When John bought the shop, it was like going back home, as he worked beside Darrell Wilt for many years.
Located at 61 East Limestone St. in Bradford. Bucks Service Center is in the center of town, which makes getting your car in for repair an easy task.
With over 20 years’ experience in the automotive repair field, John is available to assist you with your repair needs.
He offers affordable, reliable and friendly service!
John Buck
How businesses can make the most of Small Business Saturday
Sales and consumer holidays compete for shoppers’ attentions every year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Such events save consumers billions of dollars every year, but small business owners know it’s no small feat getting holiday shoppers to part with their hard-earned money.
Competing for holiday shoppers is hard work, but those efforts can provide a big payoff. According to Finder’s Black Friday Statistics 2022, 55 percent of men and 52 percent of women planned to shop Black Friday sales in 2022, when men planned to spend $465 and women intended to spend $300. If small business owners are concerned they can’t compete on Black Friday, they can always look to Small Business Saturday, which encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Competition can still be steep on Small Business Saturday, but the following are some strategies business owners can employ to make the most of this unique event on the holiday season calendar.
• Update your website. The Small Business Administration recommends that small business owners consider a digital makeover for their websites. Even though Small Business Saturday encourages individuals to shop in
person, modern consumers typically peruse online offerings first. Updating an outdated website or simply reviewing all information, including product details, on the website to ensure it’s up-to-date can help small businesses make a strong first impression with holiday shoppers.
• Promote Small Business
Saturday. Though it’s been around for more than a decade, Small Business Saturday is not yet the household name that Black Friday has become. Small business owners can drum up interest in Small Business Saturday by promoting the day on their social media channels. The SBA recommends business owners encourage shoppers to snap selfies
and tag their businesses on their own social medial accounts, which can increase engagement and potentially attract new customers.
• Sell and promote gift cards. Gift cards help national retailers generate substantial revenue each year, and there’s no reason why small businesses can’t get their piece of the gift card pie. Gift cards remain wildly popular, as a recent survey from the National Retail Federation found that 54 percent of participants identified gift cards as the most-wanted gift of the 2022 holiday season. Small businesses can offer discounted gift cards on Small Business Saturday and promote those efforts on their websites and via social media.
• Open early and close late. Small Business Saturday, which occurs on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is a great opportunity for small businesses to start the potentially lucrative holiday season off on the right foot. The SBA urges small businesses to open early and close late on Small Business Saturday so they can capitalize as much as possible on this popular retail holiday.
Small business owners can embrace various strategies to make the most of Small Business Saturday.
Why supporting local small businesses matters
The holiday season is a time of year when shopping takes center stage. While online giants and big box retailers seem to be everywhere, offering an endless array of products with the convenience of low prices, small businesses provide a range of benefits that go far beyond the ease of a mouse click or mountains of merchandise. Shopping local retailers is more than just a transaction — it is crucial for maintaining the economic foundation of local communities. Let’s take a look at the many ways it pays to shop small businesses during the holidays and all year long.
• Strengthen the local economy: A large percentage of the money spent at small businesses stays in the commu-
nity. That’s because these businesses often are owned and operated by local residents who are invested in the community themselves. Various studies indicate that for every $100 spent at a small business, roughly $70 stays in the community.
• Enhanced customer service: Owners and employees of small businesses have a keen interest in keeping customers happy. They often do so by providing superior customer service. Tailoring recommendations, exhibiting a willingness to accommodate special requests, offering a more engaging shopping experience, and being more friendly and connected with regular
customers sets many small businesses apart.
• Support the community: Small businesses serve the community through the products and services they offer, and many give back in other ways as well. Small, locally owned businesses often sponsor schools, sports teams and charities. This helps foster a sense of belonging in the community.
• Innovative offerings: Small businesses are not beholden to corporate policies or franchise restrictions, so they can more readily bring new life to existing ideas and trends. Small businesses can offer customers different options that larger retailers cannot match.
• Job creation: Small businesses employ a significant percentage of the workforce and frequently provide jobs that might not be available in larger corporate settings. The U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy says small businesses have generated 12.9 million net new jobs over the past 25 years, accounting for two out of every three jobs added to the U.S. economy. Keeping residents working helps strengthen local communities. There are numerous benefits to shopping at small businesses this Small Business Saturday and throughout the year. Such firms help to establish a more resilient, diverse and bustling local community.
How communities benefit when consumers shop local
Ideas about shopping are never set in stone, and the pandemic illustrated just how quickly consumer trends and opinions can change. Many individuals are now reevaluating how they spend their hardearned money, particularly since inflation has affected just how far a dollar can be stretched. When consumers think about which stores to patronize, locally owned businesses may be the smartest option for a number of reasons — not the least of which is the way such enterprises benefit the communities they call home.
More money kept in the community
Shopping locally means that more money will stay in the community. According to recent research from Civic Economics, local eateries return nearly 79 percent of revenue to the community, compared to just over 30 percent for chain restaurants. Overall, for every $100 spent at a local business, around $73 remains in the community, verus roughly $43 when shopping at a non-locally owned business.
Get a personal touch
Local business owners typically are inclined to go the extra mile for their customers and are personally invested in the services and products they are selling. As a result, shopping locally tends to be a personalized experience.
Furthermore, a local business owner may be more amenable to ordering products for specific clientele. Such personalized service is typically not accessible when shopping big box stores or other shops where owners are off-site.
Lines are short
Waiting in long lines for checkout or to pick up merchandise ordered online can drain consumers’ energy and contribute to stress. Local businesses tend to have short lines and small
crowds, which can lead to a more pleasant shopping experience.
Generates tax revenue
Local businesses generate more tax revenue per sales dollar, according to Rubicon, a digital marketplace for waste and recycling businesses. Taxes paid by local small businesses go to support schools, parks, roads, and other programs that benefit the community as well.
Support nonprofits
Local businesses often support good work in the community, such as nonprofit groups. These can include schools and sports teams, among other groups. According to Dr. Sue Lynn Sasser, professor of economics at the University of Central Oklahoma, studies indicate nonprofits “receive 250 percent more support from small businesses than larger ones.”
Support other local businesses
Local business support other local businesses by buying and selling among each other. A local, independently owned restaurant may source its ingredients from local farms, which means visitors to such eateries are supporting multiple local businesses each time they dine out. Small businesses are a boon to the economy, particularly local economies. These enterprises help their communities in a multitude of ways.
The power of small businesses is immense. However, starting a small business is no easy venture. The financial resource Fortunly states that roughly 22 percent of small businesses will fail in their first year of operation. Thirty percent fail because they run out of cash. One of the ways a small business can do better is to utilize the support of other local businesses.
Business owners often conduct market research to identify who their competition is and to determine if there is room in the market for their products or services. It’s just as important for established business owners to keep up with the who’s who in the business community, as doing so can pave the way for collaborative efforts that benefit all
local businesses. Here are some ways small business owners can support one another.
• Offer reassurance: Simply knowing they are not alone can help a small business owner survive. Owning a business can be stressful, and having another person acknowledge that it’s alright to feel overwhelmed at times can be the spark owners need to press on.
• Share opportunities: A business owner who discovers a resource or an opportunity that worked for him or her, or even one that didn’t work but may for another, can pass on the information to another small business owner.
Pay it forward: Local businesses can help each other
others down, but lifting
Busi
other businesses in their
builds camaraderie. Use every opportunity to refer complementary businesses. For example, a local pet shop may rec ommend a pet groomer or veterinarian.
• Organize networking events: Whether it’s done through a local Chamber of Commerce or individual efforts,
small business owners can spearhead events that get other business owners together to network and share ideas. These meetings can be informal to help others let off steam at the same
Volunteer and donate: Small businesses can meet other business owners, but also become more involved in their communities through volunteer events. Partner with charities or other local businesses to promote philanthropic ply giveaways, beach sweeps, community park refurbishments, or even supporting efforts to clean trash from Main Street are great ways to get involved.
5 advantages local business have over the competition
Small businesses on Main Street and big box chains have been competing for consumers’ attention for decades. Historians say that big box stores were born in the early 1960s when Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart entered the retail landscape. It’s been more than 60 years since these chains arrived and they certainly have garnered their share of devotees. Big box businesses have size, inventory and often price on their side. However, when consumers look beyond those factors, it’s easy to see all of the benefits small businesses offer that behemoths cannot.
1. Passionate owners and operators
Walk into a big box
store or other business and you may find a handful of dedicated employees, but not quite at the level of small businesses. Small business owners prioritize the customer experience because they know they need to work hard to retain customers. This translates into knowing the products well, and sharing as much knowledge as possible with customers. Big box businesses vulnerable to heavy staff turnover often do not have a vested interest in the brand.
2. Work the local niche
What makes big box retailers so familiar to shoppers is one can stop in a store in the middle of Nebraska and likely find
the same items as a store in Hawaii, with only a few subtle differences between the locations. Big box companies work with the same suppliers and ship the same products all over the world. Customers seeking personalized items and services for their particular regions are better off utilizing local small businesses that can bring in regional vendors more readily.
3. Better shopping experience
Big box stores draw customers during peak times when they’re home from school or off from work. That often translates to long lines both at checkout and at customer service or return counters. By contrast, there may be no ap-
parent rhyme or reason to when shoppers visit small businesses, meaning there likely will not be crowds. It’s much more pleasant to browse wares without having to contend with shopping cart traffic and people blocking aisles.
4. Advanced technology
Big box companies have invested millions of dollars into their point-of-service systems and other technologies, which means it can be a very slow transition to new options as times change. Small businesses generally can shift to newer, better technology more readily because they do not have to do so on the same scale as their larger competitors.
5. General agility
Changing technology on a dime is not the only ways small businesses excel. They can experiment in other ways, such as a home contractor offering a special price deal for a certain period of time, or a clothing store experimenting with new in-store decor. Big chains cannot pivot that quickly, and any changes must be approved by corporate and implemented across all centers. Although small businesses may have a tough time beating big box retailers on overall price, there are many other advantages such enterprises have over the competition.
