The #bigforsmall campaign, that is encouraging larger businesses across Australia to support small businesses, has taken off, with more and more businesses and industry leaders jumping on board to show support in its first week.
New stakeholders in the scheme include salary-streaming service Nine25, control monitoring provider Satori Group, and the CBD Sydney Chamber of Commerce.
Cafes, restaurants, and small retailers in Sydney’s CBD are already benefitting from the #bigforsmallcampaign campaign, with big businesses empowering their employees to shop and spend at small businesses as they return to the office.
CBD Sydney Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Peter May said that the campaign is a great initiative to support small businesses that have faced an extremely challenging year.
“Small businesses in commercial districts have been devastated by months of lockdowns. The #bigforsmall campaign is the catalyst to get the Sydney business community to support one another,” May said. “The CBD Sydney Chamber of Commerce is proud to support this campaign and I encourage other businesses across Sydney to get on board and empower their employees to help small businesses get back on their feet.”
Meanwhile, CEO and founder of emerging Australian salary-as-a-service startup Nine25, Leigh Dunsford, said that the #bigforsmall campaign will be crucial to Melbourne slowly coming back to normal.
“Joining the #bigforsmall campaign is an opportunity for our people to go out there and support those small businesses in Melbourne who are hurting after months of lockdowns,” Dunsford said. “The impact the campaign has had in Sydney has been clear. As Melbourne slowly reopens, all of us at Nine25 want to be a part of making that process as successful as possible for our city’s small businesses.”
For Satori Group CEO Gavin Steinberg, joining the #bigforsmall campaign was a win-win situation of supporting others while boosting morale among employees.
“Small businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns as overnight many of them had their revenue completely shut off,” Steinberg said. “As businesses and venues reopen, we are thrilled to be able to join the #bigforsmall campaign and empower our people to go out and help others who have done it so tough for so long. This is a terrific opportunity to build a sense of community among businesses operating in the same commercial districts.”
ELMO Software CEO and Co-founder Danny Lessem, who is behind #bigforsmall, says he is thrilled to see the impact the campaign is already having.
“It is terrific to have Nine25, Satori Group and the CBD Sydney Chamber of Commerce on board with this campaign,” Lessem said. “Together, we can show small businesses that they aren’t facing the challenges of reopening alone, they have bigger businesses on their side. As more and more organisations get behind this campaign we can truly build the critical mass to make a marked difference on the outcomes for small businesses.
“The principle of this campaign is simple: empower employees to get out and support small businesses,” Lessem added. “Whether it’s by encouraging staff to spend time getting a haircut, having a longer team lunch or even providing a cash incentive there are countless ways that big businesses can harness the power of their employees to help others. Sydney has just been the start of this campaign. As restrictions ease in Melbourne I look forward to hearing the stories of more small businesses that have been supported by the #bigforsmall campaign.”
