How to Support Your Friend’s Small Business

Here at Arising Co, we value connection with our peers. During this COVID season and its aftermath, we’ve witnessed such a growth in small businesses due to ample layoffs and stimulus money that enabled some to use it wisely as an investment to start their business. Do you have friends that are starting a small business? If so, here are some ways how to support your friend’s small business.

#1 Support Your Friends With Encouragement

I’m big on words of affirmation as a love language, and when my wife and I began Arising Co, I had a couple of friends in my life that encouraged me in my ability to do well. One of these friends was a web developer who had worked on WordPress websites as a freelancer himself, and when he knew I would embark on the same journey, he had nothing but encouragement and wisdom to pour over me. I was able to then confidently make certain purchases to invest in the company for the sake of producing higher-quality websites for my clients.

At Arising Co, we have helped young entrepreneurs through our coaching program (which we will launch again at some point in the future) and found that one of their biggest pain points was lack of confidence due to the lack of encouragement in their lives. Consider sending an encouraging text, or give your friends a call to support them as they form and continue their small business.

#2 Tell Your Network About Their Small Business

As we have built relationships with other small and large businesses, we found that we naturally begin to speak about them to our network depending on the need. If a conversation involved a friend’s need for business planning, we would speak to them about our friends at Clearsound Consulting. If a conversation involved a friend’s need for health insurance, we recommended them to our dear friend Aunt Gwen who leads Health Insurance For You due to how she has so helped us with our insurance needs. Begin to make it a habit to think about how you can mention your friend and their small business in your conversations naturally. You don’t have to force it. If you spot a need, mention their business and point your network in the right direction. This goes a long way in helping support your friend’s small business.

#3 Give them Gifts Relating to their Small Business

Another great thing you can do to support your friend’s small business is to give them gifts that relate to their small business. Just recently, I had been talking to my wife and brother about Elgato’s Stream Deck and how I planned on using it for productive purposes in the future when I would purchase it. My birthday just happened to be a few weeks away (and no, I did not talk about it so they can purchase it for me). When my birthday rolled around, my wife AND my brother had purchased it for me, and it was just a boost in my morale to getting to work on growing Arising Co and implementing new strategies to drive sales. You can support your friend’s small business by buying them a book on business like Scaling Up by Verne Harnish, or some leadership books on business by John Maxwell (I mention these books because they have helped improve our business). There are many other gifts you can give, just think about the gift that would make the most sense to your friend’s small business.

#4 Review their Small Business on Google, Facebook Page, and anywhere else it is listed.

Reviews are a lifeline in the world of business. Have too little reviews? Someone may opt for a different business with more reviews. Have too many negative reviews despite it not being your fault? Well, this will hinder your ability to acquire more customers, especially online. A great way for you to support your friend’s small business is by giving them a review across all the platforms that your friend’s small business is a part of. If they’re not on a particular platform that you may know of, consider telling them to get on it. Google Business Profiles, Yelp, and Facebook Pages are among some of the most viewed review websites.

#5 Purchase Your Friend’s Small Business Products or Services (and don’t ask for discounts)

As much as telling the whole world about your friend’s small business helps them out in the long run, they would find it meaningful if you were to support them financially by purchasing their products or services. Now, this doesn’t have to be an all-the-time thing, but even just once is enough to boost their morale and drive them toward improving their business even further. I understand that sometimes, their pricing may be too high, or maybe their quality is too low for your taste. Try and find a suitable place where you can comfortably support them financially so that you’re not spending too much if the service or product is above your budget, or just show you care by purchasing their product even if it’s not the quality that you’re seeking. If the quality is an issue, you can consider letting them know on how it can be improved because you care for them and the success of their venture.

#6 Give them a shoutout on Social Media

Help support your friend’s small business forward by giving them a shoutout on social media. Maybe it’s a Story on Instagram and Facebook, or a full-blown post sharing their latest products or services. Your friends will be thankful for that, and if you happen to have quite the engaged follower list, you’ll really be putting your friend’s small business at a favorable position.

There are many other ways to support your friend’s small business, but this list is just meant to get you started. You’ll find that as you live this kind of lifestyle you yourself will be rewarded with greater opportunities by simply supporting your friends. What if your friend ends up becoming a millionaire and ends up supporting you at some point in life because you were there for them in the beginning? I’m not saying to support them because this can be a possibility, but you quite frankly never know what your good action can lead to. Just remember to always be ready to support those close to you and to put others above yourselves. You might just change the course of their lives positively by doing one of the above things in supporting your friend’s small business!