Deb Brown, co-founder of SaveYour.Town, joins us today to share a story about a group of guys she met in Akron, Iowa. I’ve been talking about the old boys at the coffee clubs for a long time, and usually as members of the Committee of Negativity. You know them – they meet for coffee and…
Your town probably has one: an empty church building. I’ve seen several converted to private homes, but I hadn’t seen one used as camping or lodging until this: champing, or camping in churches. ‘Champing’™ is the ultimate ‘slow tourism’ escape, with England’s historic churches offering their own unique havens of tranquility, a peaceful night’s sleep interrupted only…
Earlier this year, I did a blog post on the importance of “Family Businesses in the Economy.” Most of us patronize these businesses, but probably don’t think much about them. Who are the owners? What types of businesses do they run? How successful are they? Prior to retirement, I was part of a group of…
Want to have a successful small business? Then build your network. Comments like this are not uncommon. Good networking is one factor in building a successful, sustainable small-business. Both anecdotal information and research supports such claims. We have written about it previously in this blog when discussing “Networking for Business Success.” Most articles, like this…
It’s already happening. Older business owners are retiring and closing businesses because they can’t find buyers. Universities and business support agencies are scrambling to set up succession planning courses and workshops. Chambers of commerce are making desperate efforts to find buyers. But there’s an unusual option most people overlook: employee ownership. If the business…
I am not a regular television watcher but happened to catch a “60 Minutes” episode recently (http://tinyurl.com/60Minutes-socialmedia). The episode focused on how influencers are marketing using social media. Although I follow and use several social media platforms to help reach small-business owners, most of this information was new to me. But it was not surprising….
“Every one of your Innovative Rural Business Models is illegal!” That was the code enforcement guy at a recent event I spoke at. I just nodded and agreed. Yes, sure they are in some towns or in some circumstances. But so what? Don’t let an outdated law or rule stop a great idea…
When I was a kid, we had a water well at our house. The pump would run long enough to fill up the tank, then shut off. So the water pressure in the house was either all or nothing, kind of like your income. Being self-employed is almost synonymous with wild swings in income. Compared…
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