By Laura Jones

I have a line from a favourite Christmas song stuck in my head after an outing with my kids this past weekend: "Tidings of comfort and joy."

With my husband out of town, I had a day on my own with my three kids, ages two, five, and seven. We decided to walk the 20 minutes to our local neighbourhood shops to run some errands and get some fresh air. The kids were excited.

They were even more excited when we arrived and discovered a horse-drawn carriage ride free, courtesy of local businesses. Carollers were on the street singing, which put "tidings of comfort and joy" in my head.

Things reached a pitch of excitement when Santa made an appearance. My five-year-old thinks there is a "real" Santa and "fake" Santas. This one convinced her.

My two-year-old was fascinated by the window displays. My seven-year-old was excited to wave from the horse-drawn carriage to the woman at our local barber shop who has been cutting his hair for the last five years.

At this time of year, scenes like this are happening all over the city, province and country. It reminds me how much joy local businesses bring to people's lives.

Imagine what a wasteland our cities and towns would be without local bookstores, bakeries, coffee shops, drycleaners, clothing shops, gift stores, restaurants, and hairdressers.

Imagine how much bleaker our days would be without the personal interactions that business owners have with their clients—from conversations about the kids to help bringing shopping bags to the car. These little interactions in our day bring a lot of comfort. Hairdressers deserve a special shout-out here as masters of serving up a side of comfort with a cut and blow dry.

The general public has a huge amount of respect for small business. In an Angus Reid poll conducted earlier this year, 94 percent said they admired small-business owners. An equal number said small businesses are vital to communities.

This sentiment is not unique to Canada.

Two years ago, it led to a new movement south of the border called Small Business Saturday. The Saturday immediately following American Thanksgiving is promoted as a day to show support for small business by shopping locally.

It has become wildly popular, with support from 230 advocacy groups, 75 big companies and politicians in all 50 states.

It has helped increase the sales of participating businesses by more than 20 percent: a boost to the bottom line that is especially appreciated given the uncertain economic times.

There is no official Small Business Saturday in Canada yet, but two Saturdays remain before Christmas. What better way to spend them than getting into the community, supporting small business and partaking in seasonal comfort and joy.

Laura Jones is the senior vice president for research, economics, and Western Canada with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.