(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Starting a New Business in a Small Town
Q. I am a former pastor who left the ministry after sixteen years to spend more time with my family. We moved to a very small town (less than ten thousand people) and I want to start an internet café business and also offer PC repair. How can I investigate and then promote this business? A. In a big city, you'll make decisions by numbers and neighborhoods. In a small town, you schmooze! On the surface, everyone will be friendly, optimistic and positive. Your challenge: Get below the surface and learn the true story. You might consider asking a lot of questions before you disclose your own intentions. Listen for, "I wish we had" 1. Talk to others who have opened businesses recently. What challenges have they faced? What works and what doesn't? Were others newcomers successful? If so, were they truly new or did they have deep roots in the town, such as a brother who lived here forty years? If nobody's opened a business for awhile, dig deeper. Maybe there's no market. Or maybe they're just waiting for you to arrive! Sometimes a new business can generate latent demand. It's a judgment call. 2. Make a great first impression. Promotion isn't hard in a small town. Ten minutes after you've opened, everyone will know! Some towns resist doing business with uppity newcomers. Others welcome new blood. Regardless, your first impression will linger a long, long time. And you'll have trouble recovering from a local opinion leader with a bad experience. 3. Uncover the town's market and memory. Considering buying a business? Take time to discover the owner's reputation. When the local residents seem eager for a change of management, you'll need a new name and image. But if someone's just moved away and everyone misses them, you've got a wonderful opportunity. Right now in Silver City we could use a few first-rate pet-sitters and dog groomers. But be sensitive to change. Before I moved here, I'm told, at least three coffee shops failed. Now we have several, along with a wine bar and a microbrewery. All seem to be thriving. 4. Search the fine print of local regulations. Here in Silver City, our newest businesses had to fight all kinds of red tape to get opened. One called City Hall to get help with a business that was new to the area. "It's not listed here," said the clerk, "so it's probably illegal." (The business has opened and thrives.) Another discovered his license hadn't come through because the Council forgot to add it to the agendaand they weren't interested in making last-minute changes. Any time you serve food or drink, you know you're facing permits. Find out what's involved locally. 5. Prepare to do most of the work yourself. In a small town, you can have trouble finding good help. The local work ethic may surprise you in either direction. 6. Know your community. Will your market come from second and third generation local residents? Or are you serving those who relocated recently from urban areas? Here I've met folks who think three dollars is way too much to pay for espresso drinks. But those who bonded with Starbucks will buy at least one cup a day, every day. 7. Build relationships. If you can attract a town leader, you'll draw a following. Conversely, if you inadvertently alienate a key player, or if a local person's got an idea on the drawing board, you'll be miserable. And in a small town, you'll be expected to be a super-citizen. Choose alliances and sponsorships carefully. Prepare for all sorts of friendly requests to donate time, materials and money. I offer one-to-one consultations for anyone considering starting a business. About The Author Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com. "Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Reid: small biz package will kick off fall Senate agenda - The Hill (blog) SMALL BUSINESS: Business owners: Remember to appreciate the labor every day Small biz, big rates - Boston Business Journal Small biz getting lower health care costs - Queens Courier Small biz carries the workload - New York Post Small Business Administration moves Gulf Shores, Orange Beach service center Small business, DEEP IMPACT Plastyc Makes Debit Cards a Small Biz Reality - TheStreet.com |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Success & The Nature of Things The story is told of a tiger chasing some goats to catch one for dinner. During the chase the tiger is injured and as she is dying, gives birth to a tiger cub. Window Cleaning Business Case Study How do window cleaning franchise businesses start? It is a fascinating case study indeed, as most all window cleaning businesses start from such humble beginnings; a bucket of water, a sharp entrepreneur and a quality squeegee. I never thought in a million years I would ever enter the Window Washing Industry. Going Public: The Process for Small and Mid-size Companies to Go Public It's the dream of every person who starts a business to some day see it trading in one of the stock exchanges even after they are no longer associated with the company. The first step (#1) is simple since most small company are already incorporated and have a board of directors, so we will start with #2. 5 GREAT WAYS to Gain New Contacts What are the 5 best ways to gain new contacts?There are many ways to use the media to promote your business. You must ultimately decide what is best for your business. When to Say NO! When is it a good thing to say no to a request?Balance in one's life is perhaps the most important goal for busy people. They can take on many more projects that most others. Hard Money Lenders -- No Money Down The Easy Way Would it help you as a real estate investor to be able to "Close For Cash in Days," even if you're tapped out financially?Hard money lenders are perhaps the best way to get 100% financing with easy qualifying, money for fix- up, and fast closings.So what can hard money lenders do for you? Hard money lenders make relatively short term (12-24 month) loans to real estate investors for the purposes of acquiring the property and rehabbing the property. From Birth to Death Your product is dying. With the same inevitability that we humans move ever closer to death, so does every software application move towards its eventual demise. Not Listening Can Hurt Your Small Business Most small business owners seek advisors who can help them improve their businesses. They want advice from those who have the experience and really know what they're talking about. Small Business Credit Card Advantages Obtaining a business credit card enables the small business owner to separate personal expenses from business expenses. Offering business credit cards to their employees eliminates the need for employees to use their personal credit cards or cash to make company purchases. Mattress Cleaning Business: How To Manual A Mattress Cleaning Business might be just for you if you have tried everything to contain your allergies, but feel like it is not enough. Instead of just purchasing the equipment to rid your fabric furniture and mattresses of allergens, you can also help others in your community to feel the relief and make a good income at the same time. Define business goals - crucial to success Scenario OneDuring a recent presentation, a business owner was given the following challenge. If 10 of his 100 employees were asked to name the top 3 organizational goals for the current year as they perceived them to be, would he receive the same 3 goals from everyone or would he receive 5, 10 or even 25 different goals? The business owner shook his head and thoughtfully responded, "No, I am sure that I would receive more than 3 goals. Is Brick and Mortar A Passing Fad? Q: Is the online world the best place to sell a product or service these days? My friends seem to think that brick and mortar stores will totally disappear in the future. I debate this all the time with them, but it seems to be heading that way. 5 Steps To Success for Small Business Owners Everyone wants to succeed in life. Most people want to succeed in business. How To Write A Business Plan Writing a business plan is a fundamental step to ensuring your business has every chance of succeeding. Common statistics state that 9 out of 10 businesses fail on the first 5 years of operation, and of the remaining 10%, 90% fail in the following 5 years. The Key To Success - Choose The Right Partners Do you promote yourself as offering prompt, reliable and quality service?Of course - none of us promote ourselves as anything less, and equally we strive to provide this level of service all the time.So what happens when you take your networking to the next level, and start to offer referrals, or even establish partnerships or alliances for certain activities?Whatever you do at this point creates significant impact on your business and personal reputation - potentially positive and also potentially negative. What Your Small Business Can Learn From The Doctor Most doctors never distinguish the difference between customers and patients. That's why they have waiting rooms instead of reception areas. Small business advantage over big corporations - Flexibility Whether it has been thrust upon you by external market forces or it has simply bubbled up from the internal dynamics of your enterprise, change itself always presents opportunity for improvement. And in a knowledge based economy, change may be the only thing we can count on as small business people. FTC Adding to the Franchise Rule Last summer the FTC put forth a report and then asked for comments on modifications of the franchise rule. There has been no real significant changes since the 1970's, but lots of opinions and case law along the way. Just being good at your profession is not enough to succeed in business Tammy, a skilled and gifted horticulturist, called me to discuss what she needed to know to start her own florist and landscaping business. She had been in the horticulture industry for 10 years and was incredibly skilled at working with flowers and plants - one of the best. Promote Yourself More Successfully One of the great challenges for independent professionals and small businesses, especially when starting out, is generating visibility to ultimately lead to generating sales.One of the specific challenges, I have found, is knowing what to say about yourself and your operations and services when asked "so what do you do?"? Have you ever stumbled over your words when asked what you do?? Have you ever received the response, "Oh, I see", followed by silence?? Do you ever feel as though you do not know what to say about yourself?I am reminded of the 'elevator speech theory' (I do not know to whom to attribute its invention), which simply poses "if you were in a lift that opens on the tenth floor and in walks Bill Gates who asks what you do - what would you say, and you have only until the elevator gets to the bottom?"I have personally struggled with this at times, and equally have found that when I get it right, results flow - which initially could be as simple yet important of getting more time to converse with the person asking the question of you.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |