The giant world that we once knew has become a lot smaller in the past several years. Customers who were once distant our now just a click away, and customers who would have never met are now joined together over the web discussing the quality of our business. The economy has crushed us with tighter lending and lower consumer demand. Society has made a shift towards supporting small and local businesses.

These changes feel a lot like a small town. Small town businesses have long been dealing with customers sharing their personal experiences at the local coffee shop, tight local lending and low consumer demand.

So if the business world is more like a small town, can we learn anything from small town businesses that would be useful? Yes! Here are seven specific principles that work for all small business today.