Pernod Ricard, owner of Absolut vodka, is building a terrific connection following Small Town Rule 7: Build Your Local Connections. They are working with local distilling entrepreneurs worldwide on a project called Our/Vodka. Each will be called by the local city name, like Our/Austin or Our/Melbourne. The local partner will open micro-distilleries that will produce vodka following a set […]
Plan for Zero: Small biz owners sacrifice their own pay
These two bits from a 2012 Citibank small business survey really stood out as Rule 1: Plan for Zero moments. Both business owners and employees have gone without or delayed pay, to help the business survive. Almost one quarter of business owners have gone a year or more without pay to keep their business alive. […]
Piggly Wiggly is proud of being local “since forever”
Regional supermarket chain Piggly Wiggly is proudly proclaiming their localness as a selling point. This is exactly how to do Rule 7: Be Local. “At Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company, we know what it means to be ‘local.’ Our founder, Joe Newton, had a vision when he started this grocery store chain in 1947 — to buy local, […]
Small Town banks know lots that big banks don’t
The Small Town Rules secret is out: small town banks know a lot of things big banks don’t. Bloomberg Businessweek author Brendan Greely picked up on it in a story, “Rural banks know something big banks don’t.” “It turns out small, rural banks make smarter loans,” Greely said. It’s the soft knowledge, the un-quantifiable personal […]
