Small Business Majority's blog

When large corporations manipulate markets to gain more control, small businesses often pay the price through higher costs, fewer choices and barriers to growth. Understanding how these practices work is the first step toward advocating for a system that gives small businesses a fair chance to succeed. Read our blog to learn about laws, policy developments and what can small business owners do to curb unfair competition.

Lindsey Vigoda opened our New York office two years ago after five years with our Colorado Team. Our outreach team helps entrepreneurs on two fronts: It advocates for policies that benefit small businesses and it offers webinars and in-person events that offer entrepreneurs tips on how to grow their businesses.

What began as a warm day at a Texas outlet mall for Mia and Ondrey Lawson quickly turned into a life-changing moment. After some convincing, Ondrey reluctantly tried an Italian ice that Mia had picked up while shopping. To her surprise, he finished the entire cup, sparking a simple question: why wasn’t this refreshing treat more accessible in a place as hot as Texas?

We encourage you to shop small all year round, but especially during this holiday season. If you purchase an item through a small business on this list, take a photo and post it on social media using #IShoppedSmallBiz to encourage others to do the same!

Danny Caine never thought his job at a small bookshop in a college town would lead him down a path of entrepreneurship and antitrust advocacy. However, the community the previous owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kan. fostered really resonated with Danny who feels as though the bookstore is a vehicle for positive change and community enrichment. In 2017, he was able to purchase the shop through a seller-financed loan. 

As Sylvie Hutchings approached 50, her professional growth began to stall at her corporate job. Feeling like there were fewer opportunities as she got older, the former fraud analyst decided it was finally time to realize her lifelong dream of becoming a small business owner. She searched for a franchise she could purchase so she could focus on running the business rather than worrying about creating her own marketing and building name recognition.

While Leo Carr began his career in sales at Philip Morris, he “always had the bug to own my own business.” In 1999, he started his entrepreneurial journey and bought Express Personnel Services, a franchise staffing company. Leo had the opportunity to act on his passion, which was to fill a need by helping small businesses with their workforce needs while also helping people get jobs. This has given him unique insights into how small employers can meet the moment in addressing their staffing needs. 

Sisters Lakila Bowden and Kamille Richardson are reframing disability and disproving myths that providing accommodations for differently abled employees is expensive and burdensome to businesses through their consulting company, iSee Technologies. 

After a quarter life crisis, former social worker Alanna Ferre took a course in makeup artistry–as suggested by her mother–and was surprised to not only find a thriving second career, but also a passionate community in her home state of New Mexico. 

After more than 45 years of business, Dante Hamilton, owner of Internet Webpages Newspaper Inc., has found himself in a resource renaissance thanks to the newly prevalent online tools that have been available since the beginning of the pandemic.