"Small Business, Big News" Signs

I was driving on the highway between Vernon and Kelowna, BC last week, and at the roadside I saw a homemade sign congratulating someone on their first hole-in-one. It was a simple, hand-painted piece of wood with the happy message painted on in sloppy but legible letters.

Immediately, my brain flipped to the possibilities of how such a simple means of communication could be used by small business owners to give and receive similar congratulations on their business achievements. It would be easy for a group of business owners (perhaps via a Chamber of Commerce, a trade association, Business Improvement Association, home business association, etc.) to work with municipal authorities to create a "small business, big news" sign somewhere in town, celebrating the successes of its daring and dedicated entrepreneurs of all scales and sizes.

It need not be anything more complicated than your standard message sign with a few lines of space for the interchangable letters, like we see used commonly by businesses to advertise sales, etc.. Build one of those message boards into a sturdy, permanent brace, perhaps "prettied" up a bit with an overhead piece that says something like "Small business success!" (or something less cheesy and more original!), and allow the message below to change regularly to tout the achievements of local business owners - expanding to a new location, growing staff, winning an award, celebrating a "milestone" of length of time in business. The possibilities are countless.

In "Trucker Management", we talk about the need to toot your own horn at times as a small business owner. Maybe here's a way to amplify your horn so more people hear it!!