Growing Pains: Success Strategies for Rural Entrepreneurs to Grow beyond Their Limited Local Markets

Abstract

Purpose - Business owners in rural areas must navigate limited local markets and deal with the outward migration of their regional populations, which further shrinks the pool of potential customers. This research serves to assist rural businesses by studying the behaviors of successful rural entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses beyond the capacities of their local markets. Method - This qualitative study used purposeful sampling and interviews with fifteen small business owners. These business founders were chosen for starting and growing their businesses to successful ventures in a very short period. None earn more than 10% of their revenue from their local markets. All are privately-owned small businesses that generate revenues of over $1 million annually and were able to do this within three years of starting operations. Findings - The results discovered four themes common among the majority of the companies. These were: targeted social media use, multiple touchpoints with customers, product differentiation, and earned media practices. Limitations - The limitations are that only fifteen business owners were interviewed. Although common themes emerged from this small sample, research involving a much larger sample is a logical next step. The development of an instrument to quantitatively analyze the marketing actions and results of small business owners is also warranted, if any generalizability of these findings is to be tested. Implications - These findings should assist rural small business owners' understanding of particular methods available for them to grow sales and improve their business outcomes, regardless of their physical locations. Originality - This study contributes to rural entrepreneurship research and small business owners because it provides practical solutions currently utilized by companies in rural settings.