Feb 13, 2025

7 Ways to Support Our Handmade Small Business

A woman rolls a gumball machine down the street in front of the Vinca storefront in east Austin, TX.

So what can you do if you want to support a more diverse local economy? There are a handful of things you can do to support your favorite local handmade small businesses without spending a penny! Below are just a number of ways you can shine a light on handmade goods created right in your neck of the woods.

Take a look around our current studio where we design and manufacture all of our jewelry and accessories
in house. 1) Preparing a wholesale order of I Heart True Crime door knocker earrings for ban.do. 2) Amanda and
KM shooting a new product photo for the Vinca website. 3) KM filming a reel for our social media accounts

Engagement helps us reach more likeminded people. Don’t be shy. We just need to know that someone is out there and that spending valuable time making in-house video content to promote our brand is actually worth it. You can comment with an emoji if you can’t think of something to say. We’re mostly on Instagram, mostly.

Spread the word. Please share our posts on your stories. This helps raise our profile across most social media platforms. We’re a tiny kitten competing against the big dogs and every little bit helps our small business continue being a small business.

3. Write a Review

Share your experience with us on VincaUSA.com under the item that you purchased. Click the pink “Spill the tea” button to rate your experience, write a review on the item, and add any photos you would like to share. And if for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase please reach out to us via email. All four of us are privy to the emails so please be nice. Jewelry makers have feelings too!

We plan on doing Instagram Live shows where customers can purchase directly from us. We will announce shows shortly…maybe…I dunno. You’ll just have to pay attention.

5. Subscribe to our newsletter

Hopefully a link via our newsletter brought you here and you’re ahead of the game. If not, now’s the time to sign up! You get a discount just for signing up and we send out discounts regularly. In addition to discounts we offer you a behind the scenes look into our small business. Discover why we only use stainless steel and sterling silver findings (it’s so your ears don’t turn green and fall off) and how Amanda, our lead designer/owner, sketches every design out before vectorizing it and cutting it here in our shop in Austin, TX.

6. Spread the word

Word of mouth, aka grassroots advertising, is so helpful for small businesses. If you love a small business, let them and the world know! It increases our reach more than you realize. It also just reinforces the fact that we are designing and manufacturing jewelry/accessories for a reason; we do all of this for weirdos like you!

7. Post a photo of yourself wearing your favorite Vinca piece and tag us @VincaUSA

Okay. I hate cameras too. Not really. I love cameras, but I hate being in front of them. If you’re camera shy like me, wear a mask. No really. You’ve seen me before in my Creature from the Black the Lagoon mask modeling Vinca (that’s a LONG story). You can do it too and tag us! Or if you’re not afraid to show your mug to the world just take a regular photo of your luminous face, chiseled jawline, and Brooke Shields eyebrows.

Why it's imperative to bolster small businesses:

Amanda, Owner and lead designer of Vinca, waves the viewer into her workshop/storefront located in east Austin, TX.

Small businesses that specialize in small batch, handmade accessories (like us) could use your help now more than ever. Why should you shop at our independent, small business? The short answers is that all that would exist would be big box stores that cater to the masses. No individuality. No niche markets would exist. Your local indie shop that designs and manufactures the coolest anatomical heart hoop earrings (with removable chef's knives) would be nonexistent. This is great if you like American cheese and only American Cheese, but if you're cheese-curious and want to sample pule or Casu marzu then you are out of luck, buckaroo.

It has become difficult to determine who is a small business. There are big box stores that pose as small businesses. There are also regular folks that purchase low quality, wholesale merch online and sell those items online (and at markets). They're also known as drop shippers. Does this make sense? Do the masses care about buying suspiciously inexpensive items with lead? Do modern consumers think about the wellbeing of the people making those suspiciously inexpensive items with lead? If you do, you're in the right place and thank you for your support!

-KM Manrique, Head Writer at Vinca