MINNEAPOLIS — Black Friday is behind us, and Saturday is all about shopping at local small businesses.

Communities were filled with shoppers trying out new stores in their neighborhood or checking out old favorites.

It’s not just the big stores offering deals to customers this weekend. A decade after it started, small business Saturday is just as important for small shops as Black Friday is for big ones.

“I came from big retail and it’s changed my life,” said Haley Davis owner of Bell Weather. “Being a small business owner. It’s been so fun and humbling, exciting, rewarding, and I am living the dream. I feel like I really do.”

There are more than 533,000 small business is Minnesota. They make up 99.5 percent of business in the entire state. Employing more than 1.3 million employees or just over 46% of the state’s workforce.

But being a small business owner can come with some big challenges.

“One of the real difficulties, I think, is just how much things have increased in cost for production,” said Bee Pallesen. “So, our profit margins are narrow, but we, you know, we make it work and we enjoy it.”

“I’ve had my lows where I’ve used to stay in my store,” said Greg Ketter, owner of Dreamhaven books and comics. “I didn’t have a place to stay other than in the shop. And then I’d be able to now have a family and own a house and things.”

But they say it’s worth it to keep jobs and character in the community.

“It does create a sense of community when I see the same people walking by, you know, they’ll pick their head and say ‘Hello’ not just to shop. I think it’s that sense of community is more important today than it’s ever been and continuing to have those connections with people.”