Calling all midlife crisis career changers:
Starting a New Business in a
Small Town
by Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.
Q. I am a former
pastor who left the ministry
after sixteen years to spend more time with my family. We moved to a
very small town (less than ten thousand people) and I want to start an
internet café business and also offer PC repair. How can I
investigate and then promote this business?
A. In a big city,
you'll make decisions by
numbers and neighborhoods. In a small town, you schmooze!
On the surface, everyone
will be friendly,
optimistic and positive.
Your challenge: Get
below the surface and
learn the true story. You might consider asking a lot of questions
before you disclose your own intentions. Listen for, "I wish we had"
1. Talk to others who
have opened businesses
recently.
What challenges have they
faced? What works and what
doesn't? Were others newcomers successful? If so, were they truly new
or did they have deep roots in the town, such as a brother who lived
here forty years?
If nobody's opened a
business for awhile, dig
deeper. Maybe there's no market. Or maybe they're just waiting for you
to arrive! Sometimes a new business can generate latent demand. It's a
judgment call.
2. Make a great first
impression.
Promotion isn't hard in a
small town. Ten minutes
after you've opened, everyone will know! Some towns resist doing
business with uppity newcomers. Others welcome new blood. Regardless,
your first impression will linger a long, long time. And you'll have
trouble recovering from a local opinion leader with a bad experience.
3. Uncover the town's
market and memory.
Considering buying a
business? Take time to discover
the owner's reputation. When the local residents seem eager for a
change of management, you'll need a new name and image. But if
someone's just moved away and everyone misses them, you've got a
wonderful opportunity. Right now in Silver City we could use a few
first-rate pet-sitters and dog groomers.
But be sensitive to
change. Before I moved here, I'm
told, at least three coffee shops failed. Now we have several, along
with a wine bar and a microbrewery. All seem to be thriving.
4. Search the fine
print of local regulations.
Here in Silver City, our
newest businesses had to
fight all kinds of red tape to get opened. One called City Hall to get
help with a business that was new to the area. "It's not listed here,"
said the clerk, "so it's probably illegal." (The business has opened
and thrives.) Another discovered his license hadn't come through
because the Council forgot to add it to the agendaand they weren't
interested in making last-minute changes.
Any time you serve food or
drink, you know you're
facing permits. Find out what's involved locally.
5. Prepare to do most
of the work yourself.
In a small town, you can
have trouble finding good
help. The local work ethic may surprise you in either direction.
6. Know your community.
Will your market come from
second and third
generation local residents? Or are you serving those who relocated
recently from urban areas? Here I've met folks who think three dollars
is way too much to pay for espresso drinks. But those who bonded with
Starbucks will buy at least one cup a day, every day.
7. Build relationships.
If you can attract a town
leader, you'll draw a
following. Conversely, if you inadvertently alienate a key player, or
if a local person's got an idea on the drawing board, you'll be
miserable.
And in a small town,
you'll be expected to be a
super-citizen. Choose alliances and sponsorships carefully. Prepare for
all sorts of friendly requests to donate time, materials and money.
Click here to learn about Starting a
New Life in a Small Town.
Click
here to start a new career journey with the 21-Day Extreme Career
Makeover.
Click
here to download Making the Big Move: How to Transform Relocation
into a Creative Life Transition.