A growing small business platform is organizing a business-boosting event for downtown Greenville next week.
Smallknot, a New York-based group dedicated to helping fund small businesses through community investment, is planning a "cash mob" downtown on June 6.
Jay Lee, founder of Smallknot, said the concept is simple:
- Come to Falls Park (by the stairs next to Spill the Beans) at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6th with $15. Look for the folks in grey Smallknot shirts or a crowd of people holding signs.
- From there, the group will all walk together to a mystery local merchant to spend $15 in support of a locally-owned spot. (This is the mob part.) Smallknot will tweet the location of the mystery merchant at that time from @smallknot or @sydneywilliams, and also update on Facebook.
- Afterwards, the group will head to another local establishment for drinks, a milkshake or a quick bite to give the participants a chance to meet and mingle. First round is on Smallknot.
The cash mob signifies the beginning of Smallknot's initial steps into Greenville campaigns.
"We will be piloting campaigns for two amazing local businesses in Greenville during the first week of June," Lee said. "The way it works is that people can pledge to one of their businesses, and if the campaign reaches its goal, they will be repaid in kind - with goods, services, perks or special events. The great thing is that the repayment will be something really valuable - so if you're contributing $100, you could easily get $120 to $200 back in value from the business, whether that comes in free stuff, lessons or other ways," Lee said.
"The businesses are also getting pretty creative, so we're seeing some incredible ways people are getting repaid, like a coffee of the month club, an engraved chair in a new restaurant and even a private chartered fishing trip. In setting up these campaigns, we're also helping fill a financing gap for a lot of great small businesses who simply don't fit easily into the portfolio of normal lenders or financial products," he added.
