The Small Business Revolution's Impact.

“Entrepreneur: a person who risks their own money for freedom, rather than exchanging their freedom for money.”

Even though we didn’t win the half a million dollar make over for our small town in Season 4, we can still feel the wave of enthusiasm the Small Business Revolution left on us. People are talking. Ideas are forming. Action is being taken. New businesses are opening & old buildings are being renovated.

Downtown Arlington Business Association (DABA), the Stilly Valley Chamber and the Arlington Arts Council have been and still are strategically developing the downtown business "vibe" through Art projects, live music, beer gardens & clever community events. Those who are new to spending time in Downtown Arlington can see and feel the energy and they are telling their friends to come experience it too.

I’ve been reflecting on our entrepreneurial growth during the year of 2019. Here are the ways the Small Business Revolution (SBR) personally influenced Jill & I to improve our business operations.

1. We went from: Etsy, a 10’ by 10’ space vendor space, and a summer Pop-up shop

to: Etsy, a summer pop-up shop, a beautiful website, new market strategy, and a 500 sq foot - 360 DAY A YEAR WORKSHOP/RETAIL EXPERIENCE IN DOWNTOWN ARLINGTON.

2. We now participate in the DABA (Downtown Arlington Business Association) which has fostered more contact with other small business owners and allowed us to get involved locally. We are now in the know!

3. SBR helped us to organize and use #myarlington while posting to create a “local” social media following.

4. The Deluxe Corporation team helped us designed our FFV+H logo. It was painless, seamless, and professional. Once we finalized our logo design we received 10 format versions to use with all media forms.

5. We found inspiration viewing the websites Deluxe built through the Small Business Revolution’s season 1,2,3,4 and followed their website vibe while designing our website.

6. We were influenced over and over by the SBR episodes to approach our marketing strategy with storytelling. We are now consistently sharing our personal stories so people can connect with us human to human. Vs. Human to product.

7. From the free 1-day seminar we took from Deluxe, we came away way with curiosity around phrases like "Cash Flow” and “profit & loss”. We began 2020 with a close watch on both of these charts and feel more informed and confident in what our business finances look like from month to month.

8. At that same 1-day seminar we were introduced to SCORE as a business resource. We have now called upon the association multiple times. Our questions have ranged from accounting to legal representation.

10. The SBR helped Jill and I to recognize the downtown growth and community planning that is taking place here in Arlington. This realization helped us settle on the idea of planting roots as business owners. The next step is tending to our harvest (FFV+H), and reaping the benefits from that work year after year.

The Small Business Revolution just completed its 4th season on HULU. If you haven't seen the show it's full of tips and tricks for improving your small business process. It's a feel-good show with philanthropy roots and its breathing life into small towns across America. Thank you Deluxe for calling attention to the backbone of American commerce - small business.

American needs the support of small businesses and we need Americans supporting these businesses.