Small Town Rules
How Big Brands and Small Businesses Can Prosper in a Connected Economy
By: Barry J. Moltz, Becky McCray
Published: April 2, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 0789749203
ISBN-13: 978-0789749208
Publisher: Que
"The customers of every company now behave like they live in a small town. As a result, companies now need to play by a new set of rules: small town rules", write small town business owner Becky McCray, and entrepreneur and consultant Barry J. Moltz, in their paradigm shifting and very practical book Small Town Rules: How Big Brands and Small Businesses Can Prosper in a Connected Economy. The authors describe how the forces of technology, social change, and globalized economies have changed the world into one very large small town; and provide their strategies for thriving as a small town style business.
Barry J. Moltz (photo left) and Becky McCray are long time residents and entrepreneurs in small towns. They apply their experience in small communities to what they call the new realities of local, national, and global marketplaces. Indeed, the authors describe the dynamics that drive the very personal nature of small town business success, are the very same principles that lead to success in today's challenging economic circumstances. Small town entrepreneurs have experienced and overcame all of the obstacles that confront companies and brands; including the very largest corporations in the world. The author share their proven small town business principles, and demonstrate how those same concepts form the core of today's business environment, regardless of the scale.
Becky McCray (photo left) and Barry Moltz understand that people in small towns know one another, and talk and share ideas with each other. This same phenomenon takes place in online communities, where ideas, product reviews, and company reputations are shared readily and often. People want to form communities, making the small town comparison much more than a simple analogy. It is an important insight by the authors. People want to do business on a human scale, preferably with other community members who they know, like, and trust.
The authors present their small town rules a guide for any sizes of business to prosper in a connected economy. The small town rules are:
* Plan for zero income in hard times
* Spend creative brainpower before spending money
* Multiply lines of income to diversify risk
* Work anywhere, anywhen with technology
* Treat customers like community
* Be proud of being small
* Build local connections
For me, the power of the book is how Becky McCray and Barry Moltz provide a comprehensive guide to understanding the importance of small town business practices, as a basis for success, in the modern marketplace. In a technological economy, where people form communities for sharing ideas, reviews, and information on companies and their brands, the structure of the small town is reconstructed electronically. As small towns, the same principles apply that formed the foundation of prosperity for generations of businesses in small towns. The authors share the wisdom and practicality that made these businesses viable and able to withstand ever changing economic conditions.
For large companies, the vagaries of the local, national, and global economies are something new. These shifting conditions are well known and understood in small town economies. The proprietors of these local businesses understand well the critical importance of building relationships based on trust and the human touch. These lessons are well understood in small town businesses, and they form the base of success for the largest companies and most famous brands as well.
I highly recommend the engaging and wisdom filled book Small Town Rules: How Big Brands and Small Businesses Can Prosper in a Connected Economy by Barry J. Moltz and Becky McCray, to any business leaders, executives, brand managers, and entrepreneurs who are seeking a guide to navigating the community based technological enabled marketplace. This book will provide the time tested strategies and techniques that formed the backbone of the long lasting businesses that line the main streets of the nation's small towns and villages.
