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The Stop Doing List for Communities

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

By Paula Jensen Have you ever experienced a time when you could envision what needs to happen but had no idea what to stop doing in order to reach the point of success? Here is a simple example: This year at Santa Day in my community someone asked, “Why do we give away turkeys to […]

January 20, 2020 Filed Under: community, economic development, mistakes, rural Tagged With: community, economic development, guest post, idea friendly, innovation, jobs, Paula Jensen, rural, small towns, tradition

Gathering the Doers

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

The first vision board presented by the design:SD team to the community of Webster, South Dakota, on Sept. 27, 2014, stated the following phrase in bold lettering:  GATHERING THE DOERS.  There were approximately 50 people in the room that day and surprisingly none of them got up and ran out in fear upon seeing the design:SD team’s […]

November 22, 2019 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: #Iamrural, doers, engaged, gather your crowd, guest post, idea friendly, Paula Jensen, rural, starting, take small steps

Better entrepreneur training for small towns

By Becky McCray

  Because I’ve been an entrepreneur since junior high school, I’ve been asked to help with all kinds of entrepreneur support over the decades. I’ve taught entrepreneur classes, I’ve been part of day-long entrepreneur events, I’ve taught workshops and I’ve been a mentor in formal and informal ways. And I’ve been thinking lately about what […]

November 4, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: classes, courses, economic development, entrepreneur, entrepreneur training, entrepreneurship, idea friendly, rural, starting, startup, Support, training

Need funding for the next step in your business?

By Becky McCray

Kettle corn being sold from a stand in a yard, from a mobile trailer and from a coffee shop

  If you need outside funding to get to the next step in your rural small business, your next step is too big. Before you bet big on your business idea, test it with small steps. Make some sales from your front yard, then try a booth, then a trailer, then think about moving up […]

July 17, 2019 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, finance, management, rural Tagged With: alternative finance, business finance, entrepreneurship, idea friendly, rural business, Small Town Rules, take small steps

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