In the last 15 months, the world has seen a deadly pandemic, a civil rights movement that transcended nations, loss, and hope. In that time, we have also seen individuals accomplish lifelong dreams, from personal goals to opening their own businesses—much to the disgruntlement of big box stores. Looking back over the last 10 years, half of the two million businesses created, made over four and a half million jobs, and this is only counting the minority owned businesses.

It was these businesses which were the most negatively affected by the pandemic and the civil rights movements. These were small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) which were fighting to make a difference in their communities. Now, more than ever before, as we begin to move towards a new normalcy, every person has an obligation to help restore and rejuvenate those minority owned SMBs. Here are the most impactful ways you can do your part for these economy-growing, community leaders.

Buy from Minority SMBs

The most obvious and direct way to help minority owned businesses is to spend your money there. In this way, you can help to support your local economy and the diversity of your city. Most small businesses also offer large scale services including everything from catering to flowers. Further, in buying from them you are helping to put a dent in those big box stores which rely on every person’s need for money; after all, the need for money is as systematic as the race wage-gap currently infecting our country.

These SMBs are also important for the individual employee too. While Amazon has always pushed back on unionization, these businesses are encouraging unions, protecting their employees and the community. Even those businesses which provide delivery for restaurants like UberEats or Grubhub, are feeling the effects of minority owned businesses because while they usually take a portion of the payments for their operation costs, many people have begun to refuse their services, opting instead to buy and pick up directly from the businesses themselves. In this way, normal people are helping to give as much money as possible to minority owned businesses.

If you, yourself are a business owner, or are in need of particular services—searching for minority owned options will be the best possible thing you can do for them. Promoting their goods in your business is key for their growth and having that partnership will only help to grow your selection and your clientele too.

Leave Reviews and Engage on Social Platforms

One of the best ways you can indirectly support minority SMBs is by writing reviews for their product and engaging with them on social media platforms. In the case of writing a review for their product, your thoughts on the entire experience are important. Sites like Yelp and Google Review are keystones in getting SMBs into the spotlight over franchises, which then helps to drive more business towards the right people.

As for the latter portion of this section, engaging in social media is what makes or breaks small businesses today. You participating in events, commenting on posts, or sharing links, impacts SMBs on a scale which is immense. The more action and activity that is happening on their pages and with their tags and mentions, dramatically increases their visibility both to new people and to returning clients. This is because search engines like Google provide a lot of results based on trending and commonly active businesses. This is why when you search for a type of company, the ones with the most reviews are at the top of the results.

Use the Internet to Find Minority SMBs

The internet is an amazing place. It lets us connect nations across the world in an instant—yet until now, it has greatly neglected minority owners. It is possible that this is because they were new businesses which did not have the merit behind them to warrant the attention and ads. However, now there is a significant push towards SMBs getting their time for attention.

A Search Engine of the Future

A new type of national search engine is about to take the world by storm, as they say. Tell-Shop provides a country-wide database in order to help the average person find minority owned businesses around them. They offer the ability to search for minority owned businesses in multiple demographics and every state. According to the owners, “some of their most common demographics include African-American-owned, Native-American-owned, and LGBTQ-owned SMBs”. Using their services ensures that minority communities can support themselves and each other while also helping to keep wealth within their communities.