Rural small businesses face a big workforce challenge. We are dealing, right now, with issues that will hit big city businesses soon. Over at Small Business Trends, Anita Campbell has a report on the coming shortages in the labor market. My Small Biz take on this? We must grow and train our own people. The…
From Ze Frank: on life i don’t think stairs actually exist. as soon as you step on one its a floor. stairs are just small, kind-of-boring floors that you have to stand on to get where you want to go. So why did I post this? To get you to think differently about everyday things….
Interns can help your business with new ideas, youthful enthusiasm, future employees, and public exposure, not to mention the cheap or free labor. Look to local, regional, and statewide colleges, universities, vo-techs, and community colleges for potential talent. Most offer credit to students for internships, and many have trouble finding enough places to send students!…
All the best ideas are borrowed (or stolen). So have you taken any field trips lately? Similar businesses may be the most obvious targets, but also add dis-similar businesses in your region to your list. Take a good hard look at businesses you visit frequently, scrutinize their ideas. Steal shamelessly! Compare your work to others’….
Nebraska borrowed this idea from North Dakota. So you can borrow it, too. a Marketplace for Entrepreneurs. The Marketplace idea is patterned after a North Dakota event that’s been attracting 7,000 people for the past 17 years. The Marketplace is based on the belief that small towns must look within for economic development, not count…
Ed Morrison is so on the ball. Here’s an item from his latest round-up of economic development news. The undersecretary for rural development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a clear focus for rural development: renewable energy, broadband access and location. Read more. To these three, most knowledgeable observers would add entrepreneurship: growing a…
A recent post at Vinography blog explores “Numerical Ratings: Consumer Friend or Spawn of Devil?“ What’s the general application? Numerical ratings can help customers decide to whether buy and decide what to buy. Are you the “in-house” expert, whether on a product or service? Can you rate your products or offerings? Can you position yourself…
(And that’s why women are better at business than we get credit for!) Business is relationship building. What brought this on? Two articles. One posed the question, are you treating your customers as guests, or as friends? The second asked whether you are capturing your website visitors’ emails so you can continue to build a…
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