How to Support Women-Owned Businesses Without Spending Money
Supporting women-owned businesses doesn’t always mean pulling out your wallet.
Of course, buying a product, hiring a service, or booking an experience is a meaningful way to support a business. But not everyone is in a position to make a purchase—and even when you are, your support can extend far beyond a transaction.
A recommendation can introduce a business to its next customer. A thoughtful review can help someone feel confident choosing a new company. A social media share can put a business in front of hundreds of new people.
Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can give a small business isn’t money. It’s attention, credibility, connection, and opportunity.
Here are 10 ways to support women-owned businesses without spending money.
Why Supporting Women-Owned Businesses Doesn’t Always Mean Buying Something
Small businesses grow through more than sales. They grow through word of mouth, referrals, relationships, visibility, reviews, introductions, and opportunities.
For women entrepreneurs, those forms of support can be especially meaningful because they can help a business reach people it wouldn’t otherwise reach.
You don’t have to become a customer of every women-owned business you admire. You can support a business simply by helping more people discover it. And that’s something almost anyone can do.
10 Ways to Support Women-Owned Businesses for Free
1. Share Their Business With Someone Who Needs It
One of the easiest ways to support a women-owned business is to think about who in your life might need what they offer.
- Know someone looking for a photographer? Send them a photographer you love.
- A friend needs a business coach? Introduce them to one.
- Someone looking for a gift? Share a women-owned brand you trust.
The key is to make the recommendation specific and relevant.
Instead of saying, “You should check out this business,” try:
“You mentioned you’re looking for a new designer. I’ve worked with a woman-owned design studio I really love, and I think they’d be a great fit.”
That’s a much more useful introduction—and it costs you nothing.
2. Leave a Thoughtful Review
Reviews can be incredibly valuable to small businesses.
If you’ve purchased from, hired, or worked with a women-owned business and had a positive experience, take a few minutes to leave a genuine review. Depending on the business, you might be able to review it on:
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Google
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Yelp
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Facebook
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LinkedIn
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An industry-specific platform
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The business’s own website
Don’t underestimate the value of a few sentences describing what you appreciated. A thoughtful review can help a potential customer feel more confident about choosing a business they’ve never worked with before.
3. Recommend Them to Your Network
Your network may know people your favorite businesses don’t. That’s one of the reasons referrals are so powerful.
If you belong to a professional association, community group, neighborhood group, alumni network, or online community, keep the women-owned businesses you love in mind when relevant opportunities come up.
You don’t need to promote a business constantly. Just pay attention. When someone asks, “Does anyone know a good photographer?” or “Can anyone recommend a great web designer?”—that’s your moment.
4. Follow and Engage With Their Content
Following a business is free. Engaging with its content is free. And meaningful engagement can help a business stay connected with its audience.
When you genuinely enjoy someone’s content, consider:
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Following their account
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Commenting on a post
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Asking a question
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Sharing something you’ve learned
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Congratulating them on a milestone
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Responding to a story
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Joining their email list
The important word here is genuine. You don’t need to comment on everything a business posts. A thoughtful interaction is much more valuable than dozens of meaningless ones.
5. Share Their Social Media Posts
If a women-owned business creates something you think your audience would appreciate, share it.
You can:
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Share an Instagram post to your Stories
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Repost a LinkedIn article
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Share a business announcement
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Send a post to a friend
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Mention the business in your own content
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Tag someone who would benefit from seeing it
Always follow the platform’s sharing features and the business’s preferences when appropriate.
And when you share, add context. Tell people why you’re sharing it.
Your personal recommendation gives the business something it can’t buy: your credibility with your audience.
6. Refer Them to a Potential Customer
A referral is more than telling someone about a business. It’s actively connecting a business with an opportunity.
If you know someone who is looking for exactly what a women-owned business provides, ask whether they’d like an introduction.
For example:
“I know a woman-owned marketing agency that specializes in this. Would you like me to connect you?”
If both people are interested, make the introduction.
You don’t need to make the sale. You’ve simply created a connection that might not have happened otherwise.
7. Celebrate Their Wins
Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of milestones that deserve to be celebrated.
- A new business launch.
- A new product.
- A first hire.
- A new location.
- A major client.
- An award.
- A feature in the press.
- An anniversary.
When a women-owned business you follow reaches a milestone, celebrate it with them. Leave a congratulatory comment. Share the announcement. Send them a message.
Celebrating someone’s success doesn’t cost anything—and it helps create a culture where entrepreneurial accomplishments are visible and recognized.
8. Introduce Them to Someone in Your Network
Sometimes the most valuable support you can offer isn’t a customer, it’s a connection.
Think about the people you know who could help a business grow:
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Potential collaborators
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Event organizers
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Podcast hosts
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Journalists
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Community leaders
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Investors
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Recruiters
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Other business owners
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Potential partners
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Industry experts
If you see a genuine connection, make an introduction.
A single introduction can lead to a collaboration, speaking opportunity, media feature, partnership, or new customer.
You don’t have to know exactly what will come from the introduction. You just have to recognize when two people could benefit from knowing each other.
9. Invite Them Into Relevant Opportunities
Do you organize events? Know about speaking opportunities? Participate in panels? Work with brands looking for collaborators?
Think about the women-owned businesses in your network.
If an opportunity is genuinely relevant to someone’s expertise, invite them to apply, participate, pitch, or learn more.
This can be especially meaningful for entrepreneurs who are building visibility and expanding their networks.
Don’t send opportunities simply because someone is a woman-owned business.
Send them because they’re qualified and the opportunity is a good fit.
That’s a more meaningful form of support.
10. Become a Repeat Advocate
Perhaps the most powerful thing you can do is make supporting women-owned businesses part of your everyday habits.
You don’t have to spend money every time you encounter a business you love.
Instead, become someone who naturally thinks:
- Who do I know who needs this?
- Who should know about this business?
- Who could benefit from this person’s expertise?
- Who should I introduce them to?
Over time, you become more than a customer, you become an advocate. And advocates help businesses grow through something every entrepreneur needs: more people knowing they exist.
Small Actions Can Create Real Opportunities
It’s easy to assume that supporting a business requires making a purchase. But businesses are built through relationships, too.
- A referral can become a client.
- A review can become a sale.
- A share can become a new follower.
- An introduction can become a partnership.
- A recommendation can become someone’s first customer.
- And a simple message saying, “I thought of you when I saw this opportunity,” can open a door.
You don’t have to do all of these things. Choose the ones that feel natural to you and that genuinely benefit the businesses you’re supporting.
And remember: support should be authentic.
The goal isn’t to promote a business simply because it’s women-owned. It’s to recognize great businesses, share their work when it’s relevant, and help connect talented entrepreneurs with people and opportunities that are a good fit.
Start Discovering Women-Owned Businesses
One of the first steps to supporting women-owned businesses is knowing where to find them.
That’s why we created Built By Us.
Built By Us is a place to discover women-owned businesses across products, services, expertise, and experiences.
- You might find your next favorite brand.
- You might discover someone to hire.
- You might meet a business owner you can refer to a friend.
- Or you might simply find a business whose work deserves a little more attention.
Because sometimes supporting a business starts with something as simple as helping someone else discover it.
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