Can something as mundane as a bike rack be art? Sure! Hey, if power and light poles can be art, anything is up for grabs! Norman, Oklahoma, is admittedly not a small town, with a population of over 110,000 and the home to a major university. But, I love their back racks. Any small…
May 4-8 is Small Business Week in the U.S. this year. So what do you see when you walk into or drive by your local small businesses? If you are like many of us, you see a place that offers you goods and services, a place you can go to and get what you want….
Do you have a paper brochure for a walking tour? or barn quilt tour? or driving tour? Here are seven ways to take that same tour, reach new potential visitors, and make your tourism website easier to find in searches. See, different types of people visit different places online. So every different way you can post your…
When you bring together the idea of pop up (temporary) businesses with the tiny house movement, you get tiny business villages. They make great sense for small towns and rural places. Garden Sheds Turned Incubator: Tionesta Market Village Tionesta, Pennsylvania, (population 500) had a lot that was vacant for 10 years after a fire…
Knowing what your customer wants is the base to building a successful business. Of course, you still must meet that need, let customers know you have what they want, and price it at a level that customers feel is acceptable. But the process begin with knowing the problem they are trying to solve. Market research is…
Is 2015 the year you want to start your small business? If so, have you sat down to develop your business plan yet? Check out most how-to business guides and you will find a section on writing a business plan. Yet ask business owners and you often hear that they did a plan only because…
I’ve been thinking about a long list of challenges for small town businesses and for people who care about shaping the future of their towns. Rather than me deciding which ones are most important for you, I’ve decided to ask you directly. So I have a four-question survey. I’d love to hear about your challenges….
Guest Post by Deb Brown, Webster City, Iowa, Area Chamber of Commerce My friend Kevin told me a story. Kevin has just bought the business he’s worked in for over 15 years, located on Main Street in my small town, Webster City, Iowa. He’s renamed it Interior Spaces because he’s a decorator and he…
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