The holiday season shifts into high gear from now on. Foot traffic gets wild, inboxes overflow, and your customers are juggling a million decisions at once. They’re feeling the pinch of not having enough time.

In the middle of all that zaniness, your biggest advantage as a small business is the experience you create and the connection you keep. People want to support local. They just need reminders that you’re here, you’re human, and you’re worth choosing.

Here are simple, sustainable ways to stay engaged all month long without adding stress to your plate.

The holiday season is a make-or-break time for many small businesses. Shoppers are ready to spend, but they’re also pulled in countless directions—online sales, big-box discounts, and time constraints that make convenience one of the biggest factors in their spending.

The best way to rise above the noise isn’t to shout louder, it’s to link arms with your neighbors; maybe even your competitors (hear us out). Collaboration is one of the most powerful tools a small business can use this time of year, and it often leads to results that no single business could achieve alone.

When local businesses team up, customers notice. They see a community that’s connected, welcoming, and invested in making their holiday shopping meaningful. It’s the difference between a single store saying, “We’re open,” and a whole town saying, “Come celebrate with us.”

We’re fast approaching the time of year when it can feel like you’re running a marathon on a tightrope. Customers need attention. Promotions are queued up to be launched (or designed). Your inventory is giving you nightmares, and you have huge goals for the end of the year.

And you’re supposed to stay cheerful, strategic, and somehow well-rested through it all.

But the problem isn’t your big aspirations for 2026, nor does the problem lie in trying to solve the things you can’t control.

It’s your habits.

As an organization dedicated to the prosperity of Grandview, the Chamber is proud to support our local nonprofit organizations. On Giving Tuesday, we encourage you to consider supporting these dedicated Chamber members who work tirelessly to serve our community.

Whether you choose to donate, volunteer, or simply spread the word about their mission, your support is invaluable!

A Guide to Recovering Revenue You Didn't Know You Were Losing

When was the last time you reviewed your business subscriptions? From software to streaming services, you could have hundreds of dollars out there that you had forgotten about. That’s money that’s been quietly slipping through the cracks.

Most business owners are so focused on bringing money in the front door that they don't notice it leaking out the back. But this "hidden cash" is actually easier to find than new customers, and the returns are immediate.

It’s a treasure hunt through your business finances so grab your coffee, block off a few hours, and let's go find your money.

Traditionally, marketers at this time of year are busy trying to attract Black Friday and other shoppers in the days right after Thanksgiving. But thanks to the uptick in pre-Black Friday sales, today’s customers are shopping earlier than ever, spreading out their spending and looking for ways to avoid the December scramble. In fact, nearly half of U.S. shoppers now begin their holiday shopping before Black Friday.

That means November isn’t just the warm-up. It’s your time to shine. With a few smart strategies, you can pull in customers before the big-box stores roll out their doorbusters and get a head start on holiday profits. Here are 10 ways to catch shoppers’ attention.

You’ve heard the old saying “You never get a second chance at a first impression.” For businesses, that isn’t just a cliché, it’s reality. Customers size up a business long before they make a purchase and often before anyone on your team even says hello. Those first 10 seconds set expectations, shape decisions, and influence how people feel about doing business with you.

No matter what industry you’re in, your business is constantly sending signals about what customers can expect. The good news is that with a few intentional tweaks, you can make those signals work in your favor.

It’s officially that time of year where you have to keep looking at the calendar because it’s so hard to believe how quickly time is going or as we like to say—it’s Blurvember.

The holidays have a way of sneaking up on even the most prepared businesses. One minute you’re stocking fall candles and the next you’re wondering where the extra rolls of gift wrap went.

This is the moment to tighten things up so you can enjoy the revenue boost without feeling like you’re sprinting through December.

Here are five simple, high-impact updates your business can make right now (some so quick you can implement them between customers) to get ahead of the holiday rush.

With the holiday season approaching with the speed of a bullet train (holiday prep, year-end sales pushes, family gatherings, budget reviews, etc.), it’s no surprise many of us feel our blood pressure and tension rise, while our patience comes crashing down. While this season is one of the most exciting of the year, it brings lots of extra stress.

But what if some of that stress was unavoidable?

Here are four practical reframes you can share with your team and apply to your own workflow, designed specifically for business juggling multiple moving parts in busy months ahead.

As a business in our town, we want to help you this holiday season. But we also need some assistance from you. As part of Small Business Season (November 1- December 31), we’re trying to bring awareness to the importance of shopping local.

Every time someone buys from a business in our town, something bigger happens than a simple transaction. Those dollars circulate through the community, supporting local jobs, funding community improvements, and creating a stronger local economy.

Join us for Small Business Season (November 1st - December 31st) and make this holiday shopping experience truly meaningful by remembering that Every Purchase Has a Purpose. The local shops, cozy cafés, and family restaurants are the heart of our community and the backdrop of your cherished holiday traditions, and when you choose to spend local, you're not just buying a product; you're directly fueling local jobs, strengthening the economy, and supporting the neighbors who make our town feel like home. Ready to make an impact? Click through to the full blog post to see how you can discover one-of-a-kind treasures, participate in festive happenings, and amplify the voices of our hard-working small businesses.

Does your favorite coffee shop have a secret menu? One where the drink’s not on the board, but the regulars know to order? The one that gives you a little more for the same price or offers you a flavor you didn’t even know existed just because you’re a regular. Or maybe you know a speakeasy club that opens every weekend to people who know the “password.”

A chamber of commerce is like that for business owners.

If you’re a Millennial or GenZ-er and see yourself as a future leader or entrepreneur, the chamber is not just for Boomers. You can get a lot of value from it, too.

If the thought of “tracking KPIs” makes your eyes glaze over, you’re not alone. For many small business owners, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) sound like something reserved for corporations with big budgets, bigger teams, and even bigger Excel spreadsheets. Who wants the hassle?

But here’s the truth: KPIs are just numbers that tell a story and if you’re not paying attention to them, you’re running your business with the lights off.

The good news? You don’t need 47 dashboards or a data analyst to track the KPIs that matter. You just need to choose a few that tell you whether you’re growing, stalling, or unknowingly throwing money out the window. Consider this article a crash course on basic KPIs.

When you’re building a small business, it’s easy to focus on the day-to-day grind—inventory, customer service, cash flow, and that never-ending inbox. But if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you’re getting there?

That’s where a vision statement comes in. Some businesses think it’s “too corporate” or “too pretentious,” something people do to impress investors. But it’s more than a buzz phrase or a corporate checkbox.

A clear, inspiring vision is your business’s North Star—and one of the most underused tools in small business marketing. Yes, small business marketing. You don’t need to be a giant organization with stockholders to realize the power behind a well-crafted vision statement.

Attracting new customers is important, but building loyalty is where long-term success happens. Loyal customers spend more, visit more often, and refer others. According to business.com, they spend 67% more than first-time customers. Cultivating that loyalty takes more than just great service. It takes creativity, consistency, and value-driven engagement. Whether you run a retail store, restaurant, gym, salon, or professional service firm, there are many inventive ways to reward loyal customers and turn them into your best advocates.

Has this happened to you? Whether online or in-person, there’s a customer who lingers, hesitates. They’re eyeing your item or menu. They’re asking questions about it. You think they’re going to buy and then they walk away or abandon their online cart without making a decision. They don’t say no, they just don’t say yes.

Small businesses everywhere are realizing that success isn’t just about how good your product is—it’s about how connected your customers feel to you and each other. The new growth model that’s gaining serious traction? Community-led growth.