SEATTLE — Now more than ever, small businesses in our local communities need extra help to stay afloat. Choosing to intentionally spend your money at certain businesses can really make a big difference.
Laura Clise is the founder of Intentionalist, a website that serves as a directory highlighting the diversity of our small business community. In the directory, you can search for specific types of businesses and services by who owns them.
Laura shared five ways we can support small businesses with our dollars.
- Get to know the local businesses in your community. See if they are open or selling online and ask how you can support. (One good way to do this is social media, particularly Instagram, but you can also drive by or pick up the phone!)
- Pay it forward. So many local businesses continue to feed and support the most vulnerable members of our community. Check out our list of ten businesses with GoFundMe or similar campaigns that you can fund to both support the business and communities in need.
- Order take-out, but be thoughtful about delivery if you can. Third-party delivery apps, such as UberEats, DoorDash, and GrubHub take 15% percent commission or more from local restaurants and cafes that are already struggling. Check out Intentionalist’s Takeout / Delivery Guide to see what is available near you and who is managing delivery without third-party apps. Many restaurants have started managing delivery themselves.
- Treat your team (or clients)! For many office workers, working from home is the new normal and it is not easy as families struggle to juggle work, child care and home school. Intentionalist is offering a service to corporate teams who want to reward colleagues with gift cards that can be used in the Intentionalist Gift Certificate Marketplace.
- Share the love on social media. Not everyone has money to spend right now. The pandemic has impacted us all. Even if money is tight, you can spread the word about local businesses that you care about on social media. As part of our Pride Month celebration, we’re encouraging the community to create and share a Small Business - Big Pride InTENtional List of their favorite LGBTQ-owned local businesses.
Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day