How communities are supporting local businesses

With the global outbreak of COVID-19 many businesses find themselves in a challenging situation. Establishments that traditionally rely on foot traffic and appointments are taking a hard hit to their income with social distancing being practiced in countries worldwide. So how can businesses garner support from their loyal customers until things return to normal?

Creating new opportunities through merchandise

A growing number of local businesses have started selling merch on-demand in an effort to supplement income during this time. This concept isn’t new, in fact we’ve seen many businesses use branded merch over the years as a marketing tool and source of diversified income. Selling merch on demand is free because there’s no upfront inventory required, plus Teespring handles order fulfillment and customer support so valuable time can be focused on running your business instead of dealing with logistics and hassle.

Jamie and Evan Shipp, owners of GoodShipp Alpaca Co. in Louisville, Kentucky, used merchandise to supplement their income as they expanded their Alpaca shearing products and services. The revenue earned from merch sales has gone toward general farm expenses, but has also helped expand their herd with a new alpaca named Hank!

D&B Performance and Automotive Repair, located in Burrillville, Rhode Island is owned by Dawn and Bob Tufano. This local auto shop has been family owned and operated since 2000. After customers began to inquire about their employees’ unique uniforms, daughter Rachel Tufano created print-on-demand apparel and added them to a store on Teespring.  Current profits are put towards funding daily expenses, such as payroll, new uniforms, and garage supplies, and customers wearing their merch around town helps to attract new customers.

“The customers were actually a pretty big part of why I chose Teespring as well, because I’d be able to just give people the links to the designs and they could purchase them on their own versus us having to order hundreds in bulk and either give them away for free (which is SO costly) or make little to no profit on them because they were so expensive to buy to begin with (again, SO costly).”

Emily and Marc Vance of Dill Farms created branded merch is another example of a small business using merchandise to market their services and engage with their local community in Fort Scott, Kansas.  

Do you know a business that needs support?

If you know a business going through a tough time due recent events send them our way. We’ll help them set up their own online merch store and provide additional promotional tools and assistance if necessary. This service is totally free to use, and businesses will keep all profits from product sales. Plus we’ll handle order delivery and customer support too so they can focus on running their business.