National Small Business Week: what to post

National Small Business Week 2026 runs from Sunday, May 3 to Saturday, May 9. It is the week the U.S. Small Business Administration sets aside each year to honor small business owners, and it gives you an easy reason to post about the one thing you always skip: yourself. Here is what the week is, a post for each of its seven days, and two small things to set up before it starts.

What the week is, and why you can join in

The SBA has held National Small Business Week for more than 60 years. It hands out its national awards during the week, and this year it also runs a two-day virtual summit on May 5 and 6, co-hosted by the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

You do not need an award or an invitation to take part. The SBA's own social media guide for 2026 uses one hashtag, #SmallBusinessWeek, and anyone can add it to a post. Used once per post, next to a few local hashtags, it puts you in the same feed as other owners that week.

The numbers make a good opening line, too. The SBA's Office of Advocacy counts 36,207,130 small businesses in the United States, 99.9 percent of all businesses. Together they employ 62.3 million people, 45.9 percent of private sector workers. Your customers rarely think of you as part of a group that big.

Before May 3: two quick setups

Mark yourself as a small business on Google. Your Google Business Profile has identity attributes that show on your listing. One of them is "Small business". Google's help page says a small business makes less than $10 million a year, and that franchises cannot use it. The same list includes Veteran-owned, Women-owned, Black-owned, Latino-owned, Asian-owned, Indigenous-owned, Disabled-owned and LGBTQ+ owned. You can choose more than one, and switch any of them off later. If you are not sure you have set up your profile right, our guide to Google Business Profile covers the basics.

Collect the photos now. The posts below need a photo of you, one of your team, one of a supplier or neighbor, and a short clip of your workplace before opening. Take them in April, on an ordinary day, so the week does not depend on a good mood on Monday morning.

A post for each day of the week

The week is short enough to plan in one sitting. One post a day is plenty, and stories in between are a bonus.

Sunday: why we started

Say you run a hardware store your parents opened. The post is a photo of you behind the counter, the year it opened, why they opened it, and one thing that has not changed since. No slogans. People follow the businesses whose owners they feel they know, and this is the post that does it.

Monday: the people behind the counter

One photo per person, or one group photo with a line about each. Ask first, and leave out anyone who would rather not be online.

Tuesday: shout out a neighbor

This is the post that fits the week best. Tag a bakery whose bread you serve, the florist next door, the mechanic you trust. Most will share it, and their followers live where you work. If you already work with another business, plan a joint post with them for this day.

Wednesday: how it is made

A 10 to 20 second clip: dough being shaped at 5 a.m., a car on the lift, a color being mixed. It is the kind of thing a customer never sees and always finds interesting.

Thursday: by the numbers

Three numbers that are true and that you can stand behind: years open, cakes baked last year, the zip codes you drive to. Put the national number next to them if you like: one of 36.2 million small businesses in the country.

Friday: thank you

A thank-you to your regulars, ideally with a photo of one of them who said yes. If you have a review you are proud of, quote it with the first name only.

Saturday: come by

The week ends on a Saturday, so finish with a reason to visit: what is new, the hours, maybe a small treat for anyone who mentions the post. Keep any offer simple. The point of the week is the people, not a discount.

Mind the calendar around it

Two dates sit inside or right after the week. Cinco de Mayo is Tuesday, May 5, and if it matters to your customers, give it its own post rather than squeezing it into the neighbor post. Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10, the day after the week ends. Florists, restaurants, salons and gift shops will be posting about it all week, so for them the Small Business Week posts should be lighter, three instead of seven, and the Mother's Day posts should start earlier, in late April.

What to avoid

• Making it look like an award. Unless the SBA actually honored you, do not write anything that reads like you won something.
• A week of "support small business" graphics. A stock image with a slogan tells nobody anything about you. A photo of your own counter does.
• Hashtag piles. One #SmallBusinessWeek and two or three local tags are enough.
• Disappearing on May 10. People who found you that week will look again the week after. A normal post on Monday keeps them.

If the week also happens to be your opening week, our four-week grand opening plan shows how to combine the two.

If you would rather just send the photos

Our plans, Starter, Growth or Daily, turn the photos you take on your phone into posts, write the captions and publish them on schedule, so a week like this one is planned with the rest of your month. If you already have a plan and May is busier than usual, the Post & Story Pack adds 5 posts and 10 stories to that month. See the plans.