Rebrand Cities 7 — Day Small Business Challenge: How we Helped?
The economic fallout of the Coronavirus has impacted the stock market, international travel, March Madness, the NBA, restaurant bookings, barber shops/salons, car sales and almost every type of small business vertical that you can imagine. The next 30–90 days will very well determine the future of small businesses that are in existence today.
Rebrand Cities is a global cities design initiative that partners with cities, municipal partners and local organizations to support small businesses and get them online. So, last week we decided to not wait on government stimulus; we just rolled up our sleeves and went to work.
On March 16, 2020 Rebrand Cities issued a 7-Day Support Local Challenge. From March 16–22, 2020, we supported 6 local small businesses and 5 local churches. We challenged our friends and strategic partners to support a local business as well. Supporting local small businesses during this unprecedented time is one way we can help them survive during this crisis.
How Did We Support Our Small Businesses?
- Purchased a carryout meal.
- Made purchases online through business websites.
- Made donations to churches who were hosting online church services.
- Shared the challenge and targeted businesses in social media so that we could be a case study on the impact of supporting a small business.
List of Businesses/Churches Supported
Day #1 (March 16th) : Drought Juice (Compressed Juice Co.)
Day #2 (March 17th): Narrow Way Cafe (Neighborhood Coffee Shop)
Day #3 (March 18th): Streetside Seafood (Seafood Restaurant)
Day #4 (March 19th): Fit 4 Life (Fitness Studio)
Day #5 (March 20th): Detroit Friends Potato Chips (Potato Chip Co.)
Day #6 (March 21st): Naturalicious (Natural Hair Care Co.)
Day #7 (March 22nd): LinkedUP, Kensington, Word of Faith, Faith for Life & Straight Gate (Churches)
Our Impact
- Supported: 6 Local Businesses
- Supported: 5 Churches
- Events: 3 (Created, Hosted, and Participated)
- 50% of Businesses were Women Owned
- 84% of Businesses were Minority Owned
Participated in a Virtual Workout with Fit 4 Life
We supported the launch of Fit 4 Life’s first virtual workout on 03/20 with CEO/Founder Felicia Maxwell.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/834114667090327/
Hosted a Small Business Survival Webinar
On March 19th, “Small Business Survival During the Coronavirus + Beyond | Virtual Fireside Chat and Live Q+A w/Hajj Flemings + Marcus Collins” was hosted on Zoom.
Marcus Collins, Marketing Professor at University of Michigan and myself talked about “reimagining, rebuilding and reconnecting” small businesses in the new normal/post #Covid19 world. Our talk centered around helping small business owners, entrepreneurs or anyone working on side projects! To replay the webinar click this link: https://youtu.be/la5p8wNc04I
Numbers from the Webinar
- Registered Attendees: 140 — people
- Countries: 4
- States: 15
Created a Comedy Event: Inside Jokes vol. I (The Quarantine Laugh In)
The purpose is to make people laugh and to support the comedians and musical artists who are unable to travel because of the travel restrictions and live events being cancelled.
It’s Time to Get Your Laugh On! We’re keeping it 100 with Inside Jokes (vol. 1) The Quarantine Laugh-In hosted by Brand Camp University!
- 100% Funny, 100% Family Friendly, 100% Virus Free and 100% Contagious — all ONLINE!
Take a break from your quarantine routine, which is no doubt getting mundane already, and get your laugh on! The hour will be packed with music, jokes and a good time with people from everywhere!
Join us for an evening with musician Jill Govan and comedians Vern Sanders and Akintunde, hosted by Hajj Flemings.
Registration: www.insidejokes.live
