It’s that time of year again! No, not Christmas, but Small Business Saturday. Every year in December, small businesses up and down the country celebrate the SMEs everywhere that make such a difference to our economy. Never heard of Small Business Saturday? Let’s tell you a bit more about it and what 3 Donkeys did this year.
What is Small Business Saturday?
Small Business Saturday (SBS) is a not-for-profit grassroots campaign run by Small Is Big, a community interest company. While highlighting the successes of small and medium-sized businesses, it also encourages shoppers and customers to ‘shop local’ and support those smaller, independent shops in their area.
SBS is always held on the first Saturday in December every year with the hope that the campaign will have a more significant impact across the year for both businesses and customers. Created in the US by finance giants American Express, they still, alongside telecoms behemoths BT, lend their support for the event.
What does Small Business Saturday do?
Beyond celebrating all things small business-related, SBS goes deeper to help individual businesses help themselves. By registering through the SBS website, you can add your business details so you can be found through their Small Business Finder – a database of SMBs all over the country – and get your hands on a logo and marketing pack full of goodies for your website.
The SBS bus also goes on a UK tour. Visiting towns and cities all over the UK, they offer live streaming of interviews with business owners, mentoring sessions, and workshops to help run your business more effectively.
Then there’s the Small Biz 100. Highlighting 100 businesses, one per day for 100 days, any business can apply for a chance to be featured on a specific day. If selected, SBS will promote your business on their social channels and invite you to a special SBS reception in London. So 3 Donkeys entered – and we were featured!
Good Lords – we did it!
After being notified that we were a Small Biz 100 winner, we discovered our feature day was November 4th. SBS did a great job of shouting about our range of ladies 2-into-1 coveralls and promoting us on the socials, and we also got the invite to the swanky London reception at The House of Lords on November 29th.
It was a long day, but so amazing to be in the actual House of Lords, surrounded by the other 99 Small Biz 100 winners. Rubbing shoulders with the great and the good, meeting a few familiar faces in real life, enjoying the hugely positive and inspiring atmosphere, and just celebrating our own and each other’s small businesses. Networking at its finest, I’d say. Fantastic goodie bag from the Small Business Saturday main sponsor and champion, American Express, too!
Remember to shop local
Small Business Saturday is a great way to promote small, independent businesses. And demonstrate how buying local can help everyone in your area too. But it can often get forgotten when it’s so easy to go to Amazon or other big multi-national companies – especially at this time of year. So if you’re still thinking about last-minute Christmas gifts, decorations, or food, take a trip down your local high street or Christmas market to see if you can help a small business out.
Of course, our own 3 Donkeys store is fully stocked with our ladies coveralls and a whole range of 3D apparel, headwear, and accessories to treat yourself, your family, friends, or colleagues. There’s definitely something for everyone, with plenty of new additions ready to make the perfect Christmas gift – all gift-wrapped by hand too if you like!
If you need more info on gift wrapping or postage, get in touch with us at 3DHQ today on 01837 658 328 or email: sales@3donkeys.co.uk.
