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| Talking events and festivals at Red Carpet Country meeting. |
At the Red Carpet Country annual meeting, one of the big hits was the panel on events and festivals. They shared stories of local events that started with a few dozen or a few hundred attendees, and have grown to thousands. The total economic impact of those events would be hard to calculate, but it would be enormous. The panel was made up of volunteers who work on these events in their communities. Who were those volunteers? Local business owners, and successful local entrepreneurs.
It was a good reminder of one of my key beliefs:
Prosperous entrepreneurs build prosperous communities.
That is why Small Biz Survival exists. It’s my way of creating more prosperous local entrepreneurs. I can’t solve all the problems small towns face. The people best equipped to help any small town are the entrepreneurs who live and work there.
It goes back to a familiar theme that I noticed at the Midwest Rural Assembly: The best solutions come from within.
And that means the best solutions come from local people, local business owners. The more I can do to make them prosper, the more they make their communities prosper. That’s why I’m here.
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I have always loved small towns and small town “mentality” – it boils down, for me, to people caring about and communicating with the people with whom they come into contact….in the last analysis, it is all “personal” even when it is also “all business” – I began to discover these dimensions of business as a child with a box containing shoeshine materials – I did not at that time construe this operation as a “business” – Mrs. Kirkpride wanted her shoes shined, I had the means to do it, I visited her at home, and voila, her clodhoppers (big, black laced miniboots which would today be the envy of any ‘tween gothic child, would gleam. I knew my customer. I knew she had a great toe on her left foot missing and the area was sensitive. I would get a dime for the job, and left feeling rich.
But I digress!
My roots in the small town allow me to be in a small town mindset wherever I go. One of the charms of living downtown OKC is that-no matter how it grows, no matter how many skyscrapers may go up-it is my present small town.
This morning I feel quite challenged.
People are real. It is sad when people forget that people are real, and that people are people. Big corporations seem increasingly to operate without acknowledging the personhood of the people who do their work and meet the public. I don’t like feeling sad. Small towns hold a key to how to do business right.
This may not make a lot of sense, but I said it and will click it on over.
Thanks Becky for the opportunity to let this out…
Wayne
“Small towns hold a key to how to do business right.” Wayne, I could not possibly agree with you more.