Guest post by Steve Dee I’ve been using the Waze app for directions (and more importantly using crowd-sourced information to avoid police traps) since before it was bought by Google. I first started looking into editing the Waze map as a means of routing tourist travelers away from our school’s 15 MPH speed zone….
Jerry Johnson issued a bit of a challenge in the comments, encouraging us all to brainstorm potential business ideas for young rural entrepreneurs. That reminded me of a terrific list of actual student businesses in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a list of real businesses started by kids in grades 6 through 12, part of their…
If you have followed this blog, my colleague, Becky McCray, has provided lots of ideas for building communities and the small businesses in those areas. Her blogs have suggested things such as Pop-ups – https://staging.smallbizsurvival.com/2014/03/what-is-a-pop-up-business.html Shared spaces – https://staging.smallbizsurvival.com/2017/04/small-town-retail-trend-shared-spaces.html Tiny businesses – https://staging.smallbizsurvival.com/2017/03/tiny-businesses-in-storage-sheds-a-rural-economic-development-tool.html I am adding another thought to this list by suggesting that a business or…
A reader wrote to me about an influx of low-income people into his town, using subsidized housing and other community services. He said a town council member had talked about them as “a drain on resources” and “dead weight.” I got angry when I read that. But it took me awhile to figure out…
The Brag Basket is open! This one is for July 21-23, 2017. Bring your good news, big or small, to share with everyone. What can you share in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week celebrate progress, even baby steps congratulate a friend applaud for each other confess your…
Think about why you marketing effort. Are you bringing more customers into the store now or are you looking to build your customer base for tomorrow? Both are worthy goals and both should be on your mind as you develop your marketing plan. What happens though is most often marketing focuses on today and we…
One of the towns I visited recently has a dirty sidewalk problem. It looks like every time it rained, dirt and leaves and stuff wash out of the streets and onto the sidewalks. Pretty messy. “We did a cleanup project once,” someone said. But dirt, like life, keeps happening. You’ll have a cleaner town…
“I enjoy local foods.” I say and I hear that statement more and more. And as we are right in the middle of another season, this seems like a good time to think about the good tastes among other reasons for supporting local food. We know that agriculture is a big part of our economy….
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