Did you know there are over 23 million small businesses in the US (source) and 52% of all small businesses are home-based (source). This means there are A LOT of small businesses out there providing benefit to their communities by creating more jobs etc. Although the stats do not exactly represent the handmade businesses but I’m sure these handmade businesses provide equal value to the society. The point to be noted here is that these businesses cannot run without our support therefore in this post I will be sharing my thoughts on WHY it is important to support handmade small businesses and shop local.
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Why I support handmade and local and so should you
1.Create new jobs: did you know small businesses have created more than 65% of the new jobs since 1995? (Source). In this critical time when there is a high demand of jobs, when almost everyone is getting fired from their work, these handmade/home based businesses are actually bringing a positive change to the community. Consider the world of blogging, there are so many successful bloggers out there who are generating enough income selling their handmade products. These bloggers provide jobs to other SAHM as virtual assistants. So many women were able to quit their real jobs and work from home as VAs or freelance writers.
2.It boosts the economy because the money is flowing around. Mostly handmade businesses are run by stay at home moms (SAHM) and such. If you pay an expensive retailer for a cute top, you are just making the millionaire richer and buying him/her a lavish vacation or that money will just sit in one of their many bank accounts and be of no use, but if you pay to a small handmade business you are contributing for the betterment of the maker’s family. Money will be circulated this way.
3.Support to the community: when you buy from local handmade and small businesses, you contribute to the improvement of your community because these small businesses buy from other small businesses and so on. So, it’s a great profit for everyone involved in the business.
4.Handmade has more value: each handmade item is created with lots of attention and devotion. Customer satisfaction is maker’s top priority. The supplies are carefully chosen after much consideration which means you will always get the best.
5.Go crazy on customization: you can have customized stuff just as you like. You can custom order everything. There are a lot of times when the perfect dress size is just not available but if you get it custom made, you would have something better than what you could’ve gotten at the store.
6.Less imports, boost in economy: buying from local handmade shops reduces the amount of stuff the country imports. Reducing imports also boosts the economy.
7.Very durable: handmade items last longer than store bought because of all the care that goes into making them. .mostly
8.Go green: handmade items are made at home unlike the store bought which means no massive use of energy and fuel in transportation of the goods. This in turn will be counted as a contribution to the environment and we REALLY need this due to all the climate change.
There you go! These are my reasons for shopping handmade and local items. These points definitely outweigh shopping at retails which can be great for last minute shopping spree, no doubt in that but if you plan your shopping before hand I definitely encourage you to keep these points in mind before stepping into the retail store.
Now it’s YOUR turn, do you shop handmade? Why, why not? Comment below with your thoughts. Don’t forget to share this post if you support handmade and would like to encourage others to do so too. You can use the sharing buttons on the side.
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