5 small ways YOU can help small business owners

Lily Pillsbury 

At Colu, our mission is to provide as much support to small businesses and local community leaders as possible. In the time of COVID-19, small businesses are struggling to stay open as well as struggling to maintain a steady income. The CARES Act passed by the Trump Administration helps these businesses to an extent, but not nearly enough. 

 If you understand the urgency of providing this support to small businesses, there are various ways that you at home, while staying safe during COVID-19, can help your very own local businesses. The ways to help them include: 

1. Volunteering. If you are not part of the at-risk communities, get outside and go into your community – offer your support in any way necessary. 
2. Social Media Posting. By sharing social media posts of companies that you would like to support, friends and other community members will help as well! Encourage those around you to buy from and support the small businesses that need help. 
3. Gifts And Gift Cards. Instead of buying gifts and gift cards off of online companies such as Amazon, try and buy from your favorite local businesses instead!
4. Take out and Delivery. Order take out and delivery from your favorite local restaurants instead of large corporate chains! If you aren’t sure, call and see if your favorite small business can offer curbside pick-up or delivery.
5. Mentoring. If you have expertise in any variety of fields, consider helping the struggling businesses around you move their sales online. 

During this time, it is critical to step up and help out the local businesses that you love as they are struggling to stay open. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and with this pandemic presenting an unknown future for a number of businesses, any action that community members can do to help will result in a successful recovery. 

We hope that you will join Colu during this time in helping support the small and local businesses that make our growing cities as unique and community-driven as they have been in the past!