THE RURBAN FRINGE

Tapping Into Rural Tourism and Retail Opportunities: Guest Post at Small Biz Survival

A few weeks ago, I connected with Becky McCray over at Small Biz Survival - which, if you haven’t been, is a tremendous resource and sounding board for small businesses and related rural issues.
As ’rurban’ development is the name of the game over here at the ‘Fringe, we quickly found common ground and she invited me to do [...]

Tap Into Post-Retirement Entrepreneurship

Did you know … about 950,000 Canadians want to start a business within a year of of retirement, according to recent research done by the RBC Financial Group.
Statistics Canada studies also show a growing interest in post-retirement entrepreneurship:

In the next decade, small business firms in Canada are expected to increase by 10 to 20%, with [...]

Do Small Communities Foster Entrepreneurship?

While studies, practitioners, and scholars have long flogged the importance of entrepreneurs in revitalizing rural areas, do small communities do the same thing?
Brian Whitacre and Lara Brooks examined five rural Oklahoma towns with successful entrepreneurship examples to determine just that … and captured their findings for the Daily Yonder, an online compendium of rural news.
In their study, [...]

There Is No Free Money

Ahhh … the lure of free money!
It sounds great – in theory – as websites like this seek to entice business owners to pay for access to this kind of information.  That’s right.  Pay. 
But make no mistake, these types of sites exist as independent businesses themselves, acting as information clearing-houses. 
The funding program information they claim to have access [...]

The 10 Steps of Entrepreneurial Development

Successful entrepreneurial initiatives need strong local champions.
Entrepreneurship initiatives require long-term investment.
Successful projects must be flexible and entrepreneurial in terms of their goals.
Partnerships and collaborations are a must.
Include youth … they can often be a catalyst for change and will create a future pipeline of entrepreneurs.
Leverage resources … financial, human, etc.
Maintain momentum by celebrating successes.
Implement a [...]

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