Rather than seek outside funding to get started, Shawn Anderson grew his kettle corn business from his yard and on the road before buying an existing business in Webster City, Iowa. Photos via Deb Brown.

If you need outside funding to get to the next step in your rural small business, your next step is too big.

Before you bet big on your business idea, test it with small steps. Make some sales from your front yard, then try a booth, then a trailer, then think about moving up to a small building.

Before you borrow money to buy a new piece of equipment, find a smaller step you can take. Borrow or rent equipment temporarily. Share equipment with another business, splitting the cost. Subcontract out that part of production to another business. Redesign your product or process so you don’t need that equipment after all.

Before you go into debt to fix up an older building, think smaller. Find a tiny space to occupy first. Share space with an existing business. Go mobile. Open smaller in a few towns rather than bet everything on a single location.

Go Small or Go Home

This is some hard-won rural wisdom. Better to stay small than go into big debt. Expect that you’ll face some zero income times. Don’t take on more responsibilities than you can cover. Be ready for banks to be bought out, loan portfolios to be sold and resold to unsympathetic lenders. These are part of the Small Town Rules: Be Small to Grow Big, and Plan for Zero.

Have you taken small steps?

If you have a story about taking small steps to stay independent, I’d love to hear about it.

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Photo (CC 2.0) blullana_miranda, on Flickr

I regularly hear these words from small, rural business owners. How marketing was not something that took so much time and effort. They talk about putting an ad in the paper and they were done for the week.

Marketing was advertising and it was done in the local paper, on the local radio and, if you had one, the local television station. Some would do a flyer and a few might even do a brochure.

Today, as you well know, all of this has changed. On average, small-business owners are using 5.8 channels, or tools, to do their marketing. This has more than doubled in less than 10 years.

And marketing is more than just advertising today. Included today are items such as branding, service, and engagement. People want online access and mobile access. They want to be social, entertained, educated and engaged.

Yet, as I discuss these ideas with rural business owners, the stories I hear often show a picture where the marketing changes have been quite often more use of traditional media, still effective but losing some of its luster as the consumer base changes. When online marketing is mentioned, quite often it comes from a static webpage and a social media page with postings every month or every quarter.

Today much of the market requires something more. The competition is reaching out more and more. Not only do rural residents drive to larger communities, but many of the big stores are offering online shopping with free delivery. That’s a challenge.

It’s a challenge but it is not insurmountable. Being a local business gives you an initial advantage. Ask your key customers what they would like from your business in terms of service and marketing. Find ways to stay in touch with your customer base.

Marketing is not the same nor will it go back to what it was. Grab hold of the opportunity that marketing brings.