Your Hometown Biz is an on-line resource for local businesses. The idea came to me while
teaching small business classes at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin. Frequently, after the course was over,
I would get requests from past students asking questions while they continued to start their businesses.
And I wondered, "How could I further help support and promote these businesses to give them a better chance
at achieving success?" Since I'm in the technology business, of course a website came to mind.
Especially with the economy the way it is right now, all businesses, large and small, are looking for ways
to remain profitable. Even businesses that have not had many problems in the past are finding that
they need to find new ways of thinking and resources to survive. Who would have thought that the automobile
or airline industries would ever die?
My father, an intelligent 80+ year-old man, said long ago that there would be a downfall of large corporations.
He even predicted that Wal*Mart will one day close. Well, Wal*Mart still survives, but the rest of his
predictions came through. And he said that there will come a day when
communities will once again thrive in the glory of small businesses. Businesses that were prevelant even when
I was a kid in the 60s and 70s. Single owner and family owned businesses that you could trust. Business that
were reliable and would give you a great deal. That day is here.
We're now less confident in large corporations. We want good, reliable products and services at a fair price.
Local, small town businesses can do just that. And Your Hometown Biz will help by providing resources to
both consumers and small business owners.
For consumers Your Hometown Biz...
- helps you find local small businesses and learn more about them, including unique search options that
allow you to search for only women or minority-owned businesses,
- allows you to read testimonials from other people like you that have used these businesses and share
their experience to help you feel more confident in your decision to work with that business,
- provides articles about what's going on in your community, introducing you to people you may know or
may want to know.
For small business owners Your Hometown Biz helps you...
- maximize your educational and networking opportunities by offering one of the most comprehensive
event and education calendars,
- increase your business exposure through the member directory and random spotlight on the Your
Hometown Biz home page,
- create your own complete business profile that includes your logo, a photo
of your product or service and a description of your business that can be as long as you like,
- maintain your education by providing articles on local issues that affect small business.
And coming soon will be:
- a forum to allow businesses to post questions and get answers or recommendations from other business owners,
- a media directory that will take the challenge out of creating a media distribution list for press
releases and announcements,
- a resource directory with links to additional resources to further your education and help
drive your business to profitability,
I look forward to further developing this site and welcome comments and suggestions from you on how you think it
might be improved to provide the services you need to become or remain successful.
Sincerely,
Neil Diffenbaugh, Publisher
neil@swatmadison.com