“Everything gigantic in American [retail] is about to get smaller or die.” James Kunstler wrote in 2013. He said big box retailers were on the brink of scale implosion, and that “every element of economic reality is now poised to squash them.” Fast forward to 2017, and we’ve gone over the brink. Washington Post reported last month…
You and I talk a lot about encouraging more entrepreneurs in your community. Maybe you’re wondering about where to find those potential entrepreneurs. A couple of people have asked that question lately, so let’s look into it. The more you cut down barriers to entry, the more people will be able to try different…
Rural and small town businesses aren’t limited to the downtown mom-and-pop stores or the businesses recruited into the industrial park any more. In fact, rural businesses today don’t really have to look like any of the traditional business models for small towns. The traditional way to go into business in a small town was to…
In a world driven by frenetic change, which small towns are going to thrive? We know rural people play a key role in our society, so some small towns will have a future. Some small towns are innovative and progressive. Other small towns are stuck in the past. Is there anything that tells us…
You don’t have to settle for a normal business. Rural businesses are exploring new shapes, new locations and new ways of doing business. Here are six innovative ways people are building businesses in small towns today. 1. Pop-ups These are temporary business that may last from just one day to several months. You’ve seen short-term…
A news story from Garland, Texas, got me thinking about what you can do with a roofless building. We came up with a lot of ideas for empty buildings, so I knew we could do something with roofless buildings, too. You probably have one in your downtown. Maybe a building burned, or maybe the roof…
In September 2013, we converted our liquor store from using an old-fashioned cash register and paper records to using an iPad-based Point of Sale system. I learned so much in the process that I knew you’d want to me to share. Our Old System: lots of paper When my mom bought her liquor store in…
Taking credit cards used to be a big deal for small businesses. It involved setting up a merchant account, passing a credit check, leasing or buying equipment and agreeing to a multi-year commitment. That was just the getting started part. The traditional merchant processing industry standard seemed to be lots of fees, and little…
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