Small business Christmas ad 2013

Christmas gifts from small business

Are you sick and tired of hearing about major companies managing to get away with paying minimal tax and treating their employees badly? That banks won’t lend to small business? And then learning that HMRC is cracking down hard on small business owners?

I know from the reaction on social media to the recent post about Corporation Tax that many of you wonder what on earth is going on and think that government pays lip service to small business.

Christmas is approaching and the major supermarkets and chain stores have released their multimillion pound TV adverts. What do you make of them? As usual the John Lewis one leaves me cold, M&S have a blonde model whose clothes fall off – twice – and the supermarkets’ efforts seem a bit dreary this year, perhaps trying too hard to appeal to the ‘ordinary’ customer.

Whatever your reaction to the advertising, these stores will take millions over the Christmas period, but what about small business owners who don’t have the same reach? They too often rely on a seasonal spike in sales to keep going throughout the year, especially now that everyone’s purse strings are so much tighter.

So we’re going to publish a post about the many gift opportunities offered by home workers. It’s a particularly attractive choice if you’re looking for something unique, different, conceived and made with real passion, and possibly ethical too.

Buy from a home business and you’ll make a real difference to somebody’s turnover, profit and lifestyle, instead of contributing to corporate profits and shareholders’ dividends.

If you make a product or offer a service that’s suitable for a Christmas gift, send us the following details by Monday 2 December:

1. Your name and your business name.

2. Your web address.

3. 2 or 3 lines about your product/service.

4. A photo of your product/service.

We’ll publish the best ideas in a post in early December so that readers have time to browse what you do and make present-buying decisions. We won’t have any celebrities, clothed or unclothed, but we can give you a bit of Christmas PR.