Starting a business is a risky endeavor. But knowing does not stop many small-business owners. Every day owners open the doors to their business. Some end up satisfied with the results but many others decide, at some point, to close the doors. The reasons for such closures are often not a secret. Talk with any…
Norfolk County, Ontario, is home to dozens of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their Student Start Up project. Kids can apply with a simple “business plan” template and may receive $200 in start up funds to kick them off. This year (2018), they funded 39 student entrepreneurs….
Empty buildings in small towns are often empty for a reason, and that reason is often that they need work before any business could use them. Remodeling costs can be astonishingly expensive, so people often ask where they can find grants, loans or other funds to help them. Here are some of my favorite “usual…
First impressions are so important to your business!!! If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have read about the importance of first impressions. Those first impressions may be of the outside of your store and your sign. It also covers what people see as they enter the door and how you act…
Rural areas and small towns can tap the rising tourism trend of vacations from our phones. And new research shows ways to take advantage of the trend. Lots of rural areas already have poor cell phone reception and slow broadband, so we might as well take advantage of it, right? Philip Lovell Pearce and Li…
News flash: Rural areas already have autonomous vehicles Surprised? Both farming and mining already use fully or partially autonomous technology. I bet you already know about GPS-guided tractors, and you might know that big mines have big self-driving trucks and equipment. Almost no one mentions these highly-rural industries when talking about autonomous vehicles (AVs) for…
One of the challenges of a business is developing your team of employees. Previous posts have discussed how to find and hire new employees (Hiring New Employees, Time to Hire, and Employees are Your Foundation are three examples). The difficult part though is getting everyone to work together and focused on the end goal. Business…
Any rural business owner can offer an apprenticeship Kevin Rubash is now the owner and designer at Interior Spaces which is a interior home design business in Webster City, Iowa (population 8,000). Kevin designs interiors for homes and business and sells everything from bedding to furniture to flooring and curtains. He got his first chance…
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