I spent half an hour on the phone with a young man who is volunteering to help his community reach more visitors. It’s a town of around 1,000 people, with many of the same challenges other towns of all sizes face. The old guard folks just don’t get it yet, and he wants to find a…
If you’re worried about your business, your small town economy, or surviving in tough times, you have a choice. You could choose to focus instead on improving your business basics. Here are my top three small-business basics you can’t afford to ignore when things aren’t going well. 1. Bookkeeping and Accounting Finance may be everyone’s…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one September 13-15, 2013. What good news will you add to the brag basket? Don’t hold back because of that word, “brag.” When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even…
Attention Chambers of Commerce, tourism organizations, economic development groups, and other local organizations: When your website provider offers to make a page for every local business on your website, say no. I know you want to get more of your local businesses online. That makes perfect sense. Adding new pages to your organization website is…
In our weekly newsletter, we have talked quite a bit about what to do with empty buildings in your small town. Ron Hirst replied and offered such good information about incubators that I needed to share them with you, too. –Becky Guest Post by Ron Hirst, Director Quest Center for Entrepreneurs, Inc. Hutchinson, Kansas Becky, I…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one September 6-8, 2013. What good news will you add to the brag basket? Don’t hold back because of that word, “brag.” When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even…
Like many small town business people, I have more than one business: liquor store, cattle ranch, speaking and writing about small town business, and Tourism Currents. So how do I do it all? It’s one of the most common questions that I get asked. That’s why Cory Miller of Entrepreneurship Lab and I put together this…
Many people dream of owning their own business. Yet because they live in a small community, they perceive that developing a successful business just can’t be achieved. Such a viewpoint is one of the small-business myths that exist among the public. Certainly, we don’t want to imply that success is easy in small communities, but…
Since 2006, this site has been helping people like you in small towns move forward without waiting on outside experts, big budgets, or perfect plans. You don’t need any of that to get started.
If you care about your business, your downtown, or your community, you’ll find ideas here you can actually use. Take one. Try it out. Let me know how it goes for you.
Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.
We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers