Operational Lessons for Small Businesses: What I Learned Running a Local Shop
When the delivery truck arrived two hours late on a Saturday in June, a line formed outside the shop before we could put a...
Local Stories
Roanoke Local Discovery
Practical coverage for food, events, hidden gems, business spotlights, local people, and useful Roanoke guides.
Operational Lessons for Small Business: What One Winter Shutdown Taught Us
Operational Lessons for Small Business: What One Winter Shutdown Taught Us I remember the night the heating failed at our small warehouse in January....
Five Costly Mistakes Small Business Owners Make — How to Spot and Fix Them
A hot Saturday morning, three servers short, and the register drawer short by three figures. That was the week I learned how fragile a...
Seasonal Planning That Keeps Your Business Calm During the Summer Rush
Seasonal Planning That Keeps Your Business Calm During the Summer Rush Last July I stood behind the counter while a line snaked out the...
Small Business Budgeting: What Roanoke Owners Learn When the City Tightens Its Belt
Small Business Budgeting: What Roanoke Owners Learn When the City Tightens Its Belt On a Tuesday evening last month the city budget meeting ran...
Kitchen Remodeling in Roanoke: Avoiding the Costly Mistakes I Learned on an Old Bungalow
Kitchen Remodeling in Roanoke: Avoiding the Costly Mistakes I Learned on an Old Bungalow When my neighbor decided to gut the kitchen in a...
Small business cash flow management: three mistakes that sink growth and how to fix them
Small business cash flow management: three mistakes that sink growth and how to fix them When my shop lost a major client in August,...
Seasonal planning for small businesses: how to turn peaks and slowdowns into predictable cash
Seasonal planning for small businesses: how to turn peaks and slowdowns into predictable cash On a March Saturday a block of downtown filled with...
Seasonal planning for small businesses: lessons from a busy spring in Roanoke
When a downtown bar tripled its volume on St. Patrick’s Day and a neighborhood shop lost 35% of revenue during two years of bridge...
How to survive small business budget cuts: practical steps owners can take now
How to survive small business budget cuts: practical steps owners can take now When the town’s largest event canceled three weeks before the season,...