It’s the essential entrepreneurial skill that is under appreciated: knowing what not to do. In small towns, entrepreneurs tend to have more than one line of business. Some have seasonal businesses, and some just have different lines of income within their business. Where we have fewer people in our local market, it makes sense…
Recently I was reviewing the different Income Producing Activities we do at SaveYour.Town, and divided them into these three buckets. I thought the same structure might help you in reviewing your own business. The Big 3 IPA’s: Discovering, Nurturing and Delivering The 3 key income-producing areas of your business are discovering, nurturing and delivering….
There are several common thoughts on the key elements to a successful business. Two of those most often mentioned are to build the business around a need or to build your business around your passion. While there are examples of both elements working, realistically, a combination of the two provide the strongest launching pad. Passion…
Every small town has empty buildings downtown. Whether they are completely empty or just used for storage, they can make your downtown look vacant. If the building has windows, though, there’s an opportunity to dress them up a bit and maybe even promote another business at the same time. In the picture above, a…
Retaining your existing customer base is one key to the long term growth and success of your business. Customer retention begins your thought process of having a business not only today but tomorrow, next month, next year, and even 10 years from now. It takes you from being upset at the customer who leaves with…
Business owners often take customer loyalty for granted. Yet, in this competitive market, nothing could be further from the truth. The returning customer often is key to the bottom line of just about any business. So often you only see them spending $10 in your store and never making any big purchases. But if they…
Many small towns face an incredibly expensive hurdle to saving and using their downtown buildings: code compliance costs. Most municipalities have adopted one of the standard international building codes. Which are, well, standard. And no matter who does the inspections or enforcement, everyone thinks their compliance person is over-zealous. I can relate. One smart move…
You have hear the phrase, “Give the customer what he or she needs or wants.” As a business owner, you know that is true and so you focus on providing goods and services that meet those needs. You focus on specific solutions, quality, and timely delivery. You work hard to ensure that the product works…
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