Everyone loves baby chicks. That’s probably why every Easter, we hear about families who buy chicks for their children, only to realize they grow up to be full size chickens that don’t really fit into their lives. One farmer in Nebraska turned that into a business idea: she rents chicks to families for Easter….
Setting business hours is a big mess. In our Survey of Rural Challenges, small business owners told us that trying to be open later hours with no success was their number one challenge, two years in a row. When Deb Brown and I did our Q&A session on The Future of Retail, several people asked…
We want our downtowns and our retail stores to be welcoming for all kinds of customers. We’re especially interested in bringing young families downtown for shopping and for special events. To do that, we have to think from their perspective about what keeps them from coming downtown. Their answers might surprise you. Jennifer Carlson…
People are happily using smart voice assistants more than ever. You know their names: Alexa, Siri, Google, Cortana. It’s so easy (and fun!) to just say what you want, and your magical assistant orders it for you. Then it shows up at your doorstep, and you’re living in the future! This isn’t great for…
I was talking with a friend about finding work as an independent professional. He was talking about finding work speaking for corporate clients, and together we came up with these questions. I think these questions might work for rural professionals like you, too, so I wanted to share them. Who are the next…
Despite the headlines, what we are witnessing is not the death of all retail. Retail is splitting in two. This time, small retailers are the big winners. Future of Retail Webinar Deb Brown and I are making this Future of Retail the subject of our next webinar at SaveYour.Town. We’ll talk about the underlying consumer trend driving this…
As you plan out conferences you want to attend this year, here’s a new rule to consider for after the event: The 2-to-1 rule: Schedule two days for implementation for every one day of the conference. (I heard that from Marc Pitman, who said he heard it from Elizabeth McCormick. ) Your implementation days…
Too often, our planning starts from what we don’t have. We focus on what to improve, what we lack, what we messed up last year. My friend, educator Kristie Pretti-Frontczak suggested a strengths assessment instead. Here are her questions to kick off your thinking: What do you aspire to accomplish within the next year, within…
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.
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.
We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers