As a small business you likely buy from other small businesses.
Often they're faster, offer a more personal service, and are easier to deal with.
I like that. I'm a fan of buying local, and of supporting other small businesses.
It's hard to succeed in business, so using small providers when you can, as opposed to large corporates, gives a little boost.
But there's another way of showing your support that doesn't cost a penny, just a few moments of your time.
Offer to write a testimonial.
That's it.
If the business you buy through has a website, adding your testimonial will reassure others looking at their services, and increase sales.
If they don't have a website but perhaps list their business on Google, you can add a line or two there.
We recently received a glowing testimonial out of the blue from one of our clients. To say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement.
"Lindsey and Sarah have made that pain go away. They do our bookkeeping and accounting, manage our VAT & CIS submissions, and now even manage customer invoicing and the chasing of payments on our behalf. We're now able to get projects finished sooner and so the business is doing better financially than ever (and we're far less stressed)"
The benefit of providing testimonials is three fold:
It helps that business win more work.
If relevant, they may reciprocate the gesture.
You will quite likely use or recommend their services to others.
It doesn't cost a penny ...
It takes mere minutes to do ...
And everyone's a winner.
So our advice to you is where and when relevant, help your fellow small businesses with a written good word or two.
Best, Lindsey
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