On our Survey of Rural Challenges, "our downtown is dead" is always in the top 5, every time since 2015. Over the past ten years, we've put together a set of solutions that will work in a town of 500 or could scale up for a town of 50,000.
Sheds incubate tiny businesses on any empty lot.
Divided buildings nurture multiple small businesses together.
Pop-ups give you the starting point to make it a success.
Choose one or all three tools to reshape your communities’ downtowns.
Putting tiny, temporary businesses together cuts time and money off the process of getting into business and manages the risk of failure with real-world market research.
It also increases entrepreneurs' skills, happiness and success.
The waiting is the hardest part.
We're taking small steps
From now until the start date, you can purchase this Toolkit and you'll receive access starting Jan 15, 2027.
First up: Pop-ups
You'll get this Jan 15. Newly refreshed, new examples and updates throughout. You can start building your pipeline of merchants immediately to feed into sheds, divided buildings or your existing spaces downtown.
Second: Sheds!
Everyone loves the sheds stories! Finally, you get all our secrets to make them successful. You'll get this section one lesson at a time over a period of weeks, starting Jan 15.
Third: Divided Buildings
You don't have to be a big downtown to feel like a busy place. Multiple tiny businesses sharing the same building helps you get there. You'll get this section one lesson at a time over a period of weeks, starting after the sheds.
Will it really take that long?
We're working on it all right now, so we hope to bring it to you even sooner. But we're experienced enough that we know better than to over-promise!
Photo courtesy of Forest County IDA/IDC
Why this toolkit is worth paying for
Someone else put in the hard work of figuring out pop-ups, sheds and divided buildings for their town. You don't have to start from scratch like they did. This toolkit is how you learn from their hard-won experience.
We've collected the examples from across the US and Canada. Heck, we've inspired some of them!
We've talked to founders, building owners and merchants. We visited many of these places in person. Beyond the startup stories, we asked for their documents like budgets, leases, and marketing materials. People shared how to get buy-in, what they'd do differently, and all the inspirational photos. One founder even dug out an old hard drive and shared a treasure trove of cost estimates, grand opening details and sponsorship info.
From all that messy information, we developed this kit. It's built on the foundation of our Idea Friendly Method to Gather Your Crowd, Build Connections and Take Small Steps. That's what makes it easier to do and customize for your town.
You're starting from what already worked not just in one place, but in a lot of places. Rural places. Small Towns. People like you.
Over ten years, our Pop-up Toolkit has helped towns like yours to support tiny entrepreneurs and revive their downtowns. It was the first product we created together, and we still love it.
And now it's growing into a full set of tools to revive your downtown with pop-ups, sheds and shared buildings.
You get our best judgment of what to copy, what to adapt and what to avoid. That's built on over ten years of digging into the stories, seeing firsthand and watching what lasts.
You can do this. We can't wait to help you!