As a business owner in a small town, I know it can feel like you’re constantly barraged with requests for donations, to serve on committees or groups and to volunteer for good causes. You cannot and should not say yes to them all. You have to learn to say no. Oklahoma native and now Netherlands…
Tidbits from the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, and what they mean for small town retail businesses: Nearly all (94%) U.S. consumers say that shopping at small businesses makes them “feel good.” That’s good news for small town retail businesses. It’s up to us to reinforce the good feelings by making the shopping experience…
One factor can be found among most small-business owners who start, survive, thrive and grow. That factor is the willingness to leave their comfort zone. Business-development experts frequently encourage small-business owners to be attuned to the market and ready to adjust to outside influences and changes in their business environment. Yet internally, owners, or those…
Boring tools are boring. Old-fashioned ideas lack the excitement of shiny new tools. But if your business has a problem with following processes, I have a really boring old tool that can help. You probably don’t need to learn anything new. You probably know the processes in your business really well. You probably can list…
Small Business Saturday and its Shop Small slogan get a lot of attention, but they aren’t the only holiday shopping project small town businesses can join for more buzz this season. Shift Your Shopping Shift Your Shopping is a theme you can adopt for any local shopping campaign. The emphasis is on shifting more of…
The Small Business Saturday® celebration and Shop Small slogan are great for small business and most closely identified with founding partner American Express. This brings much-appreciated attention to local merchants and independent small businesses. In the US, it falls right after Black Friday (when customers rush big box stores for well-publicized deals) and before Cyber Monday (when…
Tips and Resource Digest: Help for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners October, 2014 Another month has zipped on by. As you get this you will be deep in the middle of getting ready to meet trick or treater’s at your door. Wouldn’t it be great if you had customers who were as eager…
Last week, we talked about how big box retailers are getting smaller. Why is the big box retail sector making this expensive and difficult change to smaller stores? Because consumers have already started changing. Humorist David Sedaris summed up this consumer feeling in an interview. “I’d rather go to an actual shop — preferably a small…
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