Here’s an entrepreneurial idea for any small town. Build “a community of small businesses” like 1440 Main Street in Ferdinand, Indiana. via @ahoffman50 on Twitter. Each business can support the others in promotions, in sharing customers, in splitting expenses. Each entrepreneur can benefit from brainstorming and networking with the others. Everyone can learn something from…
If you have ever sold a home, you can sell your business Owning a business in a small town has many benefits, but one of the drawbacks is the difficulty of finding a buyer for your business when you decide its time to move on. The pool of potential acquirers is smaller and capital for…
When I was a little kid, my mom and dad owned their own trucking business. One winter, things weren’t going great. In fact, things looked pretty bad. They went home to visit their parents in Alva, and cut a big load of firewood while they were there. Then they headed back to Oklahoma City, where…
If you have ever sold a home, you can sell your business Owning a business in a small town has many benefits, but one of the drawbacks is the difficulty of finding a buyer for your business when you decide it is time to move on. The pool of potential acquirers is smaller and capital…
First rule: Don’t panic. You have probably done nothing wrong. In the past 5 or so years, my clients have received about a dozen of those lovely letters from the IRS. There has been no change for any of them. The IRS conducts many of what they call “letter audits.” These are merely requests for…
[We’re starting a weekly series on selling a business in a small town, with John Warrillow, the author of Built To Sell: Turn Your Business Into One You Can Sell. John did extra research to really understand the small town perspective, and the result is an outstanding series for you. -Becky] If you have ever sold…
You knew that when I saw a session at SXSW on How to Be a Startup Outside of Silicon Valley, I would have to go! It was lead by Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson, the founders of crowdSPRING based in Chicago. (I owe Ross and Mike a big thank you. They did such an excellent…
Being a successful entrepreneur requires some particular skills. Many programs exist to teach entrepreneurship in schools, in community organizations and in entrepreneurial support groups, but debate continues over whether entrepreneurship can really be taught. Are you born an entrepreneur, or can you learn to become one? Marc Nathan (formerly of the Houston Technology Center) and…
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