Rural Entrepreneurship

The past year year has been devastating for businesses, especially small business in rural America. The pandemic has forced many established businesses to change how they operate, their DNA, in order to stay open. Remote work is the new normal, cafes’ and diners have closed their in-door seating and shifted to carry-out or drive-thru only. The large office buildings that were once the symbol of the American economy are mostly vacant. The changes are becoming permanent in many cases.

People are relocating from the city back to their roots, the small towns. As they relocate back to small towns, they bring with them their dreams of starting a business. The main streets of small towns offer something that large cities do not, a friendly environment in which to conduct business, friends and neighbors as customers. Small towns or rural America as it is commonly called, offers the chance to fill ones dreams, build a business, raise a family, and in the process help others in the process. Rural entrepreneurship is becoming the centerpiece of America’s resurgence.

Starting a business in rural America has been discouraged in past literature for a variety of reasons that have become myths in the 21st century. In time past, commodities such as high-speed internet, logistics and access to interstate highways, infrastructure of the small town, talent, and the political makeup of the small town were seen as stumbling blocks to starting a small business. Additionally, the myth that one has to be in a larger town or city in order to access capital has been dispelled with tools such as Zoom, the many federal, state, and local financial groups, The reasoning to not start a rural business has been displaced and are myths.

The many different segments of the economy offers entrepreneurs and wide range of opportunities to start a business that is low-impact to the community. Entrepreneurship is often thought as large enterprises that are taxing on local facilities, not so in many cases. Small software development firms are a great example of a company that works well in a rural community. With remote work becoming the norm, the small business impact the local infrastructure in minor ways.

Recently, there have been several television shows that emphasis the benefits of small-town America. ie. Small Business Revolution with Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank fame, that emphasis the importance of small business and the town where they reside. The many small business featured clearly depict the impact they have on the community.

Many people ask if rural entrepreneurship is the same as urban entrepreneurship? In many ways yes, but in some ways no. Over the next weeks and months, the differences between urban and rural entrepreneurship will be examined.

Dr. Lawson is an executive coach and a Professor of Economics and Strategy. He writes on business issues, education, and developing today’s modern executives. He can be found on Twitter @dplwsn and #TMIBS.

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The Worst Advice on Starting a Business

After teaching an graduate-level Entrepreneurship course, I sat down in the local Barnes & Noble to decompress and think about what was taught. The course was developed by a third party at some point and has never been given much thought or review by the university. Adding, changing or deleting content was out of the question and takes forever to change if suggested. The course was taught as-is and at time certain points were introduced to help many future entrepreneurs start their business on the right footing.

The course was filed with many once popular thoughts and notions that have long seen their popularity and been dismissed over the years. In modern times, these thoughts are not bad advice for anyone wanting to start a business.

A few of the entrepreneurial bad advice tips are:

“Follow your passion or your hobby” – No, you need to start a business that can make you money. If bird watching is your passion, that is great. But, bird watching is not going to make you money. Every entrepreneur needs a hobby to decompress away from their business. Creating a business based on your hobby or passion eliminated the relaxation as one will always be thinking about how to improve the birdwatching business.

“Work hard and you will make money will come” – Not hardly. Working hard will only make you tired, irritable, and hasten an early demise. Work smarter. Delegate things to your trusted partners and know they will do the very best. This goes back to the time honored mantra of “Do the things you do best and outsource the rest.”

“Keep you friends close, but your enemies closer” – There is some truth to this saying but not much. Your friends are your lifeblood and will provide you with years of happiness and loyalty. But enemies, eliminate them from your life and be done with them. You will spend too much time mentally keeping track of what they are doing or what they are doing to you. One does not need to spend any amount of time worrying about what the might do. The elimination of enemies will make you a much happier person.

“Money can’t buy happiness” – But is sure helps. It is true that money can’t buy happiness outright but knowing that you and your family are safe, your needs fulfilled, and you are safe is the happiness that money can provide. No one can say with certainty how much money one needs, it is a personal matter. But having a business that can provide that level of security is something all entrepreneurs strive for when starting a business.

Doing away with the outdated and bad business tips and saying is something that everyone, especially academia, should do on a daily basis. Holding on to these sayings is a barbinger of poor results and ultimate failure in the business world.

Dr. Lawson is an executive coach and a Professor of Economics and Strategy. He writes on business issues, education, and developing today’s modern executives. He can be found on Twitter @dplwsn and #TMIBS.