a substandard offering, if they’re overpriced, or if they screw up or don’t offer that level of service, then people will find out in a hurry.
We also need to support small businesses because of what they mean to us. We have yet to see Amazon support a non-profit organization or a fundraiser in Estevan or in southeast Saskatchewan. They’ve never sponsored a kids’ hockey team, purchased a corporate table at a fundraiser or made a donation to a local cause.
Amazon has never paid a dime in property taxes to a municipality in southeast Saskatchewan, allowing these communities to provide the public services that we rely on.
But small businesses do just that.
They’re the ones who provide us with our clothes, our building supplies, our office needs, our electronics and so many other products we use on a day to day basis.
They’re our restaurants, service stations and hotels. They’re operating professional services that we turn to.
They’re in the oil and gas sector and they’re getting our goods and commodities to market.
Our farmers are small businesses.
They’re creating memories because of the great times that we can enjoy there.
And it’s important to remember that there are businesses that are part of a chain or a national or international company, but are locally owned and operated by franchisees. They play vital roles in our communities.
They also deserve credit for the jobs they create, the donations they make and the love they have for their community.
Once we emerge from the pandemic – and there will come a day in which we won’t be in a pandemic situation – we need to be there for our small businesses again.
After all, they’ll still be offering the products that we need.
And they’ll still be the backbone of the community.
