join me in the small business challenge?

Not to brag, but today I came up with a really inspired marketing idea.

I was on the other side of town and needed some coffee. Really. Needed. Coffee. It had been one of those mad mornings and I hadn't had nearly enough before leaving the house. I thought over my options based on location and decided to skip the big chain cafe I usually visit and went to a local coffee shop called Bad Ass Cafe* instead.

While Bad Ass Cafe is a franchise, the one at the beach in Virginia Beach is the only one in Hampton Roads. It has a unique local, beachy feel. The staff were friendly and wearing whatever they wanted to wear. There was no obnoxious music playing. And my cafe au lait and breakfast wrap were delicious and reasonably priced. Best of all down at the beach - free parking.


So, there I was mid-sip of my delicious cafe au lait with Kona dark roast and it hit me - if I'm going to talk the small business talk, I want to do the walk, too.

And that is how I came up with the inspired idea of the the Small Business Challenge.

Want to join me? Here are the Small Business Challenge objectives:

1. Replace. Each week replace 5 big brand businesses that you use with local, privately owned small businesses.

2. Comment. On your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever your social media marketing tool of choice, comment on your experiences. Tell which big brand shop you passed up and discuss the small business you chose instead.

3. Review. Share your experience at the small business via Yelp or any other reviewing site or tools. In this way, you can give the owner feedback while promoting their small business to other potential customers.

Now, when it comes to grocery shopping and items you can purchase at Target, using small businesses could be tricky and require some online searching on our part. Perhaps it will mean visiting more than one store to get what we need. And I'll admit it, one of my main concerns as a consumer is cost. Will it be more expensive to use local businesses?

I'm looking forward to finding out the answer to all of these questions and hope you are too.

After all, if you try it for a week or so, what do you have to lose? And, in the long run we're going to be supporting our local businesses and make our communities stronger.

So join me in the Small Business Challenge in your neighborhood and keep me updated with your experiences.

*Please note: Bad Ass Cafe is NOT a client. This is an honest review from an actual customer - me.