todd and leisl gibson are also hoping for a surge in orders tomorrow. the husband and wife team own a craft products business called leisl and company. small business saturday was also their biggest sales day last year. >> that one saturday, we did about 20 times our typical order volume for a regular saturday. >> reporter: special promotions and marketing clearly help drive sales. but the firms say customers also like supporting business owners they know. >> they like the fact that they feel like they know leisl. and they know todd. and they see pictures of our daughter. and they know when they buy patterns from us, they're helping support us. >> reporter: supporting small businesses is also good for the overall economy. over 99% of businesses in the u.s. are small businesses and they employ about half the nation's workforce. >> small businesses are critical to the economy. if you go back the last 20 years, they've created most of the new jobs in the u.s. economy. and we know that we are struggling with job creation. so shopping small is actually one w