How many times has your town lost its economic reason for being? Think back to the reason your town was founded. Did it start with farming or transportation? Maybe it was minerals or other natural resources. No matter what it was, I’m willing to bet that it’s not the prime driver in your town…
What event will we celebrate on Nov. 25th? Pat yourself on the back if you said “Small Business Saturday.” No, there isn’t any cake (well, there could be) and no one is getting any presents (at least not on that day, although we hope lots of them are purchased from your local businesses that day)….
A city councilmember from a town in Washington told me she was so excited about the idea of pop-up businesses that she brought up the idea of short-term 3 month leases with some building owners. They keel hauled her, she said. She just couldn’t get them to be as excited as she was and…
Both times we’ve run the Survey of Rural Challenges, small town business owners have picked the same top challenge: adapting to being open later hours. That means I’m always on the lookout for ideas that work to help bring more people downtown and are also successful at generating business for local stores. Cindy shared…
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”…
Lots of small towns struggle with retail, both retaining existing stores and encouraging new stores to open. In Elk City, Oklahoma, the municipal government actively encourages retail experiments by rebating some sales tax to new retail businesses. Economic Development Director Jim Mason told me about it at a regional meeting, and I thought it…
Have you ever just felt that your business and what you do is nothing special? No matter what you sell or where you are located or even where you market, your business faces lots of competition. And as you dig deeper into who your competition is and what they are doing, your feel nothing distinguishes your…
Reader Dave Tucci sent in this terrific question that you may identify with: Here in our small town Unionville, Ontario, Canada, (pop 9000) we have a free concert night every Thursday night from 7:30 to 9pm. We have awesome cover bands like Elton Rohn, Hotel California, Absolute Journey and many more. We draw crowds…
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