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Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

A building used as business storage with an old faded sign that says "Carrier Air Conditioning"

Repurposing empty buildings as business storage or a warehouse is a common small business practice in small towns. Putting up a sign is a good idea for at least two reasons.  Retail businesses may be storing extra merchandise. Manufacturers might have extra materials or finished product ready to ship. Service and repair companies have to […]

March 13, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, mistakes, rural Tagged With: community development, emtpy buildings, non-retail, retail, rural, service businesses

Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info

By Becky McCray

Hands on a laptop, working

My friend Rob just told me he was checking out a local fitness place. He was interested until he saw their website included some pandemic-related changes that probably aren’t still true, like canceled classes and limited hours. Since he doesn’t know for sure, he moved on to looking into a different place. This is a […]

January 31, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, mistakes, rural Tagged With: checklist, COVID, marketing, pandemic, website

Tip for better pop-ups and shed businesses

By Becky McCray

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 over. Your goal is to make it feel like a concentrated burst of new […]

December 5, 2021 Filed Under: economic development, mistakes, rural Tagged With: economic development, entrepreneurship, pop up businesses, rural, shed markets, small business, success

Community engagement planning: old way vs. Idea Friendly way

By Becky McCray

You’re familiar with the traditional way of handling community engagement. Once every few years, an outside consultant comes in and leads a community engagement planning meeting. There are lots of flip charts and post it notes.  Most of the people who attend hold official titles or formal leadership roles. Almost all are professional middle class […]

October 3, 2021 Filed Under: community, economic development, mistakes, planning, rural Tagged With: economic development, good management practices, idea friendly, rural

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