As homes have gotten smaller and sprouted wheels in the tiny house movement, what of the home office? When does it get its wheels? A couple of years ago, a European company started creating and renting out “wilderness offices” in tiny yet upscale trailers placed in relaxing rural settings. They were “off the grid”…
Your town probably has one: an empty church building. I’ve seen several converted to private homes, but I hadn’t seen one used as camping or lodging until this: champing, or camping in churches. ‘Champing’™ is the ultimate ‘slow tourism’ escape, with England’s historic churches offering their own unique havens of tranquility, a peaceful night’s sleep interrupted only…
Jerry Johnson issued a bit of a challenge in the comments, encouraging us all to brainstorm potential business ideas for young rural entrepreneurs. That reminded me of a terrific list of actual student businesses in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a list of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their…
In an era when we’re encouraging every rural business to look further outside their local market, it’s interesting to see a business go the other direction. Most rural auction companies use the internet to promote the items at their sales and to accept bids from far-flung customers. But one auction service I heard…
Guest Post by Micah Choquette Owner, Editor and Author of the Sapulpa Times, Sapulpa, Oklahoma, population 20,000 Angrily, I hit “Send” on the message, certain that I was burning a bridge by doing so, but at this point, I didn’t care. It was 2015 and I had just spent far too long chasing a deal with…
When Deb Brown and I spoke at the RuralX Summit, one of the ideas we mentioned was the tiny business village, where businesses pop up inside of storage sheds in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. Dylan Fulton and Camden Breitling, high school students from Miller, South Dakota, heard that idea and ran with it. Together with some supportive…
Melissa W. asked: What types of businesses would work in very small communities – less than 100, less than 250, less than 500? No matter what kind of business you want to start in a really small town, start small. Use the Innovative Rural Business Models (Tiny, Temporary, Together, Trucks and Trailers) to build up…
Working where you have a view of nature makes you more productive. There’s a business idea in that. One company is creating and renting out tiny offices in natural settings. They’re all decked out with wifi and their own solar power. So far, it’s only in Europe. Sounds like a winner for a small…
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