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I've just been reading "Good Enough Never Is" an inspirational new book about rural business success.

Written by Peter Kenyon, it comprises 20 case studies of ordinary rural people who dared to be different and have become out-of-the-ordinary rural entrepreneurs. The author examines the attitudes, behaviours and skills that set them apart from most business operators in rural and outback Australia.

Not only is this book an inspiring and entertaining read, it is a tool for self-analysis of yourself, your business and your local community. Not just for rural dwellers either. There is much that city folk can learn from the amazingly resourceful people in our regional areas.

Let me give you a glimpse of the contents.

Elvis Parsley My favourite is the story about a fruit and vegetable store in the small town of Woodford 60 kilometres north of Brisbane. Like many greengrocers it was losing business to the big supermarkets and owner Nick Comino realised he had to do something big and bold.

And that he did, combining his passions for fresh food, fun and....Elvis Pressley to recreate his store as Grapeland.

In 1994 Nick decked out his store with his extensive range of Elvis memorabilia, changed his name by deed poll to Elvis Parsley and "... opted for the looks, the voice, the jumpsuits and the moves of the King...He gyrates, swivels his hips, bends the knee and croons into the mike (banana!) with the same brooding intensity as the King."

Has it worked? Nick has become an icon, recognised for his innovation and his fantastic contribution to tourism and business life in his region. To quote again from this wonderful story:

"Ever since the transformation of the business the joint's been jumping. Take a jailhouse rockmelon, add some suspicious limes, love me tender tomatoes, blue swede shoes, and artichoke hotel, and you're making music at Elvis Parsley's. Nobody has given Nick the raspberry and the cash register's been raisin hell."

Jah Roc Then there is the story of Jah Roc. Gary Bennett and David Paris shared a love of surfing and a love of wood. They developed a business making creative furniture pieces from old bits of jarrah salvaged from business sites and moved into a workshop and showroom on a major Perth suburban road. Then in 1993 they made a bold move, many people said a crazy move, and purchased an old derelict flour mill in the small Wheatbelt town of York for their workshops and showroom. As Gary puts it, overnight they went from 70,000 people a day passing who didn't have the time to stop, to York with a total population of 3,000.

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