Something to keep in your back pocket: when you’re buying from a chain store, you’re helping contribute to the retirement of the millionaire or billionaire CEO. When you’re buying from a small business owner, you’re helping pay for that family’s groceries, you’re paying toward the electric bill and helping Tommy afford a baseball glove or helping pay down Sarah’s outstanding hospital bill. You’re helping pay down school loan debt and you’re likewise contributing to someone’s ability to have more time with their children, their significant other or parents who may have fallen ill. And these small businesses – well, there’s nothing small about them with the amount of effort and time that these Entrepreneurs are putting into them. Yes, it’s more than a few posts on social media. Yes, it’s more than setting up a couple groups or sending out some invitations to their next party or group. Yes, it’s even more than posting those witty, inspirational sayings or selfies you see each day. It’s staying up late and getting up early to plan and strategize what you need to do to grow your business and share your product. It’s finding new and authentic ways to use social media to set yourself apart from the thousands of others who are trying to set the same competitive edge in their same business. It’s constantly learning the most recent updates in your business, adding to your contacts to ensure you are on the path to growing a thriving company, and working on your own personal development of bettering yourself as a business owner.
So the next time you’re scrolling through and considering the legitimacy of these posts that appear too good to be true, you may want to think twice. There is no comparison to the hustle and work ethic of a mother trying to provide for her family. If it happens to be something that piques your interest in something you’re already paying for from a chain or retail store, you just may want to give that small business owner a chance to prove you wrong. My hope is that you are incredibly thrown by your surprise of the legitimacy and the 1:1 care and attention you can receive from having an open mind and heart. I assure you, that dollar is going to go much further than you could possibly imagine. Via the Huffington post Regan Long Mother and writer. To follow Long, retired teacher at 31, you can find her on The Real Deal of Parenting Image via ONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES.