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. Dividing buildings 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
The Pop-up Toolkit was our first idea and the first product we offered together. So we love it. And over the past ten years, we've developed much more that goes with it: pop-ups, sheds and shared buildings.
We've collected the examples from across the US and Canada. Heck, we've inspired some of them!
We've visited many of these ourselves. We've talked to founders, building owners and merchants. We asked for their documents like budgets, leases, and marketing materials. We got those and so much more: founding stories, what to avoid, and all the photos.
And under it all is our Idea Friendly Method to Gather Your Crowd, Build Connections and Take Small Steps. This is what makes it doable for you. Don't let someone else stop you with analysis paralysis. And don't stop yourself either.
You're starting from what already worked in not one place, but a lot of places. Rural places. Small Towns. People like you.
You get our best judgment built on our ten years of collecting, sharing, thinking and asking.
You can do this. We can't wait to help you!