Stephanie Chandler, at Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams, has a terrific idea to encourage word or mouth referrals: Recently one of my bookstore customers mentioned that she originally learned about my store from her hair dresser. That got me thinking about my own hair dresser and how she’s a great source for finding out about restaurants…
Two news stories yesterday on supporting rural business, especially in traditionally agricultural areas. The interesting thing is that the stories are from India and Scotland. In Cupar, Scotland, the local college has opened a Rural Business Centre. Services will include: business and skills related information, short courses, skills training, flexible learning and tailored training. It…
Rural folks drive more, and for that reason, we really care about gas prices. Edmunds.com has tested some of the common gas saving tips, to see if they really work. The result? Some meaningful savings are possible! Hurray! Two of the best tips? Avoid aggressive driving and shut down anytime you’ll idle more than one…
David Xue is addicted to startups. He shared some of his Point of View at Okdork blog, in post titled PixPulse Your Life. Startups are a bunch of fun, but they sure aren’t easy. Here’s advice that I follow by: 1. Recruit the best talent – As a founder or CEO you’ll spend most of…
Are you prepared? Jeff Cornwall, author of The Entrepreneurial Mind, has written an excellent guide to preparing for any kind of disaster, Get Ready. Read it and bookmark it! small biz rural entrepreneurship disaster planning preparedness resources
Tim Norton, Decisive Flow blog, has done such a great job describing this tool, echosign – sign agreements accross the world – easy, that I don’t think I could improve on it: This morning I arrived to find an email from someone interested in involving us in a project in New York, which is brilliant,…
Ed Morrison writes a weekly roundup of stories and commentary. Three items came together for me today. I’ll try to tie them together to share with you. What does your small town need to grow? Entrepreneurs need mentors and networks of support. Education is economic development, especially early education. Tourism is a traded business just…
From Entrepreneur.com, at MSNBC. “I would argue 2004 was a great year to be an entrepreneur,” says Michael Alter, president of SurePayroll. “In 2005, everything just stopped.” Last year saw rising interest rates, energy prices and inflation that forced firms to absorb sizable cost increases without raising prices. And health-care costs continued to rise at…
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