Want to build a billion dollar company from your small town? David Thomson wrote the book on it, Blueprint to a Billion, profiled on Fortune Small Business. (Brought to our attention by Be Excellent.) Here are the seven principles Thompson postulates: 1. Create and sustain a breakthrough value proposition. Create an entirely new market for…
“Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.”–William Saroyan Your business will go through cycles of success and failure. Some days you will be toiling away in the valley of hard work, with little reward in sight. Later, you will find yourself on…
Naming your business is important. Sometimes, businesses end up with names that can project a bad image. Examples: George E. Failing Company. Despite the Failing name, they are celebrating 75 years, after having changed to the initials GEFCO. Glitsch Construction. Greif Brothers Trucking. Quality Prevention Company. I used a couple of these examples before, and…
Is wildlife tourism viable economic development for rural areas? My instinct tells me yes, but I keep craving some real data to work with. My little area of Oklahoma has just opened a huge project after five years of serious preparatory work (read the Enid News and Eagle story or visit the Great Plains Trail…
“Only those who dare to fail greatly achieve greatly.”– Robert Kennedy small biz rural entrepreneurship success failure
Contribute your stories, images to book showcasing role of young people in rural revitalization We read about “Youth Renewing the Countryside” at two influential rural blogs, The Rural Populist and Center for Rural Affairs. Consider contributing your story or photo to Youth Renewing the Countryside, a book in progress that will capture the best stories…
Most of our quotes and thoughts so far have been on valuing failure because it is necessary for success. Another key element is overcoming the fear of failure. Escape from Cubicle Nation has an article on Three ways to take the fear of failing head on. Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from…
From the Center for Rural Affairs: Congress Must Act Now for Rural America! There are practical strategies that work, strategies to revitalize 21st century rural communities. But local initiatives must be matched by federal policies that support rural revitalization, rather than hinder it. The 2007 farm bill provides one vehicle to chart a new course.…Our…
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