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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • failure | success | survivors

    7 Ways You Screw Up Your Life

    ByBecky McCray December 1, 2008August 27, 2014

    Marti Lawrence has pulled together an all star cast (including a small contribution from me) for her third book, 7 Ways You Screw Up Your Life. All the principles apply straightening out your business, as well as your personal life, and Marti presents them in a clear and amusing way.  The Foreword is by Chris…

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  • Best of | failure | survivors

    Hard times lessons from my Dust Bowl grandmother

    ByBecky McCray October 13, 2008August 27, 2014

    Watching a documentary on the Dust Bowl tonight reminded me that it was also an economic boom that went bust. Can we learn anything? How does the current situation compare? One of the pioneer women of the Oklahoma Panhandle dust bowl.By Arthur Rothstein, April 1938. First, a bit of history. Wheat prices ran up in…

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  • community | rural | social media | survivors

    Shawn Kirsch is changing Elgin, ND, forever

    ByBecky McCray May 25, 2008August 27, 2014

    This post is the fourth in a series on social media and social networking tools for small towns. By Shawn Kirsh Well I was born in a small townAnd I live in a small townProbly die in a small townOh, those small communities All my friends are so small townMy parents live in the same…

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  • entrepreneurship | survivors

    What to do when your business is being squeezed out of existence

    ByBecky McCray May 13, 2008August 27, 2014

    Here’s some insight into a business being squeezed out of existence. Professional photography: portraits, weddings, and studios. If everyone has an awesome digital camera, who needs a professional photographer? How long can a professional keep charging $55 for an 8×10 print, when I can get one printed online for under $5? Can enough customers afford…

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  • big company | POV | survivors

    Two amazing women

    ByBecky McCray November 29, 2007March 3, 2022

    Women Helping Women. That’s the motto of the Business and Professional Women, which I belong to. In that spirit, here are two amazing women worthy of your attention this holiday season. Small town entrepreneur Marti Lawrence shares wonderful humor with several innovative projects. Right now, she has three projects going. First, she’s acting as a…

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  • community | economic development | global | survivors

    If Timbuktu can revive its heritage

    ByBecky McCray August 10, 2007August 27, 2014

    Ever feel like your town is too far gone to come back? Well, how about Timbuktu, coming back after hundreds of years of obscurity. Originally, it was a center of learning because it was on important overland trade routes. History and change turned it into a backwater. But the people held on to their heritage….

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  • big company | POV | rural | survivors

    WB’s is coming back

    ByBecky McCray July 23, 2007March 3, 2022

    If you lost everything in your business, would you rebuild? Could you rebuild? Ruth Ann and Bob Wedel lost almost every single thing in their bulk foods business in Greensburg, Kansas, to the May tornado that flattened the town. This was supposed to be their retirement business. They successfully built it up from just the…

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  • big company | POV | rural | survivors

    Bowties and Corkers

    ByJeanne Cole July 11, 2007March 3, 2022

    Most regular readers know that Becky and I made a trip to Greensburg, Kansas this week. Now a pair of bright orange and yellow fishing bobbers sits on my desk as a reminder of Charlie. So I have to tell you about him. Charles R “Charlie” Jones is a fisherman. Not just any fisherman, he…

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