This holiday season is shaping up to be a doozy for small firms

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Small Business Saturday kicks off later this month, jumpstarting the holiday season for small firms. Last year’s event proved to be a boon for small businesses hurt by the pandemic as consumers opened their wallets to help their favorite boutiques, eateries and other local firms.

Owners are hoping that the spotlight will continue to shine on them but constrained supply chains are adding another layer of complexity to the holiday. The cost of goods for both retailer and consumer are on the rise, assuming a business can get the products at all as ports remain log jammed. With just 25 days remaining, entrepreneurs are down to the wire to get their final goods in stock and begin marketing campaigns to capitalize on the renewed focus on small businesses.

How is your business preparing for Small Business Saturday? Have the supply chain constraints impacted the type of products or services you’re offering??

Latest Developments

• Data from the Wall Street Journal shows that companies with higher wages for their employees outperform their peers with lower wages.
• It’s not just wages on the incline. Inflation is causing prices in the U.S. to increase at the fastest pace in 30 years.
• It’s not just the U.S. seeing a hike in prices. In Canada, small and mid-sized companies are expected to increase prices at the fastest clip in over a decade.
• Small businesses are making big bucks on TikTok thanks to new integrations allowing them to sell directly to consumers on the platform.
• The world has hit a grim milestone of five million deaths in the two years since the start of the pandemic.

Conversations For You

• This entrepreneur is documenting his foray into starting a business with a 1,000-day challenge. Follow along here .

Resources

• Los Angeles is giving 5,000 small businesses a grant for $5,000 each. Applications close today .

Something Good

• These dogs won the Halloween costume contest.