When you succeed, they will say…
“Well, look at who his granddad is. They all have money. He had everything handed to him.”
“She had nothing to do with it. My cousin does all the real work there.”
“Must be nice to have all that money without doing anything for it.”
When you fail, they will say… 
“Yeah, she was doing it all wrong. She should never have been in business.”
“That was a stupid idea for this town.”
“I told him it wouldn’t work.”
“I could have done that better.”
No matter what you do, they will talk about you. And sometimes it will hurt.
I don’t have an answer. I just want you to know it’s inevitable.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
“Generally, the more vehement the condemnation, the less likely the person has even tried it. I learned this when I discovered that the people who were most anti-Macintosh were the people who had never used one.” – Guy Kawasaki
Lessons for Entrepreneurs: Ignoring Is Bliss and Then Some
Derrick, not just in small towns, huh? Thanks for sharing Guy’s perspective and answers.
Becky, I was going to say, it’s talk all over and not just in small town. Maybe just those with small ideas and small dreams.
Thanks, Paul. Jennifer Navarrete (@epodcaster) said, “I think your ‘Small Town Talk’ could just as easily have been ‘People Talk’. I say, ‘Less Talking, More Doing’.”
I learned the hard way that small towns talk and the choices you make are put on display.
Though Jennifer’s right. With the wide open doors of social media, everyone can and does talk.
Do your best. Remember that you’re human.
Chel, thank you. “Do your best. Remember that you’re human.” I think that is exactly it.
what’s that they say about a duck’s back?
social media, primary school, college, the office, the cities- thankfully though, there’s always support to balance it out.
I think.
Meg, I’m a firm believer in using your support. And just to balance out negative talk, I keep a file of positive comments and compliments. It’s nice to look through occasionally, and find a bit of reaffirmation.
Becky, great discussion. OMG you took a chapter out of the business book I’m writing. Those phrases about success and failure are true EVERYwhere. In the small towns, we know everyone, so we hear more of it. But it happens in the big cities and corporations as well. Those envious of success love to knock it down. Those wannabees use the failures to bolster their fear of trying. I keep thinking of “The Donald.” WHen he fell, everyone talks. When he’s movin’ up – the bankers are right there. Fickle world. Do you’re thing. After all, how do we know what we really are good at and really want, if we don’t take chances. And chances imply failure. Except, I say, “Failure is discovering what we don’t know. So either learn more or go on to the next thing.” Thanks for writing with such clarity.
Thank you, Ellie. I hope this offers a little reassurance to the people going through tough times.