International travels are stopped, people are called to #evdekal, non-essential workplaces are closed. All of these measures are being implemented to prevent the spread of the global epidemic Covid-19 and keep people safe.

Service sector personnel and healthcare professionals are indisputably the ones who shoulder the burden the most in this period. We would like to thank all the efforts of the workers who "have to" in the sentence "Do not leave the house unless necessary, where the measures and calls to stay at home do not work."

The measures taken to prevent the epidemic bring some devastating effects. Unfortunately, it is not possible to mention all the destructive effects. As Local Makers, we wanted to talk about the devastating effects faced by independent business owners, local producers, and those who are just crawling on their entrepreneurial adventures, to raise awareness and share with you a few ideas that you can support small businesses.

We are all in the moment when we maintain our social distancing. Local coffee shops, designers, ceramic manufacturers, boutique design workshops, yoga and pilates studios have come up with clever solutions to serve their customers without human contact. As a community, we can be a tiny supporter of getting through these dark times and securing the futures of local and small businesses and producers.

So Why Do We Support Small Businesses?

Small businesses beyond big ones are defined by their spirit. Everything is transparent. Products; we know where, how and by whom it is produced and offered for sale within the framework of what sensitivities.

They enable us to build bonds that we buy not for consumption, but because we value them. They show us that it is more sustainable and in fact not as difficult as it seems, to produce in spite of uncertainty, adopt the principles of sustainability as its motto, and unlike mass production perception and mass consumption habits, it is more sustainable to reach production that is blended with the value of manual labor.

Small businesses are also important to the economic and social fabric of our society, and they play a role in keeping us all afloat. They were established with feelings away from the competition of chain stores. Entrepreneurship inspires more entrepreneurship, when you shop from local businesses, your money stays local and you provide a boost to local development.

Local manufacturers and small businesses contain stories. Many people come to a small business in a neighborhood to experience this story, to support it. They come to experience all this transparency and good shopping, away from the insincerity of the big stores on the main streets and shopping malls. This is exactly the story that major trademarks are trying to create. However, most big companies try to produce products with cheap labor in countries you have not even heard of, but do not adopt the philosophy of sustainability as their motto, look at labor, production and materials only as more profit, and do green washing (as if they were green products).

You do not observe this situation with small producers , compared to this situation, you experience a shorter producer-consumer journey by meeting a better story.

small businesses; they operate without layers of management, corporate policy, blended with local and ethical production, taking on every role in the business. Although some may describe it as amateurism, we think that the rules can be bent and they turn into boutique shopping routes that enable them to have a valuable perspective.

You can motivate and support yourself by purchasing and sharing services and products from any independent business or creative person you believe in that has made positive and ethical choices.

A big thank you to everyone who supported us to survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the process is over, we hope to meet again in our store , meet at trainings and chat over coffee!

The North Fox Team

** Why Should We Support Boutique Businesses? The article is an excerpt from the social media guide of Local Makers, of which we are the founding partner.