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Unusual
Ways Newsletter
(Subscriber Access Only)
(Subscriber Access Only)
What can you do in a small town other than get a job? There are certainly many possibilities, but this week I'm going to look at the small town I know best: Canon City, Colorado. The population is between 20,000 and 30,000 depending on who you ask (the latter figure seems to be for the whole area). In the first year that my wife and I lived here, we saw six businesses fail in the downtown area. The good news was that ten more opened up.
Of course, I try to cover the more unusual opportunities, so I won't be listing all the new businesses. We moved here in order to be closer to the mountains we love, and it was possible because we had an internet business we could plug in anywhere, so that's a good place to start. If you start a business online that doesn't involve any delivery of products or any local sales, you can move to any small town you like (as long as there is good internet access).
The internet has opened up many possibilities in small town America. In fact, a friend of ours here in Canon City sells paddle boats and parts online, and has done so successfully for years. This is not a common business, nor an easy one to get started in, but he could probably run it from anywhere that has internet and delivery service. What else do people in our small town do to make a living?
River Rafting Guide
The Arkansas river runs through town, and before that it runs through the Royal Gorge. Guiding people down it, through the thousand-foot walls of the gorge is a seasonal job, and tough, but it's one that a hundred or more people around here seem to enjoy. Many live elsewhere but enjoy the work so much that they return each season.
Shoe Shining In Bars
One local goes from bar-to-bar several nights each week, shining shoes for $3. I'm not sure how much he makes doing this, but he has been at it for years. Of course, it is likely that only small-town bars would allow him to come in and sell his service. He will also paint ladies fingernails for a dollar or two, and he has dozens of colors to choose from.
Selling Cheese
We were at the brew pub downtown the other afternoon, and met a cheese salesman. Not a common profession, but this gentleman buys specialty cheeses and meats and sells them here and there for a profit. The owner of the bar not only was okay with this, but recommended the smoked gouda, which we bought and took home with us. It was delicious.
Guiding Fishermen
You would think this would be a common profession anywhere there are rivers full of fish. But for some reason, it is more common here in the west. Perhaps the fish are harder to catch. Certainly some of the mountain streams are more difficult to access. Looking over the pamphlet from the local service I can see that he pay is good for a day as a fishing guide, but business is probably not too predictable.
Selling Roses
If you want to sell a rose to a man for his "beautiful woman," you should make the pitch while the woman is there, and after he has had a beer or two. That's what one man does in the local bars. I'm not sure where he gets his roses, or what he pays (he may get the older ones cheap) but he charges a few dollars each and seems to rarely leave a bar without a sale.
Selling Hot Tamales
You have probably heard the expression, "They were selling like hot tamales." I'm not sure that hot tamales are always a best seller, but we recently bought a couple dozen from a woman who makes them at home and sells by word-of-mouth. She will even do them with all-organic ingredients if you order them that way. You have to buy at least a dozen ($12), but they can be frozen.
Making Banjos
Okay, I think the banjo maker in town stopped making them before he moved here, but that was his profession in the last small town he lived in. More recently he is a real estate developer. I think that may pay better if done right.
Catalog Sales In Spanish
In larger cities you can find stores where people speak Spanish. It's not so easy in some small towns. As a result, a friend of ours can make money selling things from a catalog in Spanish. The company is apparently a Mexican one that ships here.
Candy Sales
One of the first times we went to a bar here in Canon City, we were approached by a woman selling peanut brittle. We will try almost anything once, so we bought some. I think she sells other candy as well, which she makes at home. She travels to several small towns around the area, stopping by each bar for a while to make a few sales. It isn't clear if she can make a living doing this or if it just supplements a retirement income of some sort.
One thing that is clear from this and the other examples above, though, is that the bar owners and operators here are very tolerant of vendors. Making money can be more creative in many small towns due to this kind of relaxed atmosphere.
Note: This is part of the "Unusual Ways"
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