Two rural development resources worth exploring, both with business and entrepreneurship sections: Rural Community Building blogAmerican Farm Bureau Federation put together this blog “to enhance the quality of life in rural communities so that future generations will want to stay on the farm.” Sabrina Matteson, AFBF director of rural affairs is the lead author. Entrepreneurship […]
Retail Store Industry Benchmarks
Another great source for business intelligence: the Retail Owners Institute offers industry benchmark data on six key financial ratios. In a section called Store Benchmarks, they break down industry averages into 51 different retail lines. They give five years of data for these six financial ratios: Current Ratio Gross Margin Percentage Return on Assets Percentage […]
New Online Small Business Tax Workshop
New business owners always have questions about taxes. I visited this IRS-made site. It is remarkably “user friendly” and intuitive. The video is of an excellent quality and there are many features that make it very easy to use. You should, at least, go watch/listen to the Introduction. Then you can chose whichever area is […]
Meet Mike Knutson of ReImagine Rural
Mike Knutson is someone you should meet. He believes small, rural communities need to “Reimagine” their futures. At “ReImagine Rural” (www.ReImagineRural.com) he and others attempt to inspire rural residents to look at the futures of their communities differently and to base their community development efforts on innovative, transformative ideas. I think I favorite or share […]











