An interesting question was once asked: If a tree falls in the forest and there is know one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Physics says yes it does make a sound. It has too! Just the act of falling and the release of energy requires there be sound. The question is much deeper than that. If there is know one to hear it, then does it mater if there is a sound or not?

The response to the question is yes. The reality is that when this question was first asked there was very little noise in the forest. The new reality is that we now live in a forest that is very noisy. Think about a business that is trying to start up. How many other businesses are out there competing for the same market? Or are these other businesses making noise (marketing) for customer attention? The physics has changed.

A small business that fails makes no noise because it makes very little sound. And then there is all the noise around it. Its little noise is drowned out by all the other noise around it. The reality is that the small business makes up the majority of the commerce of our community. It is the trading of good and services within the community and builds the strength of the community. When the small businesses fail we lose the ability to trade. And when we have nothing to trade then there is nothing to build on.

This is the first of a series of article designed to talk about building a business and what it take to make is heard in all the noise. Currently I have started a business and failed. Now I am in a new business and will be working to make it grow. I am bound and determined to make this work. Please join me as we help Wichita Falls, TX and its community grow.