Your fellow reader Ava asked a great question: If I am already working, in school, and wanting to start up just a real small small business, then how would that work differently from someone who is coming from a completely different stand point, like not working or in school and is just generally starting…
Basics What is a pop-up? I explain more here. Tip #1: Group your pop-ups When you’re planning to add pop-up businesses or shed businesses to your small or rural community, concentrate them in one area. Better to have four sheds or pop up businesses together on a single lot, than fourteen vendors spread out all…
This was a new idea to me. Alyssa McCleery from Newkirk, Oklahoma, brought this up. She has local dog grooming but had to drive hours to find a place to get her cat groomed. I was skeptical at first, but why not cat grooming as a service? Just trimming cat claws can be a challenge….
By Becky McCray Need an idea for your next small town or rural business? This one would make a good side hustle: Gather and resell fruit that would otherwise be wasted. Think of all the fruit, berries and nuts that no one picks, especially in yards and public spaces in your town. You don’t have…
Be frugal. One of the Small Town Rules is to spend your brain power before spending dollars. Be creative about how you handle challenges rather than to throw money at the problem. Venture capital vs. Bootstrapped We’ve all heard about startups that have been funded by whatever venture capitalist or angel that has just dropped a…
Small towns have endured boom and bust cycles, commodity crashes, mill and factory closures, environmental disasters and losing their economic reason for existing. Rural communities have reinvented themselves before, and rural businesses are re-inventing the way they do things. How Holyoke Hummus stays Idea Friendly through a crisis John is the owner of Holyoke Hummus…
Guest Post by Chris Brogan The COVID-19 quarantine has crushed so many small businesses and the economy at large. It’s truly been the worst financial crisis unfurling in this country since the 1930s. And while some measures are in place to help this not reach that level of despair, many people are finding themselves out…
This is a short sample from the SaveYour.Town video “Refilling Your Business Pipeline” featuring Deb Brown and me. Small towns and rural communities will need new business startups to revitalize their local economies, but not many people have the resources today to do a startup the way it’s traditionally been done. Part of what holds…
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