We’re 15 days from 2010. It’s time to give your small business a jump start. That means planning, record keeping, and goal setting. I have four suggestions for you. 1. Draw up a Simplified Business Plan. I know you don’t want to do a big, five pound business plan, like you would do to apply…
“Business intelligence” means gathering the right information that can help you improve your business, or move up to a new level. If you have internet access today, you can gather a ton of amazing research, if you know the right sources to tap. So we’re starting a series on great sources for business intelligence for…
Greg Corombos and John Duoba from the Business Owner’s Toolkit Radio interviewed me for their radio show. We covered a lot of ground, including: What’s different in rural business, and what can all businesses learn? Do shop local campaigns work? How do you start one? What are some keys to success in small retail stores?…
Our friend Chel Wolverton helped me connect with award-winning novelist J.C. Hutchins to talk about promoting on little or no budget. I thought small businesses could take some lessons from his success. J.C. is best known for his high-tech 7th Son thriller trilogy, which he released as free serialized audiobooks from 2006-07. With more than 5 million…
Jeanne Cole, a regular contributor here, put together some basics for small business, for the Small Business 101 workshop held in Alva. Here are her 4 top tips. 1. Do a business plan for the right reason.Most people only write a business plan when they want money. But the top reason to write a business…
Many times, it is worth paying for help with what seem like free tools like social media, websites, or even photography. Look at it this way. If you want to build a house, you probably already have a hammer and all the tools you need. You can find some lumber pretty cheap. There are even…
Ted Rubin, Chief Marketing Officer for Eyes Lips Face, took time out at BlogWorld Expo to tell us how ELF started small, and has grown. When Ted says how many “skews” they have, he’s referring to SKU’s, or Stock Keeping Units. In essence, it’s how many products they make. (Bonus points to you retail-savvy folks…
[Barbara Winter is one of the few folks talking about small town business. Her special focus is on being joyfully jobless. I’m thrilled she offered up this guest post. – Becky ] Not long ago, I found myself seated next to a small town enthusiast on a flight to Dallas. This man was a former…
Since 2006, this site has been helping people like you in small towns move forward without waiting on outside experts, big budgets, or perfect plans. You don’t need any of that to get started.
If you care about your business, your downtown, or your community, you’ll find ideas here you can actually use. Take one. Try it out. Let me know how it goes for you.
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