Engage small and learn
About Us
Engage Small is a new initiative crafted in 2020 to celebrate and lift up small businesses of every type, size and function. From companies with one employee to one hundred, there’s something or someone every single day to recognize in these organizations.
It started with a hashtag –
#engagesmall to be specific
While COVID was off decimating small businesses, we thought that there must be something we could do, with little money and no real idea of how we could help. After a lot of discussions and commiserating, we created something that costs nothing; a hashtag. We encouraged people to use #engagesmall to remind people of their favorite small businesses and freelancers. The engagement spread and while we don’t think we saved anyones life, it was nice to see people lifting each other up.
This idea spawned a “Week of Engagement” where we encouraged people to tag their favorite businesses in separate “sectors” (food, creative, etc). For five days we encouraged positivity by doing something that costs nothing but could mean a lot for these small businesses. Read more about our Week of Engagement below.
Thrilled with the support, we decided to take it all one step further and launch this website, a reader supported resource collected by small business owners and freelancers. We are building a collection of hope, how to’s, tips and information that is catered toward the small business owner but also one that is created by small business owner’s that know the problems so well. We try to develop our ideas knowing that every business is different, so you may find two contributors who have contradicting viewpoints because what sells cupcakes well doesn’t necessarily sell logos well.
Our last Week of Engagement
May 17, 2021
Five days of focused engagement with our favorite small businesses, by simply tagging the business or commenting on their page and using #engagesmall.
Day 1: Food
Food is the simplest sector. This group includes restaurants, bars, food trucks, breweries, coffee shops, tea shops, juice bars, live event and local concert venues.
Day 2: Main Street
Main Street is pretty much a catch all for physical businesses. This group includes all your favorite mom and pop shops that sell goods and services at a store.
Day 3: Service
Service is a pretty large grouping of single service providers like a lawyer or a dentist. This also covers all your home improvement and trades. Generally these people could be sole proprietors and some might have a physical location.
Day 4: Creative
Creative is the other side of Service. These people usually provide a single service or need but in a creative space, often these have to do with marketing. This includes all designers, production and any fine arts.
Day 5: Non-Profit
Non-Profit is non-profit. We’re encouraging lifting up those smaller ones that don’t have the means to do it themselves right now. But anyone that helps others is deserving of a boost in our eyes!