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Business plans are not worth the paper they’re written on

By Deb Brown

Small Steps with kettle corn

by Deb Brown At least, the old way of doing them Writing a business plan is an intense project that takes up a lot of your time. You spend weeks and weeks on it, and you’re not even sure everything in it is correct. Your financial projections are just wild guesses. You’re not even open […]

February 6, 2020 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, family business, planning, rural, success Tagged With: Building Possibility, business plans, Deb Brown, entrepreneurs, guest post, idea friendly, pop ups, small business, small steps, small town

How to get the city to suspend the rules for you

By Deb Brown

A woman carries an up-cycled chair she bought at Junque Fest surrounded by a diverse crowd

  By Deb Brown When I was Chamber of Commerce Director in Webster City, Iowa, one of our big events was Junquefest, a three day event where vendors come to town and sell all kinds of junque. We wanted to close the streets and let the vendors park their trailers by their booths. That was […]

January 7, 2020 Filed Under: community, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: Climate, community, Deb Brown, events, permission, regulations, rules

Using events to promote service and industry businesses

By Deb Brown

Events that showcase your non-retail small business  You want people to learn about your business. Events sometimes help with that. You’re just not sure how to create an event for non-retail businesses that people will come to. Who goes to the insurance agency if they don’t need insurance? Who goes to the packing plant unless […]

September 11, 2019 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural Tagged With: chamber of commerce, events, experience, experience economy, industry, manufacturing, marketing, non-retail, promotions, service businesses, tours

How do you start a microbrewery? With micro-steps

By Deb Brown

  Guest Post by Deb Brown When I visited Decatur County, Iowa, several people said that wanted a brewery. They talked about the big barriers in their way: finding the right building, the right funding, the right people. The big idea seems really hard this way. Why not start smaller? Start by using the Idea […]

March 11, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: building a business, Deb Brown, economic development, entrepreneurship, guest post, idea friendly, networking, startup, video

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