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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • Clear coffee travel mug with iced coffee, and a local newspaper on a busy desk.
    community | economic development | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | shop local | social media | tools

    Let’s Talk Newspapers: Working Together Locally

    ByDeb Brown April 17, 2026April 29, 2026

    Hometown newspapers are small businesses, just like the hardware store, the cafe, or the auto repair shop. They’re not just “media.” They’re employers, sponsors, storytellers, and neighbors, and their work ripples through every corner of the community. This year, collaboration is a focus of ours at SaveYour.Town, and I want to talk about how newspapers…

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  • Testimonial by Paula Jensen from this article and a photo of the book
    brag basket | community | rural | success

    Review of The Idea Friendly Guide book by Becky McCray

    BySmall Biz Survival April 6, 2026April 6, 2026

    Thank you to Paula Jensen, one of our contributors, for sharing her thoughts on my book, The Idea Friendly Guide. I’m particularly honored because Paula has worked and lived in rural communities for decades. She sees and understands small towns in a way that few people do. She liked the guide so much, she ordered copies…

    Read More Review of The Idea Friendly Guide book by Becky McCrayContinue

  • Red cafeteria tray with barbecue sandwich, beans, cookie, and drink sits on white-clothed table. Diverse diners of various ages eat and talk at long tables in community hall. Volunteers serve from kitchen area in background.
    community | entrepreneurship | rural

    Want to Open a Cafe? Start With Wing Night Wednesdays

    ByBecky McCray March 13, 2026

    You want to open a place to eat in your small town. Maybe a coffee shop, a little cafe, a bakery. You’ve been thinking about it for months, maybe years. But you’re not sure if enough people will come. You don’t know what they’ll actually order. You’re not certain you can handle running it day…

    Read More Want to Open a Cafe? Start With Wing Night WednesdaysContinue

  • group of volunteers sitting at a table
    community | rural

    Want your town to do well? Welcome new people as leaders

    ByPaula Jensen March 1, 2026

    The Leadership Myth That’s Holding Us Back The Community Coach | Paula Jensen In small rural communities, leadership matters. But are we unintentionally shrinking our own leadership pool? We care deeply about who leads. We trust the people who show up, pitch in, and carry history with them. But over time, we’ve absorbed quiet assumptions…

    Read More Want your town to do well? Welcome new people as leadersContinue

  • A mini bottle of Whalers Rum with a mini card that says, "Yes I really run a liquor store" and listing my social media handles
    community | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | shop local

    Local Products Make the Best Swag

    ByBecky McCray January 5, 2026December 22, 2025

    Jim Katzman wrote a great article on Medium about creating swag that customers actually want. One of his tips was “Leverage Local Pride.” That got me thinking: Local products would make the best swag. Local products are easier Instead of designing a batch of custom pens or ordering another lot of logo coffee mugs, walk…

    Read More Local Products Make the Best SwagContinue

  • Covers of the Idea Friendly Guide as ebook and paperback
    community | economic development | rural

    How to be Idea Friendly – book review

    ByRob Hatch November 21, 2025December 15, 2025

      I grew up in a small town in Maine, but I don’t think of myself as a small-town guy. My parents were involved in local community service groups. My Dad was the Cub Scout leader, a member of the Jaycees and the Elks club. And I remember helping him and other volunteers build a…

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  • A screenshot of the Common Ground Coffee and Market Instagram feed, showing four images, a group of people with valentine hearts, a group of staff members, one person facing the camera for an explainer video, and one video with text that says "open the shop with me"
    community | customer service | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | trends

    Create customer experiences online like Open the Shop With Me videos, and in person, like Silent Book Club

    ByBecky McCray March 23, 2025August 6, 2025

    When Kathleen Minogue of Crowdfund Better mentioned Common Ground Coffee and Market to me, I found their Instagram feed was full of stealable ideas for small business social media marketing. We first talked about how they let customers know about changes to their hours. They’re in Boise, Idaho, which I realize is not a small…

    Read More Create customer experiences online like Open the Shop With Me videos, and in person, like Silent Book ClubContinue

  • 10 Years of Rural Insights. What small town people see as their biggest challenges and what topics they most want help with. Survey of Rural Challenges, report written by Becky McCray and Deb Brown. Challenges, assets, actions
    announcement | community | economic development | entrepreneurship | resources | rural | success | Survey of Rural Challenges | trends | workforce | youth

    Survey of Rural Challenges 2015 – 2025 results

    ByBecky McCray February 3, 2025February 3, 2025

    Download the PDF report Executive Summary The Survey of Rural Challenges asks rural people to share their ground-level insight into the challenges they face and the assets they can use. This report analyzes over 2200 responses from communities across the US and Canada from 2015 to 2024. The responses show what’s changing and what isn’t…

    Read More Survey of Rural Challenges 2015 – 2025 resultsContinue

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