Austin Texas

I was in Austin Texas this morning, I spent the whole morning driving around down town looking at all the little businesses. Austin is a big collage town with a highly educated younger population. I saw hundreds of little eclectic businesses in all categories. I saw three air stream travel trailers on three different streets that had been turned into business establishments, a snow cone vendor, latte coffee vendor and pastry shop. There were coffee shops, resale stores, restaurants, clothing shops, boutiques, book stores, bagel stores, repair shops, tattoo parlors, and on and on, they had eclectic innovative signage, some had murals, all were interesting, small independent operations, it was stimulating to see all these little places mixed in with the chain stores.

Austin is an interesting place, lots of bikes, bike lanes, and scooters and foot traffic, they have a great bus system and people actually use it. The history of Austin is one of entrepreneur innovation, Dell was started there for one. I left there wanting to return with my camera and take pictures of all the unique business signs and store fronts and post them for everyone to see. I should find the time, think? The town was bustling and that created excitement. The trip renewed my faith in the young people of today. They have the energy and confidence, ingenuity, the intellect as well as the gumption to take us all into the future.

For anyone thinking of starting a small business a trip to Austin would be invigorating and motivational. I wonder how many of the business owners were inspired to give it a go by the sheer number of others who went before them.