Post-corporate life in Floyd County

I dropped into the Cafe Del Sol for a restorative latte and was reminded again how Floyd is a hotbed of post-corporate micro-business activity.

In the space of a few minutes I met two newcomers who are engaged in creating companies from scratch. Both individuals are creating a new life after leaving corporate employment. It is probably not surprising that both companies rely on the Internet as a basic part of their business model.

In the course of our conversation, they mentioned clients who have set up their own businesses after leaving corporate employment.

If that gives you the feeling that this county is full of ex-corporate types who are retooling themselves as entrepreneurs, you are right! Some are artists, some are contractors and others are creating business models that boggle the mind. I plan on covering a few of the more unusual startups in subsequent articles.

According to one of the the sources I Googled, the micro business segment, those employing 10 or fewer employees, represents the heart of the American economic engine. Apparently 94% of all firms and 84% of employer firms would be classified as micro businesses.

As fellow blogger Lloyd Lemons puts it:

Micro-business owners are entrepreneurs. They’re idea people, they’re creators, they’re risk-takers, they’re financiers, they’re managers, and they’re the backbone and spirit of innovation that keeps America rolling…

An entrepreneur is a person with a good business idea who is brave enough to go out on her own–against all odds–to try to make it a reality.

I know that we have plenty of entrepreneurs in Southwest Virginia because of the large turnout we had at the recent Entrepreneur Express meeting in Floyd sponsored by the Virginia Department of Business Assistance. There are more Entrepreneur Express meetings taking place this week elsewhere in Virginia.

If you know of an interesting micro-business that I should be writing about, send me an email.