While Steve Carell is a famous celebrity actor who is best known for his character of Michael Scott in ‘The Office’, he is also a small business owner. Steve opened his own small shop ‘The Marshfield Hills General Store’ in 2009 and is like a quaint little hobby for him.

Steve took the chance to buy the historic general store when it was up for sale. The sister of his wife Nancy told the couple about the store being up for sale and Steve leapt at the opportunity, finalising the sale in 2009.

Now, the store is most famous for its famous owner. The store is as much a tourist attraction as it is a shop, and many people visit it simply because it is owned by Steve Carrel.

The shop is a perfect destination for those who are seeking to buy some old-fashion candy or pick up a housewarming present for someone they care about. The store even has its own café serving tea and coffee to those who are interested in it.

The store is a key part in the heart of the local community and is really a nice distraction form the mega-stores that are so common in the Untied States. For small business owners, the shop shows that there is a lot to be enjoyed about keeping this small and leaning into the marketing benefits of being an actually small business.

In this sense, size matters where it comes to sincerity in business. People like the idea of shopping at a small business like this that feel like it has real history behind it and is not an overly-optimised construction designed to maximise profits.

The rustic and old-fashion design is nostalgic for many people and is a key part of the stores’ popularity.

McDonald’s is the biggest fast-food chain in world and has had massive success in all of its major endeavours. The influence of this brand has continued to grow over the years and has shown no signs of going down.

However, this major company had humble origins and there are some lessons that those who want to start their own small business can learn from them. These lessons are important for anyone who wants to start a small business so that they can not make the disastrous mistakes that many others do.

While you are not going to replicated the success of a major brand like McDonald’s overnight, you can follow some of the lessons that it teaches. The following are some of the best small business lessons you can get from McDonald’s.

Leverage the power of PR

McDonald’s has famously faced criticism for marketing fast-food to children and having played a part in the modern-day crisis of childhood (and adult) obesity. McDonald’s has expertly handled these criticisms and remained a leading brand. It has slowly changed parts of it menu without alienating any part of their audience and actually attracted a new audience as well.

Try to franchise your brand

The major success of McDonald’s can be attributed to the fact it has a universal appeal that can be marketed anywhere around the world. This has made it easy for the business to be franchised out and encourage others to adopt their business model. While not every brand can easily do this, it is a smart move because of the great benefits it can bring.

Dominate pop culture

McDonald’s is famous for its impact on pop culture, having appeared in many different movies and television programs. Penetrating pop culture is a great way to make your brand memorable.

Magic Johnson is best known as a famous American basketball player as well as an entrepreneur after he retired from professional sport. However, he also helps small businesses with his company Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE).

MJE helps small businesses in a variety of ways, covering all the bases from connecting them with suppliers, getting approval for building construction, and helping with marketing. MJE knows the importance of having a thriving small business, especially in urban areas that are affected by poverty.

MJE is all about making for a diverse and competitive marketplace that helps to defeat the monopolisation of industries. It also helps by providing employment for many people who would otherwise not have employment.

MJE cares about using strategic partnerships to form key alliances between different businesses. The goal is to create a small business landscape that is as ethnically diverse as possible.

Small business owners in other countries can learn a lot from MJE. The most important lesson is that cooperation can sometimes be more lucrative than being overly competitive, and being smart about partnerships can yield fantastic results.

MJE also shows the importance of giving back and being a part of the community. People like to do business with brands that are a genuine part of the community and aren’t just a faceless corporate presence.

One of the best things any small business owner can do to help themselves is lean into the marketing benefits of being a small business and using this to their advantage. Daring to be different is an important and attractive feature of many of the most successful small business enterprises.

As you can see, MJE does a lot to help small business, and a lot can be learned from the work that is done, no matter what industry you are in.