• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Be Careful What You Wish For!

By Glenn Muske

Dream

“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 […]

November 8, 2017 Filed Under: Small Biz 100, success Tagged With: building a business, business ideas, business opportunities, dreams, ideas, opportunities, starting, startup

Small-business Ownership: It Gets Easier! OR NOT?

By Glenn Muske

Easy sign

Getting a business up and running takes a lot of hard work. Trying to decide what business to start, determining if there is an audience, and getting your systems in order takes a lot of your effort. And these initial tasks happen at a time when you have only yourself or, at best, limited help […]

February 15, 2017 Filed Under: Small Biz 100, success Tagged With: opportunities, small business, small business success, startup, success

3 actions to start a local business

By Becky McCray

  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 […]

October 24, 2016 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, management, rural Tagged With: starting, startup

Your First Customer

By Glenn Muske

The day is nearly here for you to open the doors of your new business. What a great feeling! Have you thought about who might be your first customer? Might I suggest that the first person should be your worst critic, or might I even say nightmare? That comment probably dampened your enthusiasm. Why start […]

October 19, 2016 Filed Under: Small Biz 100, success Tagged With: customer satisfcation, service businesses, small business, startup

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local" Move Your Money, bank local, invest local Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week" Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

Holyoke Hummus Company cart

How one food business keeps adapting, from table to cart to truck, to restaurant and back again

Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns

Newspaper story headline says, "Made in Dorrigo Markets a bustling success"

Boost your maker economy with a “Made in” day

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in