April is in full bloom! The sun is out, your flip flops are calling, and people are mapping out their weekend adventures, many of them in your downtown. This is the moment to check in on the small businesses that make your community worth visiting. Here are some ideas for how to do it in a meaningful way:
1. Show Up In Person (Put on Your Shoes)
You can send all the emails you want, but nothing replaces a face-to-face conversation. Walk into that new bookstore. Sit down at the bar of the restaurant that’s been struggling since January. Ask the owner of the flower shop how she’s actually doing.
You’ll learn things in fifteen minutes that six months of survey data could never tell you. Is she overwhelmed by a lease renegotiation? Is he trying to figure out if he can afford to hire his first employee? Does she not even know the resources that exist to help her? Showing up in person says, loudly and clearly, we see you, and we’re in your corner.
2. Play Matchmaker (The Business Kind)
Some of the most powerful things you can do cost absolutely nothing, except a little creative thinking. Look at the businesses in your community and ask: who would be better together?
Think about the women’s clothing boutique that just opened on the corner. Now think about the vineyard two miles away that’s launching a new rosé this spring. What if the boutique hosted a “Shop & Sip” evening, with new arrivals paired with new arrivals? Or make a match between the local candle company and the spa, collaborating on a Mother’s Day gift package that neither could pull off alone. These cross-pollination moments build sales, relationships, and the buzz that no ad budget can replicate.
3. Match Them to the Money They Don’t Know Exists
Cash flow is the great equalizer and the great destroyer. When you’re sitting across from a business owner, leave a one-pager of resources tailored to where they are right now. Here’s your starting lineup:
- Small Business Development Centers (America’s SBDC): Free, confidential business advising and low-cost training for entrepreneurs at every stage, from startup to scaling. If a business owner hasn’t walked through their door yet, make the introduction yourself.
- CDFIs and Alternative Lenders: Community-driven lenders like FSC First exist specifically to help businesses that may not qualify for traditional financing, and their programming and expertise are free. These are game-changers for entrepreneurs who’ve heard “no” from a bank and need to figure out how to get to “yes.”
- Bridge Programs: For businesses with a technology or innovation angle, TEDCO’s Bridge program connects founders with businesses under 10 employees to capital and expertise when they need it most.
- Revolving Loan Funds, Microgrants & Targeted Loan Programs: We know you promote the heck out of them, but many business owners have no idea they exist because they’re stuck behind the counter of their storefronts. Make it your mission to share these resources freely.
- Your Own Organization’s Workshops & Accelerators: Don’t be shy about what you offer! A well-timed mention of an upcoming workshop on financial planning or marketing could be exactly what a struggling owner needs to hear today.
4. Help Them Get Their Name in the News
Here’s something a lot of small business owners don’t know: their story is newsworthy. The problem is, they don’t know how to tell it or who to tell it to.
Take a page from Frederick County Office of Economic Development’s PR Frederick program, which offers businesses clear guidelines on what makes a newsworthy story and then distributes targeted press releases for free to county businesses. A feature in a local paper, a mention on a regional blog, a spot on the evening news, can be transformative for a small business. If your organization has a similar program, shout it from the rooftops. If you don’t, consider building one!
5. Check In Again and Again
This one is simple, but it’s everything. The businesses that survive and thrive are the ones that feel supported. Not smothered, not micromanaged: supported. A quick email. A follow-up visit three months later. A text that says, “Hey, saw your new window display; it looks great!”
These small gestures communicate something profound: you are not alone in this. And when things get hard (and they will), business owners who feel connected to their community are far more likely to reach out for help before it’s too late.
The businesses that line your Main Street deserve every tool, every connection, and every ounce of enthusiasm you can bring. So take that walk. Make those introductions. Share those resources. Your community is counting on you, and so are they.
Have a program or a partnership that’s working in your community? Share what’s working and help your downtown dazzle!
