Many small town businesses enjoy a kind of monopoly: they are the only source for their product in their location. If you are the only pizza place in town, you feel like you have an advantage. But what do you do when you find out competition is opening soon? Do you hate the new business,…
Ratings help your customers decide. They help customers decide which product to buy, but more importantly, they help customers decide whether to buy at all. Online rating sites have shaken up almost every business category. You can adapt that idea in your business whether you sell products in a downtown store, services online, or something…
The notion that you have to be born an entrepreneur is just a myth. Similarly, no time is perfect, nor do you need to be an expert or even have worked in the industry, to be a successful small-business owner. Starting and operating a successful business can be achieved by just about anyone. There is…
Today, food isn’t limited to restaurants. Food trucks, pop up cafes, and other mobile food options are taking hold. But what works for big cities doesn’t necessarily work for small towns. What are the rural options for mobile food? In northwest Oklahoma, we commonly see barbecue trailers and trucks. At events like festivals and fairs,…
Just because you own the business does not mean you are the right person to be the leader. That may seem like a bold statement. We take it for granted that the business owner will be leader both in terms of daily activities and long-term planning. And research generally supports this idea. Yet studies have…
We just finished with National Small Business Week, and now we turn around and talk about Independents Week. What’s the difference, and why does it matter? Small business is a designation of size. So anything under 500 employees, according to Small Business Administration definition. I don’t know about your small town, but in mine, 500…
As small-business owners know, a business needs customers coming in the door to survive. But a common fallacy is that customers will flock to your store just because you open the doors. Building a customer base is a huge challenge, but it is reality. Even with a great product, you need to let customers know…
Photos are a critical promotion tool for your small business, and visuals remain a top trend in tourism. If you’ve been scattering your online photos from Facebook to TwitPic to Instagram, now is a good time to look at what has changed with Flickr. With 1TB of storage space for your photos, Flickr now gives…
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