April 9 marks a new initiative, powered by Xero, called Small Business Day.

 The awareness campaign is about celebrating and supporting local small businesses, by incentivising shopping small and highlighting the big impacts this can have.

 You can find out how to win prizes as both a business owner and a shopper here.

 To mark the occasion, we asked our Small Business Tauranga (SBT) chairperson Michelle Sinclair from Baker Tilly Staples Rodway to share her sentiments on small business.                         

Today, being Small Business Day, I wanted to take the opportunity to give a huge, big should out to all the small businesses in our region. Thank you for all that you bring to our region and our national economy.

Yes, that’s right you are important to our national economy!

Small businesses are the heart of our nation and they provide opportunities for innovation and growth.  Innovation is essential to our national economy and while we may see it simply as an extension of our Kiwi ingenuity, it is the business owner/entrepreneur who sacrifices their own personal resources for this ingenuity, whether that be financial, family time or just life itself.

Small businesses also provide valuable local job opportunities. These job opportunities enable others to gain unique, and often accelerated, work experience. These opportunities also allow us to live, work and play in our local community, supporting local families, rather than having to move to other, larger regions.

And what about the various local markets and what they add to our community? I love spending time at my local Farmers Market in the weekend, enjoying our local produce, the sense of community and the character and individuality the stall holders bring to our community.

It is not only the unique offerings and experience I enjoy but the fact that I am supporting my community by spending local.  And finally, a shout out to those businesses in our region who have stood the test of time, who have weather the ups and downs, and who continue to faithfully operate in our community.

To all our regional small businesses I thank you and I urge everyone to get out there and support local – every day.

Small Business Tauranga (SBT) is part of the Chamber of Commerce and is focused on supporting and championing local SMEs through advice, support and networking. To stay connect, subscribe to the SBT newsletter here.