Kind-hearted Kiwis can now rally around their favourite small businesses who are doing it tough during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially those regions with the extended lockdown, and those in tourism and hospitality around Aotearoa.
Over a virtual beer Gavin Oliver, founder of EcoZip and chair of Auckland Regional Tourism, and Craig Perry, a director at 4X Consulting, brainstormed Love Your Local – where Kiwis can virtually buy their local business a coffee or beer to boost morale and show the value of that business to their community.
According to MIBE, 97% of Aotearoa’s businesses have less than 20 employees, of these, 388,000 businesses have no employees and about 100,000 have one to five. In his role with the Auckland Regional Tourism Forum, Oliver is frequently receiving calls from well-established tourism business owners in tears and on-the-edge from a mental health perspective as they battle escalation financial stress, mental strain, and fatigue.
“The bottom line is that we are a nation of small businesses owned by entrepreneurial Kiwis following their dreams and big ideas,” Oliver says. “It’s a simple premise, if your local barber/hairdresser, nail salon, coffee shop, gym, or retailer are shut or working on reduced revenue – then you can be a good bugger and Love Your Local. It’s a way of saying that we know they are doing it tough, and we are thinking of them.”
Perry adds, “Love Your Local won’t be able to pay your rent or save a business on the cusp of financial failure because of Covid-19 but the warm fuzzies will be bloody nice for Kiwis across the country right now. Receiving a few virtual drinks is a sign that what they do is valued and it might encourage someone to continue digging deep and not throw in the towel. Crucially, it is a way for their clients to say, ‘we want you around when this is over’”.
To shout a coffee ($5 donation) or a beer ($10 donation) kind-hearted Kiwis simply nominate their local business via the Giv2 charity donation platform, founded by Jay and Melissa Kachelhoffer. Giv2 is a credible and trustworthy way for people to donate or contribute to a worthy cause – in this case a Love Your Local business of their choice. Existing Giv2 users can do it in three clicks, and a new user in less than a minute. In turn, Giv2 will transfer cash to the businesses who are being gifted a coffee or beer. Brilliantly, because the donation is a contribution, or Koha, the coffee or beer shout is not classified as revenue and therefore there is no tax associated with it.
How Love Your Local works:
- You can nominate a business to be on the site OR a business can register themselves.
- Once registered, Giv2 generate the Giv2-QR code and you are listed on the Love Your Local website.
- The website and the QR code can be promoted on social media, websites etc so people can show their support with a virtual coffee or beer.
- Pay it forward by sharing your favourite businesses QR code on your social channels encouraging other people to support them too.
