Picture this, you have a friend that opens a new boutique. You think it will be fun to go to the grand opening and you genuinely feel happy for her. But let’s take it a bit further, do you shop at her store? Do you support her in other ways, like telling others about her boutique? Why is it so hard to support each other, why do individuals feel like they get more support from strangers than their friends and family?
Do you know if you would support a friend’s business like you support big brands, you are helping your friend accomplish their dream. How rewarding is that!! You are helping someone you know and love accomplish their dream. Now let’s think about this, why don’t you support them? Are their prices too high, quality of the product isn’t what you expect? If these are some of the reasons or the reason – let’s call this feedback. Let your friend know what’s keeping you from supporting them. This could help them in the long run. Guess what, if you give them feedback and your friend makes a few changes you are still helping them accomplish their dream!
I read a quote the other day, “if your friend has a business that you haven’t supported yet then stop saying that’s your friend” PERIODT!! This is so true, again if there is something hindering you from supporting them provide that feedback. Believe me your friend doesn’t know what they don’t know because they are busy trying to keep their business afloat. Then there is the deeper side of this quote. Maybe this isn’t your friend and you should evaluate that. But we are not going to go down that rabbit hole today.
There are several ways you can support your friends business and a lot of them are free.
Promotion
Social media is the best way to help promote your friend’s business.
- Send a message out on your page and make sure to include the website.
- Pictures are worth a thousand words, if you have a nice picture of you and your friend add that to your post. You know we are nosy so this will get our attention (where they at, what they doing??).
- Write a review on the business social media page and/or website.
- Interact with the business on social media. If there is a post on the page and you agree, write a comment and like the post. The more interactions the page receives the higher the page will become on a search engine.
- Share your experiences, everyone is looking for a good experience these days.
Focus Groups
We all love a get-together. Host a small party (serve some apps and wine LOL) and invite the business owner. Ask the invitees questions about the business and the product. Things like what do you want to see in a company like this? What would the end product look like in a perfect world? Remember to have someone take notes and at the end of the party, provide the information to your business owner friend :). Real time feedback that will be beneficial to the business owner.
Peace – I’m Out
In the end, small businesses run the world. If you follow what consumers want today, it is a unique and individual experience. You can definitely accomplish this by spending more dollars at a small business. If you have a friend that has taken the leap of faith and opened a business, help them with their dream by showing some support. Entrepreneurs gotta eat too……
Company Lady 