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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • Where to find photos online that you can use for your business
    entrepreneurship | marketing | tools

    Where to find photos online that you can use for your business

    ByBecky McCray September 4, 2017November 16, 2017

      Between writing blog posts, sharing on social media, and creating graphics for my business, I’m always using photos. As much as possible, I use my own photos or ones that rural friends have shared with me with permission to re-use them. But I still find places I need a photo that I don’t have…

    Read More Where to find photos online that you can use for your businessContinue

  • The marketing genius behind Nacho Business
    customer service | entrepreneurship | marketing

    The marketing genius behind Nacho Business

    ByBecky McCray August 28, 2017August 7, 2017

    Dateline: Aberdeen, South Dakota Reporting: Becky McCray and Deb Brown Subject: Nacho Business Deb and I can’t resist shed businesses, especially with great names. We stopped for nachos. We told him we had to, just with that name. “We hooked you with name alone?” he said, clearly gratified. Then he dumped a bunch more marketing…

    Read More The marketing genius behind Nacho BusinessContinue

  • Don stands in front of colorful paint samples.
    economic development | entrepreneurship | management | rural

    Who will run small town businesses when the owners retire? One unusual option you may not have considered

    ByBecky McCray August 21, 2017August 9, 2017

      It’s already happening. Older business owners are retiring and closing businesses because they can’t find buyers. Universities and business support agencies are scrambling to set up succession planning courses and workshops. Chambers of commerce are making desperate efforts to find buyers. But there’s an unusual option most people overlook: employee ownership. If the business…

    Read More Who will run small town businesses when the owners retire? One unusual option you may not have consideredContinue

  • Sign: 20 fine climbing or defacing water tower
    Best of | economic development | entrepreneurship | rural

    So what if they said it’s illegal? Doing business when it’s against the rules

    ByBecky McCray August 14, 2017January 6, 2020

        “Every one of your Innovative Rural Business Models is illegal!” That was the code enforcement guy at a recent event I spoke at. I just nodded and agreed. Yes, sure they are in some towns or in some circumstances. But so what? Don’t let an outdated law or rule stop a great idea…

    Read More So what if they said it’s illegal? Doing business when it’s against the rulesContinue

  • How to cope with wild swings in income using the pressure tank method
    Best of | entrepreneurship | finance | rural

    How to cope with wild swings in income using the pressure tank method

    ByBecky McCray August 7, 2017December 9, 2018

    When I was a kid, we had a water well at our house. The pump would run long enough to fill up the tank, then shut off. So the water pressure in the house was either all or nothing, kind of like your income. Being self-employed is almost synonymous with wild swings in income. Compared…

    Read More How to cope with wild swings in income using the pressure tank methodContinue

  • Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small towns
    economic development | entrepreneurship | ideas | rural | youth

    Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small towns

    ByBecky McCray July 31, 2017July 30, 2017

      Jerry Johnson issued a bit of a challenge in the comments, encouraging us all to brainstorm potential business ideas for young rural entrepreneurs. That reminded me of a terrific list of actual student businesses in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a list of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their…

    Read More Business ideas for young entrepreneurs in small townsContinue

  • Where your future entrepreneurs and business leaders come from
    Best of | community | economic development | POV | rural

    Where your future entrepreneurs and business leaders come from

    ByBecky McCray July 25, 2017December 9, 2018

      A reader wrote to me about an influx of low-income people into his town, using subsidized housing and other community services. He said a town council member had talked about them as “a drain on resources” and “dead weight.” I got angry when I read that. But it took me awhile to figure out…

    Read More Where your future entrepreneurs and business leaders come fromContinue

  • Clean Your Own Sidewalk
    community | entrepreneurship | rural

    Clean Your Own Sidewalk

    ByBecky McCray July 17, 2017November 25, 2018

      One of the towns I visited recently has a dirty sidewalk problem. It looks like every time it rained, dirt and leaves and stuff wash out of the streets and onto the sidewalks. Pretty messy. “We did a cleanup project once,” someone said. But dirt, like life, keeps happening. You’ll have a cleaner town…

    Read More Clean Your Own SidewalkContinue

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