Will YOU still be buying from small businesses?

[Yatima]

I own a small business, which was almost crippled by covid, only managed to get back on our feet earlier this year. Now with the announcement of the 80% energy hike, and inflation rising to 13% I'm worried this will finish us off for good.

When people cant afford to heat their own homes or cook their own food, who is still going to be buying from small businesses at a time like this? 😩

Yes, we will support small local businesses where we can but don't buy a lot normally anyway.

My own business provides a service rather than a product. So far my clients seem to be continuing but I will have to see what the winter brings.

My DS is worried as his business is a fairly niche one, at the luxury end of the scale.

Yes. For the years the majority of my discretionary spending is done with independent retailers and this won’t change. I will also continue to buy from farm shops when it comes to groceries.

My main luxury is expensive makeup and that is often made by large companies. Even the niche indie brands end up being acquired if they are reasonably good and successful. I have given up on most luxuries except for that and eating out.

If you are a small restaurant or pub I will continue to support. If you sell hamster food or toys, I will also continue buying because pets at home don't really sell many good products for small animals. If you sell luxury juices or snacks, I may also continue to buy.

What I find quite sad is that posters seem to equate small business with non essential items.

i am and still will be buying from small business because they are offering stuff that can’t be found in supermarket/high street chains. From some good quality bar of soap/shampoo that last ages to some clothes etc… Same with some foods (eg we now buy all our flour directly from the mill and use the bread machine. Cheaper than buying bread, it’s fresh and the flour is much better quality).
I probably dint buy as much from small businesses as I could. I’d love to buy my fruits and vegs from the market but I’m struggling mobility wise so that’s out atm.
We buy our milk directly from the farm, same with eggs (all much cheaper too!)
if I go to a cafe, I avoid chains. Same with a pub/restaurant.

More often than not, it’s th same price or cheaper and better quality!

Absolutely because the more I hear about how big companies treat their staff (lots of threads about how retailers/hospitality giants exploit their staff), lack sustainable and eco-friendly practices but pay their senior executives massive bonuses, the more I want to support small businesses.

I am planning on only using independent cafes, restaurants, bookshops from now on. I buy very few clothes and try to find things in charity shops and markets if I can.

The rising of energy is absolutely crazy, I hope that people still support small businesses as they'll need it more than ever now. I know I will still be buying from small businesses as and where I can, I hope everything works out fine for you!

IME small businesses can be really awful employers and provide terrible service. Not all obviously, but being independent certainly isn't any guarantee that they'll be any good or more ethical.

that’s true for most businesses tbh.
And I think this is what will make the most difference in the months to come. Good customer service makes a lot of difference. Even more so when it offers something extra you werent expecting iyswim.

Yes I always do.

My family run a yoga studio - we are extremely worried about winter and whether our business will survive. All we can do is keep trying to provide a lovely and special experience.

What type of things do you sell op?

We’ll use the same small shops we currently do - cafes and the deli grocery store on adhoc occasions

Do you think so? Staff in larger companies have more collective power, so you're more likely to hear about their complaints, but in a 35 year working life all my worst employers have been family run businesses.

The same with DH and my teens. E.g. McDonalds were a fab employer for DS1, the independent coffee shop his GF worked for were awful , cutting shifts with no notice, trying to make her pay for breakages etc. DH worked for 2 multinationals with great benefits and people generally treated with respect, it was the small companies who had a "you'll accept it or don't bother coming back" attitude.

I generally use independent coffee and restaurants.

I dont buy food from butchers, greengrocers as they dont deliver. The veg looks better in the green gricer but i have to pay to park in town. The butcher is so expensive!

As for things, i dont buy many but it is hard to think i will pay twice as much for this to help a business.

As others have said , really it depends what that small business is selling or offering. Unless a person is already fairly well off with a degree of disposable income it's hard to imagine independent shops form a large % of the shopping experience anyway for the vast majority of standard earners.

Of course nice things are lovely, boutique things are lovely but they are also usually significantly more expensive. Even if you respect the work that's gone in or the sustainability of it, that doesn't make it affordable or necessary to the average person in the current climate.

The majority of independent shops in our area are curated homeware shops that sell lovely things all of which are a treat (to me anyway) or a decorative piece of homeware or art that wouldn't ever have been a frequent purchase, and now I can't imagine will be one at all. I sincerely hope they are able to continue trading in bricks and mortar but can't imagine it would be financially sustainable to do so, especially out of season.

I cut back my habitual spending during the lockdowns when not a great deal was available and haven't really returned to the habit. It feels more and more unjustifiable to do so as well when you see the winter fuel bills we are facing.

@Alldelicious completely agree. Oh course there are large businesses that exploit staff and are terrible employers but there are many small businesses which also do. I recently moved from a large business to a small business and while the people are lovely we're already clashing over things like leui time, fuel allowance etc. as the owners seem to be under the impression that the rules don't apply for a small business.

OP to answer - for me it depends on the product. I don't really buy hampers, decor etc anyway so I'm not your market but the product would need to substantially better for me to pay more to a small business. I've always had a veg box delivered from a local grocer but I priced it this week and I can get the same from Tesco for £5 less. If things get tight I'll save that £20 every month.
I've stopped using my local refillery as flour, choc chips, nuts etc are half the price in lidl. I like the shop and the service but not enough to pay that.

I will still buy from small businesses.

Depends on the business. I used to use local cafes a lot, but they’ve doubled their prices, lowered quality and reduced portion size, and worst, they constantly pester me while I’m eatingto order wine with my lunchtime sandwich and argue witb me when I say no! So I’ve completely stopped going. I don’t mind paying for a treat occasionally and I accept proces have to rise, but I do mind being nagged / treated as a cash machine.

I’m using Etsy more though.

It's not easy to support small independent businesses where I live. There aren't many anyway and tend to be businesses that we wouldn't use anyway, eg a tailor or a photography shop. The florist is extremely expensive and has a very small range.

The butcher in town has closed and there are a couple of greengrocers but it's not worth driving into town for. The bus fair is prohibitive.

There's a butcher's/deli in a neighbouring village but it's extortionate. Lots of artisan this or pickled/preserved that .

The nearest farm shop is a few miles away and not doable on public transport.
It's also very expensive and sells a fair bit of imported produce too.

This. For Christmas presents yes I would buy someone something from a small business. But every day I will be cutting back on spends which means small business will get less of my money.

FWIW, we earn above average and we should be OK to weather the storm of energy prices etc, but we are still tightening everything up in preparation.

Im sorry but probably not.
Id LOVE to but dor example i buy my candles from a local lady around £12/15 each.
I either wont be anymore or buy stores own for maybe £4/5
They don't smell as strong but that's one of them things

@findingsomeone are you buying only luxury stuff from small businesses? I’m finding I’m buying a lot. From bar shampoo to fruit and veg at the market etc… they are not luxury items and are cheaper than what you find in supermarkets (which is why I buy them there btw)

I've stopped using my local refillery as flour, choc chips, nuts etc are half the price in lidl. I like the shop and the service but not enough to pay that.

@EnglishGirlApproximately for flour, I buy it directly from a mill so supporting a small business. I buy it by 25kg ( we use enough flour to use it all before it goes off - or you could share the bag with someone else). Same price than Lidl and better quality.
Started with the first lockdown and haven’t looked back tbh.

@MineIsBetterThanYours possibly worth looking into but as I don't have one local I suspect that the transport costs may outweigh any saving! Definitely going to research though as I use quite a lot.

As much as I would love to, I won't be able to do it as often. My favourite small business is a handmade clothes company I got a lot of DS's clothes from. I'm expecting again, and to be honest, I'm spending a lot of time trawling Vinted for second hand bundles so I can get much more for my money, as I can't really justify £30 on one outfit anymore.

Even for myself, I'm looking for second hand maternity clothes. I had a lovely dress turn up today I paid £2 for on Vinted.

I got 20 vests and 10 baby grows for £13 including postage the other day.

With rising costs and maternity pay looming, we're going for as cheap as possible.

If I can possibly afford it I will still purchase from small, local and independent businesses.

yes I will. I will continue to use the local butcher, refill shop, greengrocers

I buy very little meat or fruit/veg from supermarkets.
I will still have my Friday breakfast at the local independent coffee shop - other things will go first such as gigs, cinema, theatre as they are more expensive.

As of May this year I have no morgage so will be able to absorb the energy increases and still have some disposable income

It pretty much is just luxuries, yes.

It's not cheaper to buy things from the market here. I can get two punnets of strawberries/blueberries for £3.50 on the market, but at Tesco I can get the same for £1.53 and £0.79 respectively. Bananas and apples are on par I'd say, but I also have to pay to park in town to access the market, whereas I don't have to pay to go to Tesco or Sainsburys. The butchers are more expensive too, and I have a toddler who is very unpredictable with what she will and won't eat, pretty soul destroying throwing it away anyway let alone if it's cost so much more from the likes of the butcher or market.

I tend to buy gifts from small businesses mainly but I'll be reducing the budget allocated per person so small businesses will get less cash out of me for gifts going forward too.

There is a small business that started up stay and play sessions. I did one (£7.50) but I won't be going back now energy prices have gone up, we will go feed the ducks for free at the country park or go to softplay at the zoo which is free on our passes until they run out.

I donate to charity and have no plans to reduce or cut that. I'd be reducing my small business spending before doing that. Given I already shop reasonably economically there isn't a lot of fat to cut though.