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Promoting shopping local: Small firms are far from
business as usual. While six in 10 businesses are
fully open as of August, only a quarter are making
normal sales and 60 per cent of business owners
are worried consumer spending will remain low
even after the pandemic. In fact, a recent CFIB report
estimated that Canada may lose 158,000 small
businesses (one in seven) if they don’t receive more
support.
CFIB’s latest initiative, #SmallBusinessEveryDay,
tackles the need to increase sales by encouraging
Canadians to shop at their local independent
businesses. At smallbusinesseveryday.ca,
consumers can find fun and easy ways to support
local economies, like visiting a new business or
makers what changes are most important to them. planning a Canadian vacation. The website also
features information about all the other initiatives
Getting businesses the help they need directly: In that have been launched to support small business
the background of our advocacy work, we were recovery. Visitors can also find up-to-date
also aware that business owners needed to stay information about the health of small businesses at
informed. We launched a very popular weekly the Small Business Recovery Dashboard.
webinar series, where business owners could get
the latest information about new government You’re not alone: Being a small business owner is
programs and ask questions directly to CFIB’s often a lonely calling: it means working long hours,
senior leadership team. wearing many hats, worrying about your employees,
all the while feeling like you’re swimming upstream
When a business owner on one of the webinars against unhelpful or sometimes detrimental
raised the need for a small business marketplace to government programs. It helps to have support
procure personal protective equipment (PPE), CFIB in your corner when a crisis as unpredictable as
launched PPEs for SMEs, a Facebook group that COVID-19 hits: this is why joining the 110,000 small
connects small business producers of PPE products businesses who are members of CFIB is one of the
with those looking to purchase them. best investments a business owner can make.
SEP 2020 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 69
