9 Ways to Help Small Business Owners Including Canine Campus Customers

Last updated May 6, 2020

These small businesses are a part of our Canine Campus community. Please patronize and refer them! Thank you!

Back Alley Motorcycles – Motorcycle Repair Shop – Ask for Mike – 719-310-4157

Costa Contracting – Concrete Contractor – Ask for Tony – 719-491-1039

Lucy Nilan Ceramics – Pottery Studio – Ask for Lucy – 617-797-8138

Pike’s Peak Auto Detail – Mobile Auto Detailers – Ask for Ali – 719-345-8555

Simply Put – Professional Organizers – Ask for Joelle – 719-377-3000

The Olive Tap – Olive Oil Specialty Store – Ask for Rick – 719-358-9329

Vibrant Internet Marketing – Digital Marketing – Ask for Vena – 719-728-2288

Your Bliss Skin & Body Care – Natural Skin & Body Products & Care – Ask for Giseleine – 719-216-9003

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The Colorado stay at home order ends today and a new statewide model for addressing the coronavirus pandemic is being ushered in. This means many small, local businesses are opening up as long as they adhere to strict social distancing rules.

Canine Campus reopened for daycare and overnight boarding Monday, April 13^th, but we are still not running at full capacity. With the hope our customers will come back to us at their own comfort level, it got me thinking about the need for all of us to support each other, especially small businesses within the Canine Campus family.

To date, I have applied for the Paycheck Protection and Disaster Loan Programs and was not approved in the first round. I have received feedback from several customers who are also small business owners and they are in the same boat: no federal funds yet to speak of. So many of the TRUE small businesses in this town and across the country are floating on personal funds and scrambling to line up extra cash if those federal funds don’t reach us.

Here are some ways we can help each other.

Let us know if you’re a small business

If you are a small, local business and are open, please let us know so we can, in turn, let the Canine Campus community know about your business.

Send me an email at fido@caninecampus.us with:

Your first and last name
Dog(s) name(s)
The name, address and telephone number of your business
A link to your website (Google My Business or Facebook link if you don’t have a website)
Your logo

Patronize Canine Campus small businesses

Make a point to patronize small businesses owned by Canine Campus clients.

Amplify social media posts

Instead of spending your time listlessly scrolling on social media, make a point to follow and share the posts of businesses in our Canine Campus community. Share posts related to being open or promotions businesses might be running to increase traffic at their stores or online. Make a Twitter list – it is easy to share to a large group of local businesses.

Choose credits over refunds

If COVID-19 prevents a local business from providing the product or service you ordered, choose a credit over a refund. This distinction might make the difference between them being able to pay their bills this month – or not.

Buy credits or gift certificates to use later

If you can’t frequent a business right now, consider purchasing credits or gift certificates you can use later. This cash flow will mean a lot right now when revenue is low; you can use your credit or gift certificates later when you’re ready and even give them out over the holidays to friends, family and co-workers.

Encourage your employees or co-workers to buy from small, local businesses

If your company is operational, encourage your employees and co-workers to make purchases that support local businesses.

Set up a program that covers the cost of virtual fitness or professional development classes
As an example, Mark Cuban (Owner, NBA Dallas Mavericks and Investor on Shark Tank) set up an employee rewards fund to reimburse his employees when they make coffee or lunch purchases from local, independent businesses

The idea here is to focus on ways to get dollars flowing to small businesses rather than large corporations in a better position to absorb the repercussions of the pandemic.

Reach out to small businesses first

Many local businesses are ready and willing to deliver products to you or offer curbside services. Before you order from Amazon, consider contacting local businesses first to see if they can fulfill your needs.

Offer your expertise to help struggling businesses

If you have the time and ability, consider using your skills to help local businesses. For example, if you can offer tangible, useful information to help a business bounce back from the economic upheaval of COVID-19, consider reaching out to them.

Explore economic resources

If you’re a small business owner, be sure to explore the ways local governments and agencies are helping businesses respond to COVID-19.

The reach of COVID-19 is vast and the economic impact is dire.

Small businesses are hurting the most. It’s up to us as a community to do whatever we can to help our neighbors, and that’s especially true for our Canine Campus circle of friends.

Whatever you can do to help counts.

If we work together, we can keep ourselves healthy, our businesses afloat and our families financially secure.