Want to promote your local businesses? Use a social list-making site to collect the websites and social profiles of businesses in your area. I first heard this idea from Dave Shideler, back when delicio.us was the social bookmarking tool of choice. Today’s social list-making tools offer some key advantages. Why use social list-making tools? 1….
Tips and Resource Digest: Help for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners October, 2014 Another month has zipped on by. As you get this you will be deep in the middle of getting ready to meet trick or treater’s at your door. Wouldn’t it be great if you had customers who were as eager…
This idea comes from the Chickasaw Nation. Storytelling is an important part of Chickasaw culture, and who doesn’t love a good spooky story? Storytelling is an important part of many rural cultures, probably including yours. That makes this a great idea for any small town to adapt and use. In fact, why not start building your…
Last week, we talked about how big box retailers are getting smaller. Why is the big box retail sector making this expensive and difficult change to smaller stores? Because consumers have already started changing. Humorist David Sedaris summed up this consumer feeling in an interview. “I’d rather go to an actual shop — preferably a small…
When asked if they have any advantages as a small business, many owners respond negatively. The fact is, small-business owners, especially those in rural areas and small towns, have many advantages they can use to enhance the success of their store. Knowing the audience is a huge advantage. Yet they often do not make full…
Do you own a small business and find you have no free time? Have you recently found yourself too busy to have lunch with a friend? Does your family start dinner without you? While these are not perfect predictors (life happens), being “too busy” may be a symptom that your business time management needs some…
No matter if your community is big or small, rural or urban, small businesses form a key component of the local economic engine. However, an issue that communities face is how they can support the growth and development of small business. The goal is helping small businesses remain in business and have the resources they…
It is easy for business owners to see and want those great new things that surround us. Yet those shiny new things may not be what the business owner needs at that moment or maybe ever. Shiny new things cost money and may take more time. Owners must decide if those are things that he…
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