• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

3 Small Town Business Ideas

By Becky McCray

Lots of people arrive here looking for rural business ideas. That’s why I keep coming up with more and more ideas you can use to start your own small town business. Here are three new ones to spur your thinking.

1941 Kerr canning manual
My grandmother’s
1941 Kerr canning manual

Teach canning classes
If you learned to can from your grandmother, and you can quote the Ball Blue Book from memory, then you could be teaching people. I heard from @SlowMoneyFarm that canning classes go as high as $150 apiece.

This one is just weird
A food truck for pets. I have no clue why this popped into my mind, but there it is. Someone is probably already doing it, but you could adapt it for small town festivals and fairs.

Bring outside retailers in
Few small towns have a perfect retail system. We all have holes. Take a look at what folks can’t get locally, and then set up a delivery service. I read about people bringing in IKEA furniture or Costco discount items from Inspired Livelihood. Think of it as any other group buying service. People put in orders, and you deliver the items. And for the sake of your hometown, try not to duplicate your existing merchants.

Want more small town business ideas? Look through our free booklet, 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest by this Author
Becky McCray

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.

www.beckymccray.com
  • Will trendy axe throwing and escape room businesses last? More experience-based retail: the Hat Bar
  • Create customer experiences online like Open the Shop With Me videos, and in person, like Silent Book Club
  • How to let customers know when changing your business hours

August 8, 2011 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, ideas, rural Tagged With: service businesses

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Tim Bickers says

    August 8, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    :) I got a good smile out of the food truck for pets idea! Now that’s creative! My mother-in-law recently started teaching craft classes (weaving, pottery, decorative gord art – yes, GORD ART!). She gets about 5-10 people together for each class and has these “parties” at someone’s home.

    She charges about $25-30 a person per class and she does them a couple times a month. It’s gotten her name out – her ultimate goal is to do art and color consulting in retail with small businesses. She is well on her way!

    Just thought I’d share.

    Thanks!

    Loading...
  2. Becky McCray says

    August 8, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    Tim, I love the gourd art! Crafts are making a big comeback, and rural areas and small towns can become major craft centers.

    Loading...

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local"Move Your Money, bank local, invest localMulticolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A few people shopping in an attractive retail store in refurbished downtown building.

TREND 2025: Retail’s Big Split: what small town retailers can do now

99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission

Three kids in a canoe

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2025 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in
%d