The Small Business Association defines a small business as having fewer than 500 employees. By that definition, over 99% of all businesses in the US are small businesses. 

Even so, the businesses in the remaining 1% that they’re competing against have a hugely outsized influence when it comes to marketing and other resources. How does a small business compete with the likes of Amazon and WalMart? In New Orleans you could be a part of a specialized marketing enterprise called The Scout Guide.

Taylor Morgan is owner and editor of The Scout Guide New Orleans.

Blake J. Stanfill is Director of Growth at a company called TrepWise. TrepWise is a business consultancy that arms small businesses, non-profits, and public-sector organizations with the same tools that big business uses.

All of us agree that supporting our local small businesses is a great thing to do. For most of us, that amounts to going shopping once in a while. For Blake and Taylor, supporting our small business community is what they do every day. Because small business makes up the bulk of our economy, their daily efforts ultimately ripple out and affect the whole city.

Photos over lunch at Commander’s Palace by Jill Lafleur.