How the Survey of Rural Challenges surprised me

The very first time I ran the Survey of Rural Challenges, I was only asking people what topics they wanted me to write about on my site Small Biz Survival. 

I never expected to share the results as a public report. 

Once I read what people told me about their towns, the challenges they were facing, and what they most wanted help with, I realized that other people needed to see this, especially people and organizations who serve small towns. 

For some reason, a lot of the services and assistance that I saw offered to small towns simply didn’t match what the people themselves were saying they most wanted help with.

From 2015 to today, over 1400 rural people have told us what issues they most want help with. And there are some surprises. 

• Usable buildings are as hard or harder to find than small business loans.
• Lack of people is more of a limiting factor than lack of money.
• Poverty, crime and drugs were among the least-often chosen challenges. 

There’s more. A lot more.

Deb and I tell you our biggest surprises in a 23 minute video. There’s no charge, and you don’t have to sign up for anything. Just watch it at SaveYour.Town/survey. 

Keep shaping the future of your town, 
Becky

PS –  What will you change to better match what rural people tell you they really need? Hit reply and tell me about it.