Rural Small Business

New SBA Podcasts for Small Business Owners

February 25, 2009

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) upgraded its podcasts to provide additional resources for small businesses. The podcasts are available here on a variety of small business topics. They are about 10 minutes in length and show interviews with business and industry professionals and government representatives. The podcasts offer a variety of small business topics [...]

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Another Source for ADA Training Package

February 23, 2009

With thanks to reader Barbara McWilliams, another source of the ‘Improving Your Rural Business With The ADA’ training package discussed yesterday is Breaking New Ground, Cultivating Independence for Persons with Disabilities in Agriculture. The price is $25.00.

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Serving Rural Customers With Disabilities

February 22, 2009

Improving Your Rural Business with the ADA is a training package targeted toward rural businesses. It is a program that can be used to assist rural business owners as well as other community members in understanding and implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Owners of rural businesses will learn how the ADA can have [...]

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What Is The Future of Business Cards?

February 20, 2009

What is the future of business cards? I was looking at various items I need to reprint this Spring, and my business card is one of them. I’m always amazed at print prices and how they continue to come down from years past, even just from last Fall. That’s definitely not a complaint. The color [...]

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Starting A Rural Business During Tough Times

February 18, 2009

As more people in rural America find themselves laid off or working reduced hours, the idea of starting a small rural business or expanding the one you already have is something to consider. Here are several online resources to help you think things through. In Advice for the Accidental Entrepreneur, Dr. Jeff Cornwall defines who [...]

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Telling Your Own Business Stories

February 16, 2009

Whether you’re speaking to customers, your employees or the local Rotary Club, odds are you’ve got stories to tell. Not tall tales, untrue and uninteresting. But stories that can inspire, influence, motivate and even turn negative situations around. Stories are often more memorable and more effective than just facts or directives. What are some of [...]

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Business Story of the Day Podcasts

February 16, 2009

NPR Radio offers a ‘Business Story of the Day’ each weekday, available as a podcast and as well as in print on their webpages. These stories are not focused on rural and small businesses, but include them occasionally. The stories are always short and to the point, and instructive about many different industries and situations.

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Rural Business Weekly News – February 14, 2009

February 14, 2009

There will be lots of articles in the coming weeks that try to tell us exactly what was in the stimulus package that just passed and what it all really means, but here’s the coverage from the Associated Press published today. Supposedly the 7 billion in grants for rural broadband are intended for small town [...]

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Everybody Already Knows

February 12, 2009

Last week, I mentioned a blog that asked why more small and rural businesses didn’t have blogs, and I started wondering the same thing myself. Then this week, I also saw the results of a national survey commissioned by Microsoft Office Live Small Business and Elance Inc. Fewer than half of the small-business owners interviewed [...]

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Small Business Provisions of The Economic Stimulus

February 10, 2009

The United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, spoke on the floor of the Senate about the key small business provisions included in the Economic Recovery Package, and renewed their call for elevating SBA Administrator position to Cabinet-level status. The bill includes [...]