Carol Tice writes over at Entrepreneur that planning for the crash is something large organizations do well. Her background in risk management gives her a good perspective, though I’d argue that plenty of large organizations have missed this lesson, too. Carol lists off seven key risks that companies should look at. Commentors have added a…
Small Town Rule 7 is to build ties to your local communities. Dominoes Pizza is doing that with their commercial playing up the contribution of a local franchisee providing healthy eating options to all locals. A healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition. It protects you against many chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as heart…
Thank you! After we introduced Small Town Rules on the 30th, you ran Amazon completely out of stock on hardbacks in less than 24 hours! In fact, you ordered 50% more copies than they had. Amazon should have more hardbacks in stock at the end of the week. Barnes & Noble and Que Publishing both…
Finding funding for tourism projects is always a challenge. One set of funds that gets overlooked for tourism is the USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grants (RBEG) for towns of fewer than 50,000 people. The Kansas Flint Hills region is working togetheron tourism training. Photo (CC) by TravelKS. RBEG funds are intended to support rural entrepreneurs…
Many small businesses can’t qualify for a small business loan from a traditional local bank. A bad credit record disqualifies many. Lending standards have tightened. Some small towns are limited by local banks that don’t support small business; others don’t have locally-owned banks any more. The good news is that alternatives are available. We are…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one April 6-8, 2012. Have some good news this week? Put it in the Brag Basket. And have a beer. Beer and Bread Basket.(cc) by Master Timothy on Flickr Don’t hold back because of that word, “brag.”…
This downtown art project comes from Waynoka, Oklahoma, population 927. Far from a dressy, stodgy downtown, they have a casual attitude. It’s a working class town with history as a railroad community. The wooden utility poles downtown were in bad need of a new coat of that boring silver paint. What happened instead is far…
As small town business people, we don’t give ourselves enough credit. What we learn in the tough environment of small towns gives us a valuable perspective. We know what it’s like to survive an uncertain economy and through times with zero income. Just like the national economy today. We know how to manage multiple lines…
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