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“In rural America, small businesses would rather the Internet didn’t exist, but it does." This is the sort of generalization that leads to countless missed opp

“In rural America, small businesses would rather the Internet didn’t exist, but it does." This is the sort of generalization that leads to countless missed opportunities in the largest parts of America. Aside from the obvious advantages of nearly instantaneous electronic delivery and communication to businesses separated from customers by greater geographic distances, rural communities have a history for adopting technology faster than urban centers; they just don't make as big of a deal out of it. If you want to see an example of this, visit a farming expo; those guys have had GPS in tractors years before you had it in your car and they have more robotics and telepresence than the majority of "modern" urban offices.

lloydarmbrust 16y ago
Yeah, farmers are really good about adopting this technology because they have to--the competition is fierce in farming and the industry is constantly challenged to do more with less. Contrast that to the tire shop who fixes the farmers' tires, or the local florist and they will likely not have a computer in their store. We're not going after farmers (yet) since they don't need websites or lead generation; however, the other businesses in their communities do.
kgutteridge 16y ago
I worked on a farm all throughout my teens and can fully vouch for this, they adopt technology fast and truly understand capital outlay far more than the majority of small to medium enterprises (at least in the UK), as they pay for the majority of investment out of their own money rather than taking risks with other peoples money, there are however some things that distort this such as the EU CAP subsidies and regulations which lock out other markets, so they are operating in a little bit of a vacuum It however provided a good grounding for me as you worked 60-100 hour weeks at harvest time and it was physically exhausting but mentally boring, nowadays what I do is physically easy but mentally exhausting, both however are difficult in very different ways but necessary for a healthy economy.

lloydarmbrust 16y ago

Yeah, farmers are really good about adopting this technology because they have to--the competition is fierce in farming and the industry is constantly challenged to do more with less. Contrast that to the tire shop who fixes the farmers' tires, or the local florist and they will likely not have a computer in their store. We're not going after farmers (yet) since they don't need websites or lead generation; however, the other businesses in their communities do.

kgutteridge 16y ago

I worked on a farm all throughout my teens and can fully vouch for this, they adopt technology fast and truly understand capital outlay far more than the majority of small to medium enterprises (at least in the UK), as they pay for the majority of investment out of their own money rather than taking risks with other peoples money, there are however some things that distort this such as the EU CAP subsidies and regulations which lock out other markets, so they are operating in a little bit of a vacuum It however provided a good grounding for me as you worked 60-100 hour weeks at harvest time and it was physically exhausting but mentally boring, nowadays what I do is physically easy but mentally exhausting, both however are difficult in very different ways but necessary for a healthy economy.