Small businesses form the cornerstone of local economies. In larger cities they are important, but in rural areas, they are crucial, not only economically but for the variety of products and services they provide. To begin with, the economic impact of the small business is sizable. Research shows that for every $100 spent, $68 dollars […]
Archives for January 2016
Carry your good news in the Brag Basket
The Brag Basket is open! This one is for January 8-11, 2016. Bring your good news, big or small, to share with everyone. What good news will you share? What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week congratulate a friend applaud for each other confess […]
Building a Sustainable Business
As you probably know, if you are going into business, the odds your business will be around in five years are not good. But they aren’t as bad as you may think, either. Approximately one-third of businesses close within two years. At the five-year mark, about one-half of all businesses have closed. We don’t approach […]
How to get small town businesses to cooperate
Businesses in small towns don’t work together very well. That was one of the top findings in our Survey of Rural Challenges. Survey answers included a lot of examples of this inability to cooperate: “Many of our merchants won’t participate in group promos.” “Businesses don’t cooperate with each other!” “The ‘competiveness’ of small town […]