During the last few years, businesses of all sizes faced major challenges: supply chain issues during the pandemic, inflation, a persistently tight labor market, historic increases in interest rates and more. For the owners of the 33.2 million small businesses out there — and for our economy — the stakes are anything but small. In 2019, small businesses generated more than 43% of our country’s GDP.
Helping to support other small businesses, particularly those whose owners are in under-represented communities, is a core part of our purpose at Imprint. Here are some ways we’re doubling down on that purpose and support this year:
Amplifying business owners’ stories and experience
Within our newly-launched Small Business Stories, published on LinkedIn, we’ll be profiling a diverse range of business owners, and asking them to share their experiences and insights. In our first piece, we spoke with Arrive founder and CEO Jared Kaplan, whose studio space for fitness and wellness practitioners opened in 2010. Kaplan discusses how a tough real estate decision helped transform his business, and encourages other business owners to view challenges as opportunities, not hurdles.
We’ll also be hosting discussions among business owners, such as a recent roundtable conversation with LaunchTech president and CEO Venus Quates, System Innovation owner Dr. Tracee Gilbert, and Paragon Cyber Solutions Founder Courtney Jackson. Not only are each of their stories impressive and inspiring in their own right — they are all women of color, which is rare in the tech start-up space. Check out the conversation here, where they describe their journeys, their role models, and what they wish they knew before launching their businesses.
Directly advising small business owners
Via our partnership with Start Small Think Big, we’ll be working with small business owners to refine their brand pillars, value propositions, and audience personas to create the foundation for a content strategy. Start Small Think Big is a national nonprofit on a mission to “advance equity and inclusion in entrepreneurship by connecting small businesses with the resources and community they need to thrive.”
Creating free, 101 content marketing materials
It’s easy for anyone to feel overwhelmed by all the options content marketing brings — even more so for business owners who deal with the day-to-day responsibilities of running a business. So this year, we’ll be publishing blog posts focusing on core content marketing tactics and formats to help demystify and simplify this crucial practice for them. (If you’re a small business owner, you can find our first two pieces here: One covers journey mapping, the other dives into infographics.)
And having fun along the way!
It’s our continued honor and joy to meet these business owners, learn what makes their businesses unique and help them get closer to achieving their vision. If you’re a small business owner, we’d love to hear from you as we go — what has been most helpful? Are we missing anything important? Reach out to us anytime.
