Amazon Business Launches First Small Business Month to Celebrate and Empower Small Businesses

Small Business Month will offer education, deals, business grants, and a free virtual summit kicking off September 8, exclusively for small business customers

Amazon Business announced the launch of its Small Business Month (SBM), including a series of events, activities, and deals to provide insights and tools for solopreneurs and small business owners to enhance their buying capabilities and scale their businesses. Amazon Business’ SBM is exclusive to small business customers

SBM will kick off with the Small Business Summit on September 8 at 9 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. EDT, a free virtual summit featuring actionable insights from experts, including entrepreneurs turned best-selling authors, top industry experts, and Amazon Business leaders. Small Business Month will also include Small Business Deals Week, from September 12-18, when Amazon Business will offer discounted exclusive pricing promotions for small business customers. Categories of discount promotions include PCs, consumables, office products, home and furniture items, and devices.

Amazon Business is also launching the Small Business Grants program, awarding more than $250,000 in business grants to a handful of growing small businesses. Existing Amazon Business customers with annual revenues of $1 million or less can apply for a grant, with one grand-prize winner and a group of finalists and semifinalists receiving monetary grants, Business Prime Memberships, Amazon Web Services credits and training benefits, and more. Applications are due by September 30, and winners will be announced on October 25

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“We are committed to empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners to thrive, and Small Business Month is a way to give back and provide the very best customer experience for them,” said Todd Heimes, small business director of Amazon Business. “Amazon Business is invested in the success of small business customers. When they grow, we grow, which enables us to increase selection, reduce prices, and add additional features and benefits, all of which are important to small business owners. These entrepreneurs face unique challenges and circumstances, and we’re here to be a partner in their continued success.”

One of those entrepreneurs is Jim VanNatta, an Amazon Business customer and owner of Hockinson Market in Brush Prairie, Washington. VanNatta and his wife grew up near the market—a community staple built in 1928—and decided to buy it in the 1990s. However, the 2008 recession hit the business hard, and VanNatta needed to update and pivot. He transformed Hockinson Market into a thriving pizza shop and taproom, bringing his son Justin onboard as co-manager.

“I just want to pass on a healthy business to my son,” said VanNatta. “My goal in the next couple of years is to make sure that we’re still doing the right things to make him successful moving forward. With Amazon Business, I’m finding items at significant savings—for example, I recently bought latex gloves for pizzamaking and saved a bundle—and I get things delivered faster with Business Prime.”

VanNatta will be speaking as part of the Strategy and Operations track during the Small Business Summit on September 8, which will feature 17 sessions no longer than 20 minutes each on topics such as how to grow, get funding, and create an online presence. Attendees will also get a preview of the soon-to-be launched Amazon Business Small Business Resource Center, an evergreen hub for small business education.

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Todd Heimes will welcome attendees at 9 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. EDT on September 8 with the announcement of the Small Business Grants program for solopreneurs and small businesses. Some of the additional speakers and sessions include:

• 5 Ways to Increase Income as a Small Business: Chris Guillebeau, the host of the Side Hustle School podcast and The New York Times best-selling author of The $100 Startup, Side Hustle, The Happiness of Pursuit, and other books, will kick off the Summit with a keynote talk.
• How to Build a Team From the Ground Up in 7 Steps: Jay Steinfeld, founder and former CEO of Blinds.com, will break down the steps and lessons learned to build a team that will help a small business owner maximize growth and profit, and make being a leader a lot simpler.
• Social Media, Press, and Your Business: Maya Penn, CEO and founder of Maya’s Ideas, started her first business at the age of 8 and has been a media-worthy entrepreneur ever since, adding a published book, You Got This!: Unleash Your Awesomeness, Find Your Path, and Change Your World, to her list of ventures. Maya will cover the fundamentals needed to create a following and a press-worthy story, as well as how to keep the momentum going.