Where are the “easy levels” for going into business? ?

“Easy levels” are those first few minutes of a video game where you learn how to play. Tetris starts slow while you learn how to move shapes around. Angry Birds gives you easy lessons in hitting pigs with birds, to borrow an idea Chris Brogan shared in a recent issue of his newsletter. 

Where are the easy levels for going into business? Or do you have to be thrown in over your head?  

The easy levels for business are smaller, short term, experimental businesses. You can test a business idea by renting a booth an event, selling items on consignment in a local store, or using co-working space. 

If you’re a student, you could start your business in an entrepreneurship course, an entrepreneur summer camp or as part of a class where you make things like ag or art. 

When you have a little more experience, you can level up and try bigger projects. A pop-up shop can run a few months. A business based in a truck (like a food truck) or a trailer (mobile retail) is easier to learn and less of a commitment than a full-sized bricks-and-mortar. 

Then there are shared building spaces, business-in-a-business and tiny business villages. All are ways to give people a chance to learn and succeed without throwing them straight into the deep end. 

That’s nice and all, but who cares? You care because when you build more opportunities for people to experience these easy levels of business in your community, you’re helping more people succeed. When they succeed in business, they prosper. When they prosper, your town prospers. 

I’m working to help you build the “easy levels” to going into business in your community so you will have more prosperous small businesses. It’s just one part of the 3-piece plan to making your town more idea friendly and more prosperous: draw a crowd, run them into each other, and give them easy steps to building a business. You’ll be hearing a lot more about all of these in the coming weeks and months. 
 
Keep shaping the future of your town, 
Becky

PS As a customer, how do you feel about businesses telling you they expect you to rate them as excellent in all categories? We’re holding a conversation on that, in an article called Reasonable Expectations for Ratings by contributor Glenn Muske. Come over and add your opinion.