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…
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…
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…
“If only” is a statement I hear often from small-business owners. Sometimes the wishes are big and grandiose. But most of the time, the wishes are just what one might expect such as more customers, a big order, more space or more money to work with or in the bank at the end of the…
In a recent conference call by the Orton Family Foundation, one of the listeners asked a great practical question: What are 3 actions most effective at starting a local company? —Jay B., KS My answer was: Try 3 small scale tests. That’s how you’ll build knowledge of what works, build an initial following…
Admit it. You want to own your own business. Saying this is OK. Many people feel the same as you do. Owning a business is a goal many of us have, just like we want to own our own house. Yet turning that wish into reality is the hurdle where many people stop. It’s scary….
Going into business for yourself is always a scary idea, especially for the first-time business owner. You seem to have so much to do and so little time to get it done. The first-time business owner faces even more uncertainty because every step is a completely new experience. Running a business is a daunting task….
One of the most common requests I get is to help people access “free money” to help them start their business. Regretfully, my response is there is little, if any, free money available. Instead business owners need to depend on their own personal funds, family and friends, or good bootstrapping. At some point though, most…
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