Transcripts For MSNBC Your Business 20131019

Help. Thats why were proud to present your business on msnbc. Hi there everyone. Im jj ramberg and welcome to your business the show dedicated to give you tips and advice to help your business grow. This week, makers, doers and creative entrepreneurs from across the country are gathering at Grand Central station in new york city as part of Martha Stewarts americanmade initiative. It honors those sparking a change in the way business is done by pioneering a and innovating in their selected fields. Im hosting a panel at the event discussing the next generation of socially responsible companies. Its called doing well by doing good. We met up with two of the honorees whose companies are doing just that, by leading a movement of Small Businesses focused on sustainability. We need more of that. I think wed be on to something. Beyond this cloud of ashes is woodbury kitchens, one of the countrys new best restaurants. If you make a commitment, you start to look at he everything through that lens. Something as simple as the ash through our wood burning off un, we sift the ash and make charcoal to cook with over a grill and the middle grade ash is a good soil amendment. Ironically this uber sustainable restaurant actually rose from the ashes of what was once a burned out compound of industrial buildings. Our location is in one of baltimores grand old mill spaces. We took this great old space and had local artists and crafts people, many of which are locate inned mill along with us, they built the space. Woodbury kitchen is tapping into a trend of companies that care about sustainability, care about their local community and care about the local economy. What sourcing locally sdos drives the local food economy and thats really what woodbury kitchen is all about. Buying more food from farmers that we could then make into this beautiful product. But it doesnt just end at the food. Using found materials from the area, they repurposed metal work for the stairs, salvaged wood for the bar and table tops and utilized the local glassblower to create the light fixtures. We knew that we werent going to just drywall the heck out of it. I think from the very beginning, thats a sustainable move. Not using materials that are new, not bringing in things that you dont need. Spikes understanding of local sourcing formed after 15 years of working and owning traditional restaurants in and around baltimore. It was a long, slow, steady lirng curve, both about local food system, which im very connected with now and how much it meant to me as a chef. I didnt think i found what i was meant to do until visiting folks growing food. Spike has met and formed relationships with likeminded people like Denzel Mitchell of five seeds farm. He took a gamble when he quit a secure job as a High School Teacher to pursue a more fulfilling live as a farmer. The food system in baltimore is developing rapidly and absolutely ready for this kind of product, this kind of farming. We sell to about 12 restaurants, woodbury kitchen and the other fleet of smaller restaurants being our very closest partners and allies and our biggest customers. Our goal is to return maximum value to our growers. Thats a very simple equation when we think about how many dollars can we get back into supporting Sustainable Agriculture in our region. Thats what it comes down to for us. Across the country in oakland, california, another company with the same core values as woodbury saw an opportunity to start a new business growing mushrooms from used coffee grounds. The idea for back to the roots actually got started off in a random way. Were sitting in this Business Ethics class and the professor brought up this one sentence, you could possibly grow gourmet mushrooms on Recycled Coffee grounds. The students were inspired by the idea of turning waste into fresh local food. After research and a ton of youtube videos x they started experimenting with growing mushrooms in his fraternity kitchen. We both walked up to the local coffee shop and picked up coffee grounds, planted two rows of five buckets and one bucket grew. That one bucket is really the start of the company. Alex and any keel started cultivating them and selling to local restaurants and supermarkets. It morphed into something entirely different. People kept expressing interest, can i grow mine at home . Its that opportunity to get other people to see how food grew and thats how the mushroom kit really got created. They soon realized the companys true mission, creating tools to make food personal again. Like a small selfcleaning fish tank where you can grow herbs and the product that started it all. A grow at home mushroom kit that was simple, sustainable and educational. I think we all have to learn how to do it to make our food better. And these young farmers, theyre doing all kinds of innovative, creative things. Its incredibly important and inspiring. And very, very entrepreneurial. Both woodbury kitchen and back to the roots are being honored by Martha Stewart living as part of its americanmade tradition celebrating american entrepreneurs. For us, this is entrepreneurship and this is business and the way it should be done. Its nothing new. Its stuff our grandparents used to do. Although it seems like a throwback, for these entrepreneurs it simply boils down to three things. People, planet and profit. From the start, woodbury has been about not only trying to be the best restaurant in the neighborhood but the best restaurant for the neighborhood. We employ a lot of people, including butchers and bakers and we literally have a candlestick maker as well because we make our own candles. It works as a business. Even in the last three or four years, how this movement has grown, yes, you can make money and do good at the same time. Chances are, Martha Stewart touched your life whether that spatula in your kitchen bears your name or you rely on her recipe for pancakes, she has a talent for teaching, inspiring and creating beautiful things. How did she turn her passion for home making with roots in a small catering business into the powerhouse that is now Martha Stewart living omni media. She shares her thoughts about being your own customer, learning every day and having a business plan. When i wrote my book, the martha rules, i made a list of what i think are those golden rules for a Good Business. Just like i have golden rules for how to make a pie and golden rules for cakemaking, i have golden rules for business. If you stick by these golden rules, youll probably do okay. I have always said ever since i started working that i am my customer. I want to appeal to me. Whats missing in my life . What void did i fill that will fill the voids for everybody thats like me . My mother would always say nobodys like you, martha, forget it. I always said, mother, i am like everybody else. You know, i have chickens, i have a garden, i scrub the floors, i vacuum my house. Im just like everybodyer everybody else. She finally got to understand what i was talking about. I always want to please me with what we do. Do i want to buy it . Do i need it . The need and the want. When i started the business, the Martha Stewart living on the media, our two words were inspire and inform. So you create the beautiful picture, you create the lifestyle that you think everybody would aspire to and then you have to tell them. Thats the teaching part. And to be that inspirer, that inspiration, you have to know a lot. You cant fake it. So i learn every single day. One of my mott owes is learn something new every day. And i do. Its all about informing yourself so that you can be a good teacher. Once you develop a Large Customer base and we reach about 100 Million People every month with all our various businesses, our books, our magazines, our television, and once you develop that kind of close rapport, they have already a feeling that im providing them with things they need and want. So its very important to engender trust with your customer. If you disappoint them, if you make something that falls apart, forget it. You dont get that customer back again. All i want to do is grow my customer base. I want to be where that customer needs and wants me with good stuff. When you develop your business plan, dont be afraid to write everything down. Everything that comes into your mind. Because ultimately, if you have a Good Business plan, well thought out, well designed, carried out for a year or two or three, you can start to follow that plan in an orderly fashion. Doesnt always work. It doesnt always work. Doesnt always turn out the way you think its going to turn out. You might stumble or trip or fall in a gully. But if you have the plan, you can get up and continue on your path. Mobile technology is changing the way that we connect with clients and how we market and sell to customers. Here to talk about new trends for advertising efficiently and effectively is mark, a serial entrepreneur and author of the new book word of mouse. 101 trends how we buy sell, work and play. Theres so much great information in this book. I wish we could talk more about it. I want to focus on some of the new advertise trends today. Okay. You talked about appadvertising. Theres different ways to use apps. You can have an ad within your app. More importantly, the best way to use an app is to get them to use a free version and then upsell them to a more premium version. It works. You have a Good Relationship with your customer. A lot of Small Businesses are choosing to do that. This just happened to me. I downloaded a free app for my children, played two of the games for them. Youre hooked. To get the third one, i had to pay. They had me. I knew i liked the product. Youre giving them a free sample. Facial recognition software, how does that help us . Its not that it helps us. Its understanding the technology to figure out if its good for you. In the billboard space, they have billboards with facial recognition. The billboard is looking back at you and playing the type of ads that you are going to look at. So you dont want to run women ads to men and ads for hockey to women, if i may say that. Is this in a lot of places . Theyre testing it. In Madison Square garden, theyll show you a female ad if youre the only one standing in front of it. As a brand, another way to target your advertising. Facebook has put in facial recognition. Theyre going to try to automatically identify who is in all your photos. Got it. A lot of people can do that right now. Okay. Now lets go to retargeting and relationship targeting. Retargeting is when youre using gmail and they can see that youre talking about, im going to go to italy, you might see ads on the righthand side of the page for italy car services. They know what youre talking about because youre using their service and thats part of the agreement. Theyre going to flip you ads that are retargeted towards you. Because you cant learn everything with limited time, choose your medium. Linkedin or facebook. You have to know what you dont know and then you have to hire someone or bring someone in who knows what you dont know. If you dont know pinterest, you found someone who does. If you you find someone who knows the medium. Mobile crm. Customer relation management. Its managing customers through mobile. You know where they are and you can know where they are and what theyre looking at and the ads can be targeted to them. You can have a better relationship with a lot of your customers through mobile, whether its mobile or social, its a language. Thats what they speak. So you got to find some that work in one, some that work in another. Mobile crm is a big deal. You need to look it up, understand it and find out if its good for you. The point of all of this, its not like what happens with tv ads. You would be spending all this money. You can figure out who the target is and get to write to them. Its drilling down. Its the same thing. Theres broadcast and narrow cast. Were broadcast. This is broadcast. But its still narrow to Small Business. Narrow casting is knowing exactly. You can run an ad on facebook just for people who belong to a certain association. Right. Thats narrow casting at its finest. Not wasting money on people who rbt interested. Mark, its good to see you. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. Do you have a packed day of meetings and neepd a ride to your next stop . If so, check out the app of the work. Using uber, you can order and pay for car service on your mobile phone. Serving 35 cities all over the world. Request a car through the app and youll be picked up within minutes. Payments are handled automatically using a credit card and you can share your location so people youre meeting with can track your progress. When we come back, well answer your Small Business questions about what skills you should have when starting up a Small Business. And the value of going to a freemium model. People hope to get just desserts with their natural ice cream product. Has its ups and downs. Seasonal. Doesnt begin to describe it. My cashflow can literally change with the weather. Anything that gives me some breathing room makes a big difference. The plum card from American Express gives your business flexibility. Get 1. 5 discount for paying early, or up to 60 days to pay without interest, or both each month. Im Nelson Gutierrez and im a member of the smarter money. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. Its time to answer your business questions. Lets get to the board of directors. Brian cohen is the chairman of new york angels which has invested more than 53 million in 70 earlystage Companies Much hes also author of the book, what every Angel Investor wants you to know. How to get smart funding for your billion dollar idea. Jen gruber is a serial entrepreneur best known for creating butler bags and starting empowered by jen gruber rmt great to see you. Great to see you too. It is about getting your business off the ground. I think a lot of people wish to have an awesome startup and they kind of neglect what skills are required to launch the company. So i think if you could answer what kind of skills are important for a startup founder to have. I know this is a passion of yours, brian. Making sure that people are starting companies are actually doing it right. Oh, yeah. What do you have to say to him . It starts with the customer. How well do you know the customer . How much do you know what theyre thinking . Are you inside their head. Know their problems, challenges, the issues you face . Your business is based for solving their problems and being able to know what theyre thinking is critical. Thats something they need to do. Are there any particular skills . I think your ability to be able to pitch and to connect with people is critically important. I see so many people with great ideas, they cant pitch or articulate their ideas. I find that holds them back considerably. Also, your ability to be agile. If you know your customer, people come out thinking this is my customer. In reality a new form much customer comes into an unexpected area and people ignore that because they were focused in this one direction. Their true customer is being neglected. Knowing your customer is a key part of it. Being able to be agile to attend to that. Great. Lets move on to the next one. Its about giving free stuff away. Lot of Companies Just offer their services for free in hopes to get exponential user growth. What we were wondering was, how do you balance that need for this really growing user base but also at the same time wanting to prove yourself as being able to be a profitable, successful venture . I love this question. Can you give stuff for free . Is it worth it in the beginning . How do you deal with that issue . The true question is experimental marketing. Its proven to be effective a nessity in some cases. Especially cosmetics or skin care. When i launched the butler bag company, i gave out a lot of bags for free. It became a viral Marketing Strategy for me. If were talking about a website and technology, it might not have that same kind of conversion. Youre giving an experience for someone to use but you need them to be talking about it and showing the brand to other people for it to be effective. The issue is also freemium. So you start with a premium with a premium capability. Its part of of the strategy actually. You want to give it away for free. You want everybody to have it to give them something that adds to the value. Look at facebook right now. Now, in order to post something and get it seen by all of your friends or your fans, you actually have to boost your sales. In order to be seen. I feel like its a Business Model that people are starting to expect. People who have gotten too used to everything being free get frustrated and wont participate in it. If you see the value coming from the fans and followers seeing what youre posting, youre going to pay for it as part of your Marketing Strategy. The next question from michael, he writes my website connects homeowners and contractors. The site is still being developed but nearly complete. What should i be doing, if anything, about promoting my website before its completed . My concern is that ill direct people to it and theyll be turned off because of typos, et cetera . Yeah. Polish is up. Before you do anything, people are going to see that is an example of your professional capability. Thats silly. Why would you want to get out there and have all of that tarnish over your best product . Doesnt make sense. I think that hes struggling with the beta question. He probably wants feedback from potential users. If youre going to do a beta test, let people know this is in beta and to keep it to a smaller demographic so that people understand theyre part of a test so there can be feedback. Also, youre not going to stumble and lose of potential customers in the future. If youre going to do a beta, make sure the simple stuff, typos are out of there that make you look professional. Beta google was in beta for three years, right . Exactly. Lets move on to the last one. This is from jeannie. She says my husband is a high Tech Consultant and has a number of startup ideas. Are there legitimate organizations that i love that this is written by the wife. Saying i do not want my spouse starting up these companies. If they have a good idea dont want to run it, is there a market for an idea . I havent seen any. Im looking for the idea of an idea website. You can actually go to it and find its purchasable. I havent seen anything like that. Have you seen anything . There are a lot of corporations now who are really trying to tap into entrepreneurial resources. Theyre creating competitions, pepsi did a really big one this past year. So theres a lot of starbucks is doing one as well. If you can find those contests of big legitimate corporations, its a smart strategy. Also, one of the biggest trends im seeing is entrepreneur in residence for different corporations. If you see a corporation who is looking for ip coming from the entrepreneur community, that might be a true test for you as well. Keep in mind, though, youre theyre not going to sign a contract to say, okay, this is my idea. Youre putting your i. P. Out and you have to be comfortable with that. The one you see commercials for on television, i dont know if i would necessarily pitch my idea there. Youre still working at it. Still an entrepreneur. You just have backing up of big companies. Its not like i have a good idea, give me a billion dollars for it. Theres a great line that said you can have a great idea with terrible execution and it doesnt go anywhere. The idea unto itself isnt the value. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Right. Its hard to imagine that a Big Corporation is going to buy an idea. They may give you support. Theyre giving funding and bring it into their Consumer Product incubation process. You get their support. Great. Thank you so much brian and jen. You guys stick around. We need you for the elevator pitch in a little bit. Okay. If any of you out there have a question for our experts, go to our website. Open forum. Com your business. Once you get there, hit the ask the show link to submit a question for our panel. Again, that website is openforum. Com yourbusiness or if its easier, sends us an email. Yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Going green isnt just the right thing to do. It can also save you and your company money. Here are five ways to make your business go green courtesy of ink. Com. One, make the switch. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75 less energy than incandescent lights. Two, power down. Ask employees to turn computers off at night and to set them to turn to sleep mode automatically after 30 minutes. According to the epa, this can save you anywhere from 50 to more than 150 annually per device. Three, cut the cord. Smart strip power cords sense when a device is off and will cut power when not in use. Efficient heating and cooling. Install a programmable thermostat to regulate temperature. Also, ask Service Technician toss check for and repair air duct system leaks regularly. Five, reduce, reuse and recycle. Look for ways to reduce unnecessary consumption and reuse and recycle materials. Everyone loves ice cream. But not necessarily the calories that come with it. Todays elevator pitchers have a sweet solution to the diet dilemma with their all natural product. Hi. Im Susan Patrick with biage yoe, we cofounded ice cream. Its the only ice cream sweetened with stevia. Low in fat, glutenfree and we average about 100 calories per serving. We have seven flavors in pints. We are cobranded with true via. Were a womens owned business and we currently have distribution in limited markets in the northeast. So were looking for investment to go in about 2,000 Stores Coming this spring. We have a Million Dollars worth of purchase orders on the table and we need your investment to make the product turn. You should see a return on your investment within the Fourth Quarter of 2014 and the First Quarter of 2015. Great job, you guys. Before we ask about the pitch, i want to know is the ice cream good . Amazing. Delicious. That was smart. You hooked them on that. Lets find out about the pitch. Youve eaten have a pint, brian. Was there anything they missed in the pitch . I need to know more about your profitability. How youre making money doing this. What kind of model is set up . What can you tell me about that . I can tell you Gross Profit Margins between 40 and 50 . We have an exit strategy for a sale which im sure are you reading my mind . Little bit, yeah. You wanted a little bit more that of in the pitch. What about you jen, did they give you enough to pique your interest . I would like to hear more about your strategy, although this is a growing area, theres definitely going to be a need for really unique Marketing Strategy to really separate you from all of the other brands on the shelf with similar claims of the grlutenfree or low fat, lo calorie. Whats that going to be to help you jump off the shelf for people. We have flavors. These are real people, families, people that are health conscious. What were going to do is a contest through facebook where people can submit pictures of their ice cream families, their ice cream lifestyle and we pick winners that will be part of the packaging going forward. I actually love that branding. I unfortunately, have to cut you off. Would you take another meeting . Absolutely. Actually, i want to try the chocolate. Well let you try that. What about you jen . I would, absolutely. Thank you, guys, for your advice today on everything. You can finish that brian. Thank you guys. Good luck with everything. Thank you. To learn more about todays show, just click on our website. It is openforum. Com yourbusiness. Youll find all of the with a lot more information to help your business grow. You can follow us on twitter msnbc your biz. Dont forget to become a fan on facebook. Next week we travel to the banks of the Mississippi River to natchez, mississippi to talk to Small Business owners on main street usa. Ive never been in this kind of industry. So i was definitely nervous. But very optimistic that it would do well. I feel like natchez needed this. We put boots on the ground to learn how todays independents are keeping small town entrepreneurship alive. Until then, im jj ramberg. And remember, we make your business our business. Building animatronics is all about getting things to work together. The timing, the actions, the reactions. Everything has to synch up. My expenses are no different. Receiptmatch on the business gold rewards card synchronizes your business expenses. Just shoot your Business Card receipts