that's why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc. hi there, everyone, i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to the start of the seventh season of "your business." where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. entrepreneurs are faced every day with decisions about how to grow their companies and their own personal changing roles within the organization. so how do you figure it all out? we met two companies who are growing by making a conscious decision to stay the same. >> there's a history here that you just can't duplicate anywhere else. >> you're going to get the product that you had 50 years ago. >> our business decisions are solely based on making a quality product. >> reporter: allen, aaron and aaron are literally cut from the same cloth. >> we're in the fourth and five generation, two cousins and myself who operate the business on a day-to-day basis. >> this trio is the driving force behind streit's, the new york-based company well known for its matza. >> we try to toqueous on your original line. >> this family owned company started by aaron streit in manhattan has been a community staple since opening its doors. >> just had that sense of history, to be a part of something so iconic as streit's on the lower east side in 1925. >> our fathers worked here. we're walking the same halls that our grandfathers walked, our great-grandfathers. our great-great grandfathers walked. >> the company makes plenty more than just matzo. you can find a variety of streit's products on supermarket shelves but the family still pays close attention to its core offering. >> regular pink box of matzo that you see on the store shelves to all the flavors you see throughout the year. >> in fact streit's hasn't really changed the way it's matzo is made. >> key to business is know your product and know it well and do it well. >> the machinery has been updated. but that's about it. >> the way we take the dough, sheet it, the way we put it through the oven, break it out, it's very similar to the way it's done back in the '20s and '30s. >> we're using new york city water. people always say bagels and pizza taste the best in new york city and we believe matzo tastes the best in new york city as well. >> as far as these cousins are concerned there's just nothing to sacrifice quality. >> compare the product >> at one point streit's came close to taking a break from its past. there was even a plan on the table to leave the company's home. >> we get calls pretty much twice a day, brokers from prospective buyers. >> we had an engineer designing the factory. we did financial analysis. we did all of those things, you know, a good businessman would do to try to increase profits. . >> but in the end, a mix of creating a quality product and tradition won out. >> there's things that i don't know that we can positively reproduce. it's a gamble. >> there's also the human element of the operation. >> when the matzo comes out of the oven, there's a physical body checking it, putting it into racks that are going to be used throughout the factory. >> that may not have existed in a more modern facility. >> there are many times when it seems that you and i, that the machines aren't going to pick up. >> quality control is one of jackie wagner's top priorities, as well. >> it's a family recipe. it's a family business. it's a local business. that's what we like to keep it. >> she's the owner of mrs. w's old time candy based in north carolina. >> i sell toffee candy which is the classic. i also came up with a toffee oatmeal cookie, a chocolate chip cookie and a peanut butter cookie. >> she believes in consistency and quality. wagner says her company's success starts in her industrial kitchen. >> what makes us unique is we're not a mass produced item. we are hand made. you don't see that a lot today. and i don't ever want to become a mass produced item. >> from the very beginning, wagner has made all of her own products. it's now three years later, and she has no plans to change that. she's committed to maintaining these high standards she sets. >> a good recipe has to be kept secret. or else it's not a good recipe anymore. i don't want other people to know how to produce what we're doing because i don't want the recipe to get out and then they can do what we're doing. >> even though wagner personally delivers mrs. w's products to between 70 and 90 clients in two states, and takes orders online, she doesn't want to give up her role in the kitchen. she wants per job to stay the same. >> maybe hiring somebody to take over sales for me. i still want to be in the kitchen supervising the cooking. i will always have my hands in the kitchen. >> wagner knows that decision comes with a price. as demand for her products go up, her strategy has affected her potential. >> it's probably grown slowly, which is what i want to do. we're doing really good with how we're handling it now, just being in local coffee shops. local gift shops. we've got into our first grocery store, and so we're growing at a slow pace. >> it's the reality that wagner is willing to accept. she doesn't want to lose control of her business. >> i have had a couple people knock on my door saying let's go into partners. maybe i'll take 50%. if i wanted that i'd go to work for somebody else. that's not what i want to do. >> alan adler knows how wagner feels. he believes that change isn't always necessary. >> more money couldn't make us give up what we have here. >> aaron gross agrees. he says even though streit's is much larger than the original business of 1925 it has a strong foundation, and a core product that has, and will continue to pave the way for the company's future success. >> we do have a long-term plan to be here, still this brand, concentrate on our roots, build this brand and expand. we've been around almost 100 years and i would like to be around for 100 more. should be sixth, seventh, eighth generation family members running this place. i think that's what sets us apart. >> as business owners, we have so many opportunities to change things, so how do you decide when you should keep things the same? well let's turn to this week's board of directors. norm brodsky is a magazine columnist and brian hecht is a serial entrepreneur who is working on your latest company which should launch in a few months? >> a few months. >> norm, i don't think we did you right by saying you're a columnist, you're also a very successful entrepreneur. thank you very much for joining us. what struck me about this with streit's is they have the opportunity and talked about moving into this new, more modern factory, which clearly would have increased production, decreased maybe employees, and they said no. >> well, you know, there's a movement afoot, and it started about seven, eight years ago called small giants, three weeks ago i was at the international convention in san francisco, and there's more companies that you think of that want to be great, not necessarily bigger. what they have they call mojo. so streit's has mojo and they want to keep that mojo. >> and you think they couldn't keep it if they moved to some big, modern facilities? >> i think it would change. a company's change when they change of structure of what they have. yeah, i think it would change. >> what was so neat about them, we didn't explain it in the piece but people were walking by and grabbing matzo and clearly it is a part of the community. >> it's really a local business. those of us who live in new york city, we walk by it all the time. i remember eating it growing up and still today. and that's really part of its appeal. in the old days, it kind of had to go to the corner store to get something like that and it still has that feel. but nowadays there's like the whole foods effect. where you can have very artisanal, high quality, local products that very high end consumers have now acquired a taste for. and not just high end consumers. a lot of these things are making their way to mainstream supermarkets, as well. >> with the woman who sold the candy, what i thought about her that was most interesting is her idea that i do not want to leave the kitchen. and for many people this is a problem as you grow. because, somebody needs to run the company. >> yeah, but she has a life plan. and she wants to keep her solid business. and what she said was not necessarily about money. we think entrepreneurs, they only want to make more money and more money. and that's really not true. she's proud of her product. she has mojo in her product and that's what she wants to keep. >> right. >> i mean, this woman obviously values with her heart and soul what the business is about. not just the profit, exactly. and obviously being in that kitchen is what it's about. not, you know, promoting herself on social media. or buying advertisements, or you know, flashy promotions. and that's -- i got to think that's got to be good for business in many ways, too. >> every time you eat one of her cookies she wants you to think of her being in that kitchen making that cookie. >> and both of these companies have that. which is that when you eat their products they want you to think of them, not some big, fancy, modern factory somewhere else. >> exactly. >> yeah, that's right. when i walk by the streit's factory on the lower east side i do think of those people making the matzos. i do think when i eat a fantastic toffee or cookie you can imagine it being made in someone's kitchen. and they don't do it because they want to cynically project that image, it's because that's what it is. >> it's authentic. >> and people can tell that now. >> thanks so much, guys. we get a lot of questions here from small business owners who want to know how to get funding for their business. it might be the question we get the most. so our next guest has some expert advice about some key things you want to consider when asking for money. robert frohwein is the co-founder and ceo of kabbage, a group helping establish online retailers get access to capital. great to see you. >> thanks for having me on. >> as i said, this is the question we get the most and i think a lot of times people don't know how to go about actually doing the asking. what parameters do you set? how do you say something? who do you talk to? so i want to go through your suggestions. >> absolutely. >> the first thing you say, draw the line. in what way? what line? >> first of all, small businesses have to actually act like businesses. even though they're a small company they need to really separate out their business functions from their personal functions and that can be hard to do. a great example is, took a cab over here, spent $12 doing that. it's important that i submit an expense report for that $12, than just put it on my tax form at the end of the year. you actually if you're a small business, and you spend that money, submit an expense report to yourself, and get paid back by yourself. that's a great way of keeping those things separate, and folks that finance you are going to want to see that you're taking the step to keep your business separate. >> it is so easy, right, to just throw everything, credit card, cash, not fay attention at all. >> and it never does. >> okay. beg and borrow, but don't steal. i hope that this is intuitive don't steal. but you don't really mean steal. >> no, no, no, obviously. don't steal. but the beg and borrow, this is about going out and getting cash. you have to be very, very diligent and persistent to do it. so the first thing, the beg, is talk to your family and friends, and you've obviously covered that in the past. those are the folks that know you the best, want to help you, have the most faith in you. have seen your progression over the years. they're going to give you the money, if they can. but if you don't have a rich uncle, the next thing you need to do is that you need to make sure that you can borrow that money from somebody, like, and one example is trade credit. what i mean by that, if you're a vendor, if you have a vendor you buy products from all of the time, that vendor might say, pay me within 15 days when i give you the product. what you can do is after you establish a relationship, go back and say, hey, can you make that 30 days? can you make that 60 days? that's essentially getting credit from that vendor. and the other thing is, look for alternative financing sources. there are some companies out there that provide financing. my company does that for small businesses, and they will often look at factors that traditional banks will not look at. >> i think there are tons of nontraditional funding sources out there. i think people -- that's why we have you on to talk a little more about that. know your bottom line, most important, especially when you're going to go talk to somebody, tell them about your business, get them to give you money. >> yep. if you're going to get cash, make sure you're getting it for the right reason. don't do it to buy a new tv in the office or something like that. >> throw a party. >> a lot of people do that. and they need not to do that. they need to focus on the bottom line and getting a return on investments. a good example, we oftentimes will advance $1,000 of cash to one of our marchants. they'll take it, and within 30 days, they'll buy inventory and turn that into $2,000. and they might pay us $30 dr. 0s 40. that's a real return on investment. spend $40 to get $960 back. an investment that you won't get a return on is buying a new desk. that will take you a long time. so if you can manage through that, you should try to manage through that. >> okay. then be stubborn. don't take no for an answer, basically? >> yes. don't take no for an answer. but it really is how to not take no. don't be annoying and things like that. every body that invested in my company turned us down at least two times before they said yes. some turns us down five or six times. what we would do each time is ask them hey, why are you not investing in the company? and if you know them well enough, they'll say, hey, it's because we don't think that you're going to be able to build a product, or we don't think that you're going to be able to get other people to invest. or other things like that. so we wrote those down. we made sure that we did our work, we turned that around, we went back to them and we either forced them to give us another reason why they weren't going to invest or finally they enjoyed the persistence. >> i think the key thing is you wrote it down. i've done this with people who turned me down, not for money or other things. where you say, these were their concerns and you have that. so the next time you call them and see them you can address them exactly. they probably don't even remember that it was a concern. but it doesn't come up as a concern again. >> a great thing to do is when you call them back, say, hey you told me to get back in touch with you when i've addressed this issue. they won't remember whether they told you that. >> right. >> but you do it anyway. you told me to call you back, so they'll take your call and they'll listen to you and you've taken a reason off the table. >> right, okay. and then finally, be scrappy. we say this all the time. sometimes when you stop being scrappy that's when you make the big mistakes, regardless of how big you are. >> i have a saying called expenses. the key is you want to focus on the revenue, and as an entrepreneur you want to have the smallest amount of time lapse between when you start the business and when you start generating revenue in that business. you want to keep that as short as possible so don't spend money on things that are not going to generate revenue for the business. always think about how you can extend the life of your assets. how you can, you know, work a little bit harder before, you know, before you hire another person. but certainly when you have that time to hireson, bring them on, so you can start generating more revenue. >> you are an interesting guest because you've done it from both sides, kabbage your company provides money. you also started your own company where you had to get money. >> thanks so much. appreciate your time. >> what kind of person should you be? and what skills do you need to be successful entrepreneur? here now are five timeless traits that should be in any business owner's bag of tricks, courtesy of bizbest.com. one, networking prowess. connecting with a couple of people on facebook or linkedin won't cut it. the most successful business owners know that real networking happens face-to-face, and often with people who aren't their peers. two, confident negotiator. negotiating stills aren't easy to develop. but confidence gives entrepreneurs an edge in bargaining power. three, knows when to get help. ask questions and seek help when you need it. there's always someone out there who has faced the same challenge successfully. four, a knack for knowing your industry. attend industry events and read blogs and trade magazines, because being in the know will help you better manage your business. and number five, problem solver. don't wait for other people to take care of complications for you. working through issues that pop up will also help you better tackle problems in the future. coming up, lessons from the fast food industry. chick-fil-a's political stance brought in some customers while turning others off. so one viewer wanted to know if taking a public position was good or bad for your small business. and want some advice with that shake? the ceo of johnny rockets says put your name everywhere in this week's learning from the pros. you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect. the restaurant chain johnny rockets first launched in 1986 with the belief that everyone should experience classic americana. today, the restaurant is in 32 states and 16 countries. and as the company's ceo john fuller, we caught up with john is to find out how important it is to roll up your sleeve and learn the practice catch-up art in this week's learning from the pros. ♪ rocketman >> one of my guiding principles is i want everyone to be a difference maker versus a care taker. so i want people to feel like they can influence the department they're running or working in. they're just there being a care taker and doing whatever someone did, doing the same thing, that means they're not thinking and passionate about trying to make it better. in the restaurant i love to see when a manager makes a decision on his own. whether it's comping the guest meal because they had a bad experience or giving them a be our guest card to come back another time. and so solving the problems here and now -- ♪ check it out check it out ♪ ♪ check it out >> any small business owner out there you got to be in the field. when i was promoted to ceo of the company field. when i was promoted as ceo of the company what i started doing was have our manager level and above employees as they are hired spend a week in the restaurants because i think it's absolutely critical that you see our business through the eyes of the employees that are actually out in the restaurants doing the real work. i find it important to ask questions. if your focus is how to make their job easier they will be more productive and your business will be better off because of it. >> one of the things is when i go in the restaurants it's amazing how we're scrambling around looking for pens and it's amazing how it's the local dentist or chiropractor or local hotel chain. we send out a box of johnny robert pennsylvania. better have our brand on it. amazing to have somebody else's brand so we took that, solved that by shipping out every six months we ship out hundreds of pens to each restaurant. as you run your business don't lose sight of the branding elements. whether it's the logo on your glass you serve or a specific pen, never lose sight of that. it's important. you have a lot of chance to make impressions. ♪ the restaurant industry, to me, the single most important thing you can have is customer service. the way i judge customer service, my tips for successful customer service is making eye contact. come up with some way to connect with them and talk to them. once you have that dialogue you you connected you won half the battle. if you can do those little things that's 99% of the restaurant business. it's amazing how forgiving the guest might be if the food is late or you get the order wrong. if you make that personal connection they will be happy forever. ♪ ♪ rocket man >> time now to answer some of your business questions. norman and brian are with us once again. first the controversy surrounding comments made by the president of chick-fil-a regarding same sex marriage. ryan asked how smart is to it wear your politics on your sleeve as a small business owner. now one of our viewers kathryn wrote on our facebook page i think it is probably better to maintain a separation of business interests and social ideology. i doubt that your customers want to know your beliefs. they just want you to be honest, sell a good product and give customer service. what do you think dourks agree? >> put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. we can vote at the ballot or dollars. i don't want to give my money to an owner that express those views. you might. that's our decision. the owner needs to make a decision whether he believes it so strongly he needs to say it and it doesn't matter what happens to the business. if you say it, say something that's inclusive that will attract consumers. >> i think it's more than that. i think that the number one and most important in your companies is your employees. by stating what you say you could be hurting your employees. if you want to ruin your business or give up a segment of business is one thing. don't forget you employ so many people and their lives are depending on that. before you open your mouth just remember you're responsible for a whole bunch of other people. >> you're right. that gets to the fact if your statements are welcoming and inclusive a lot more acceptable than somebody that rejects certain kinds of people. >> this is about setting expectations when you're working with contractors. >> at the end of the job i feel like there's a gap between my expectations and the reality of the project. and i just want to know, what's the best way to bridge the gap? >> this is really interesting. so we do big scopes of work at the end that are as specific as we can get whenever we hire contractors for my company. how do you make sure everyone has the same expectations. >> it's not the end of the job, it's the beginning of the job. you have to lay out those expectations. and along the way, you know, you have to make sure they are living up to those expectations. if at the end of the job you are not satisfied, well the problem happened a long time before that. >> you need to make sure your expectations are realistic. there's no contractor in the world that can deliver a hope and a dream to you if it's not possible. before you hire someone like that go out and talk to other people in your industry, see if those kinds of results are possible and then once you agreed on a realistic outcome dig in. if you have to micromanage, micromanage. >> this is the biggest issue of hiring contractors. >> like to have unrealistic expectations to start with. so what i do every time i have these unrealistic expectations i know they are and i get as close as possible to those. >> let's move on the next one. this is a question about getting paid. >> how would you get customers to feel more comfortable transitioning from let's say paper check to electronic payment? >> how do you do it? do you force them into it? >> forcing them is the exact wrong way. people are not listening when a company shouts at you to do something. they listen to their friends when their friends or they see them doing it or it's recommended electronically by friends. that's a real value of social media, i think is harnessing that to show, especially with something as your own wallet, your own pocketbook. make sure you see your friends are comfortable doing it. >> the other thing is my wife just went through this. she didn't want to do that. the bank came in and educated her. the education process is the thing. once you do it it's better for . you. it's a trust issue. >> what about a discount? >> i don't believe small businesses should ever give things away for nothing or give a discount for somebody to try something. i don't think that works. i think more so education works and showing the value. >> showing how easy it is. finally one entrepreneur wants to know how to convince small business owners to change their ways. >> i'm in the travel management industry. and we've saved companies time and money. how do you convince small to medium businesses that they need to contract services that will save them time and money rather than just it themselves? >> again this is all about education, right? >> all about education. me for one, it's very difficult for somebody to sell me something that i do myself. >> but travel -- >> exactly travel in the business. so it has to be an education process and a trust process. it's not about money and saving time. even though she thinks it is. it's about trust and education. once you start thinking in those terms maybe she can come up with a better way to sell her product. >> i think you need a little bit of both. buying things and choosing vendors is an incredible emotional issue and even when it makes financial sense to switch to a provider sometimes people cling to that. they are worried they will be criticized. if the relationship backfires they are worried to be in trouble. do the heavy-lifting for them. do the whoerj. show them numbers. how they will be a hero in their organization by saving money or increasing revenues. >> norman and bryan thank you guys both for those answers. if any of you out there have a question for our experts go to our website the address is openforum.com/yourbusiness. hit the ask the show link and submit a question for our panel. the website is openforum.com/yourbusiness or e-mail your questions and comments to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. do you need to add staff but don't have time for the hiring process? our website of the week may help you. jobon.com is an online service that stream lines the application service. gone are the days to schedule the interview process. applicants answer a couple of questions before submitting profiles. you then can watch virtual interviews on your own time and find the perfect candidate for the open position. the service is free for the first five applicant. to learn more about today's show click on our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find all of today's information. you can follow us on twitter it's @msnbcyourbiz. next week, the founder of the texting company zynga makes the mistake so many small business owners make. >> there's so much that i know about our product and service that i want to basically just spell it out in one big voice. >> he learned the hard way that when getting the word out about your company, less is more. until then, remember we make your business our business. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement...