revitalizing the economy. american express open is here to help. that is why we are proud to prevent "your business" on msnbc. ♪ hi there, everyone. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business" the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. maybe it is a trend or it never went out of style, but it seems that now touting the fact that your product is made in the usa is a big draw for customers. and it seems that americans are willing to pay more, and sometimes even much more for products that are made here. when george villagos had trouble finding a stylish american-made pair of shoes, he decided to make them himself, and stoked the artisan economy and supporting not only his business, but supporting two thri thriving businesses along the way. george villagos grew up working in his family's suburban chicago shoe shop. he learned the craft of building and repairing shoes from his father, an immigrant from greece. >> the first time my dad brought me to the shoe repair, he said by the end of the day, you have to have all of these shoes polished and at the time i didn't know what he was trying to do, but he was trying to scare me, because he didn't want me to get into the shoe business sglcht it is a lot of work, you know. the kids get dirty, you know, and it is not easy. >> after college, george started a career as a teeacher and then soon started to daydream about being his own boss and going into the shoe business like his dad. >> going into the business, you had to buy shoes that would be resouled, because he wanted the shoes to last. >> george realized that a well made pair of american shoes was hard to come by. >> i went to nordstroms and barney's and everywhere and it did not exist. >> so george set out to revive the craft of shoemake ing ing i united states. paying special attention to sourcing all of the materials and the labor in america. >> that is when the idea was sparked of how could we make a shoe or boots in america, and make them out of the best components really in the world, and hand craft them the old fashioned way, and offer them at a price that is attainable. >> he h named the company oak street boot makers and started the search to find the best materials possible for the uber american shoes. he didn't have to go far to source the most important ingredient, the leather. it just so happened the last remaining tanner ri in chicago, the horowine leather company was just a few miles away. >> horoween leather is the best in the country and i spoke with george and rick and that is how it started. >> george is here once a month, but we talk much more often. he want ts to know the footage d how is it going to be ready and that is a service we are here to provide. >> they are the long time supplier of leather to the companies who make high end shoes like edmond's, and nick is the fifth generation at his family's legendary company is very interested in making sure that the leather that takes up to six months to tan is just right, even for a smaller company like oak street. >> making leather is a craft. there are a lot more steps than people realize. >> with with the leather sourced in america, george started working on the designs and many of them are a riff on the cl classic boat shoe, and the key element in his version, hand sewn seams. so he went searching for a place where he could assemble a small contingent of hand sewers and the only place left in america who had a few craftspeople with that unique skill was maine. once the biggest employer of shoe industry, all tof the work has disappeared with the work being done cheaper overseas. sutton's factory in bangor is only four left in the entire state. >> when george contact ed me an wanted to come and see the factory, he sort of fell in love with what we were doing, and then he started to tell me his story, and getting back to the whole, hey, i want to make product in america. >> the timing was perfect. sutton's factory was not going to make it without an influx of work for the highly skilled hand sewers and craftspeople. >> he really came along as my business with a couple of other customers was dwindling down to nothi nothing. and i was wondering what i was going to do. >> with the all american highle quality supply chain figured out, george launched the business online and not sure whether anyone would be willing to pay between $250 and $450 for his hand crafted shoes. one mention on a blog called secret ports sealed the fate. >> that first day, you know, i thought that maybe we will sell a few pairs of shoes, but that day we sold out of all of the inventory within 24 hours, and we were out. and so, the fact that our shos s are handmade presented a problem. because they take about six weeks to make. we know that is a long time, but even though we sold out, we immediately went to a six-week preorder system, and customers were still ordering. >> all of the sudden, the orders were flow iing in, and it was amazing how quickly he became a big part of my business. >> now, three years into the business, oak street boot makers has stoked the artisan economy with his hand crafted shoes and people waiting six weeks for a pair of them. his hand's on approach has him working side by side with nick ho horowean on the leather before it is shipped to adam sutton in maine to be hand sewn and george frequently visits maine to personally monitor and inspect every pair of shoes before they are shipped. >> we don't see our factory as just a factory making the shoe, because it is really a relati relationship. when i see a shoe, i can actually often tell who sewed t it. it is often like their signature, and so going to maine and being a part of that is just, it is part of the dna. >> george did a great job taking what we do, and you know, finding someone else that is great at what they do, and pairing it with his expertise and then executing it and creating a product that the market really wanted. ♪ hey i put some new shoes on ♪ oak street ultimately found its place in the market by promoting the handmade american-produced products. for another shoe company, the problem it had is that the brand was outdate and the appeal was a little bit too narrow. as we told you a while back, the solution as is the case with so many small businesses was to reinvent itself. ♪ ♪ i want to get on the good foot ♪ >> walking through the floor of the historic new york company eneslow company, who knew it almost folded 60 years ago. >> my responsibility was to make sure that the company continued and people come to us, and we give them their lives and give them the ability to walk on the planet pain-free. >> 25 years ago, he was running a lucrative shoe business with eight stores and 110 employees and more than $400 million in revenue. >> the model was based on consumers referred by doctors. >> you should have a different insert in each of the shoes. >> when the medicaid train started to rev up, and dominate our business, now all of the sudden, people were coming in with a prescription for quote, unquote orthopedic shoes. they were looking for free shoes. >> medicare customers accounted for more than 50% of the company's revenue, bringing in a steady and reliable stream of b business. that is until the other shoe dropped. >> the formula for medicaid was no longer viable that half of our business was no longer going to be there. >> schwartz knew he had to radically downside to save it, but it took advice from a mentor to help him to figure out that downsizing meant closing 7 of the 8 new york stores. >> so at the end of 1989, we had closed up all of the branches, and we were now a one-store busines business. >> with less overhead, schwartz was free to position his company for the future with bold changes to the brand. while he stayed true to the roots by keeping the shoe department, he focused in on a new market for comfortable, but style issues to appeal to a broader xus mer. >> i spent more time focused on the consumer-driven styles, and orthopedically oriented but more fashionable. >> it looks like you are catering to a customer who is fashionable. if you look around, these are not orthopedic shoes. >> you are right. we could not be a store growing and doing the business that we do and stay hard core to the walking shoes only. >> the reinvention of the enislow shoe had started. with the reinvention complete, the business is now thriving with aging baby boomers seeking out the service in record numbers. and while he says that the road was rough, schwartz said he never even thought of giving up on the business. for h many small business owners the key to getting your product or service out there lies in the hands of some large company you want to do a deal with. it could be that you have a product that you want walmart to carry or you want to create a marketing arrangement with starbucks for instance, but how do you get through the door? and if you do get the crucial introduction, how do you present your opportunity in a way that piques their interest? our guest has some tips to help small business owners to get talks with big brands. rachel weiss is at l'oreal usa and in charge of digital marketing and strategy and new ventures and partnerships. great to have you here. >> great to be here, jj. >> in your hands lies the keys to small businesses who want to get to you and pitch their business and some arrangement. you must get people coming to you all of the time or at least trying to. >> yes sh, i get a minimum of 2t the minimum blind requests for meetings per day. so come petition is fierce. and there are tips to help you get through the door. >> okay. so what you get 20 and which ones do you respond to? what do i do make you say, i want jj to come in. >> well, there are strategies that help you get through my inbox better than a blind call or blind introduction on linkedin. one way is through a personalized introduction. if you wanted to do business with a big company and a big brand, do your research, and know what that company does and how have an idea how you can solve that problem, and once you know that, find somebody who works with that company or within that company or knows that company. we are big companies and lots of people who work there and find a credible introduction. >> and can you say, have a solution for them. i say i think that i have a product that is great for l'oreal or marketing strategy that is great for l'oreal and i come in and say, this is a solution, but how do i know if that is your problem, until i can get in to talk to you in the first place. >> right. two steps. get in through the front door, but the research has to happen. i have so many people who come to me with the capabilities presentations of what their company does and they might not have a perfect solution, but i like to think that they are thinking of solutions and know what we do, and that they are paying attention to what the business strategy s and there is many ways to do that by reading the press releases, by watching our executives speak at conferences on the youtube or going on the corporate face brand pages to find out what the company is doing, and having in mind what you can do is not enough, and what you can do for us is what you need in this competitive industry. >> and if i say to l'oreal, this is what the objectives are going to be and is that what you would be focused on. >> well, having a goal in mind is a great strategy. there is so much competition out there, and if we are going to take a meeting with you and you do get through the front door, chances are that we are meeting with people who are like you or have a similar solution in mind, so you have to be not only articulate what you can do for us, but have a solution and also know what your competition does and what is your own point of difference. >> you talk about the formalized corporate programs and do companies have programs where entrepreneurs can come in to talk to you. >> yes, there are more formulation and incubation in fortune 500 companies. we have one at l'oreal called women and digital which is tech startups by women. it is a admission into the program that is to provide introductions for women who own tech companies into the company to simplify and create new ways for women to shop using technology. this is a formalized program, and it has a calendar and website and protocol, and i see other big companies having similar programs as well. >> okay. have a case study ready and this is a tricky one, because if you are just starting out and you don't have a big market iing budget and you haven't been able to get into the big company before, and you are the first meeting, how do i have a case study? >> well, if you don't have a case study have enough data as possible, because once you get the first meet iing the person o is sold into your idea, the chances are they are not going to be able to make a decision in the vacuum and they become an extended employee of yours and become part of the sales force and you have to arm that person with as much data as possible. if you don't have data or a case study, two tips to give. the first is to have a clear idea of what success would look like and be able to articulate that up front. and the second is be open to doing a pilot with the big company and that might be something that you have to do for free or for a short amount of time to prove what you are doing to get through the front door and to the start to create data to scale throughout the company and sell in your ideas. >> and finally, a lot of the company startups work by the seat of their pants and pitch it and it is a good idea, but they don't do for mall prez mal presr business brands, and when you go in to do you have to do a big power point conversation or a just a conversation? >> both. be able to have a conversati vv on the fly and be ready for what you have to offer and what the company thinks that you can offer, and to share and having a nice presentation or a video of seeing a lot of the startup ss create a video for what their company does is a great way to share what you are doing and to help me or whoever you meet with to sell throughout my own company. >> thank you, rachel f, for comg on. >> thank you for having me. when we come back, how do you raise capital without giving away too much of the company. and we will tell you about free online classes to sharpen your entrepreneurial skills. ♪ i'm not aware of too many things ♪ we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. it is time now to answer some of your business questions. brian hecht is a serial digital entrepreneur and his current venture is choosers which help companies make hires more quickly using technology. and we also have a business coach and strategist and adviser who helps companies set their companies apart from the rest. and sarah is the author of a book "fierce loyalty" and great to see you both. brian, you started a new company since last you were here. >> yes, it is an exciting concept and it is so hard to hire new members of the team, and using social media is a great way to get started. >> you are both well poised to answer the questions. let's start with the questions from the audience. it is about formulating equity. >> is there a formula to raise capital without giving away too much of the company kw current valuations. >> how do you know where to start? >> well, for my, first, it is a personal choice how you want to do that. i would say don't give away anymore than 49%, because then you lose con e trel of the company altogether. i wouldn't give away more than 25% really, because then you lose a lot of power of votes, and personally i would not give away any, because i don't want somebody else telling me how to run my business, but that is me. i'm curious to see what you would say? >> i would take less than a q n quantitytive approach. you can give away 2% to 80%, and to me, it is not how much you give away, but how much value you retain. think about it strategically going into the venture, how much do you have with value and customers and if you have created value, the cash is less relative to what you have created a enyou will have to give away less as well. >> in the early stages, when you don't have a way to value the company, convertible debt is a great way to start. >> yes, and it lets the next round set the price of the valuation when you have more information to go by. >> and the next question is about hiring. >> there are a lot of really great kacandidates out there, a one or two years out of college with incredible internship experience but not a lot of actual work experience. so i would like to know some key questions, and key things to look for in interviewing them so i can choose the best person. >> i love the questions, because i love to know what the panel thinks of in your experience, is there sort of a neat question that you have asked that has elicited responses that get you to help to someone? >> well, i want to defer to you, because you have been in the hiring position in the immediate past. >> i have seen every intern apply for a job. this is the trick for me, and this is the trick, ask them in the internship that you have had, give me an example of when you acted like a full time member of the staff and what results did you get from act like that? and that is a great way to see if they have the mindset of acting like a real employee. >> that is right, the mindset, and it is not as much experience somebody has had when they are 21 years old, and getting out of college, you want somebody ambitious and a fast learner if that is the kind of job you are hiring for. >> and a team player. a team player. >> yes, absolutely. >> the question i love is give me an example of a project where you took it from start to finish so that you can, and walk me through that process so you can find out what kind of initiative do they have. how do they build a team so they can complete something, and even if it is a simple project that a lot of interns have, you want to know how it works. >> and also a school project. >> another question that someone said, how lucky do you think that you are from 1 to 10. >> that is great. >> because he says for what he is looking for, he likes to have people who feel they are lucky. >> yeah, that is really good. >> okay. i thought it was good. and this is about moving production overseas. >> how can a locally handmade company increase the wholesale volume and is it a must at some point to produce overseas to lower the costs in today's reality? >> not necessarily, right? >> well, no, like anything else, it is a question of identifying what special value you bring to a product. you need to hold on to that and make sure that probably you want to do it on your own, but just like you wouldous yo outsource any service, if you are not a website designer, you will not do it yourself, you hire a very good design firm and let the experts do their work. the same way of the experts the firms are of seas or here, and thoughtfully outsource to them. >> and there are hidden costs and maybe cheaper to go oversea, but the costs in the shipping and the problems and the mistakes and the things that you have to factor in. >> absolutely. my first question if i were working with her is how important is made in the usa to your brand. if it is part of the brand identity and the customers expect that from you, then absolutely, you have to do it here. you can't muddy those waters. but, if you factor in all of the things that you have talked about, you know, if actually outsourcing it overseas does wind up being cheaper and having it made overseas does not negatively impact your brand, then it is absolutely worth considering. >> finally the last one, and it is an e-mail from anita, how can i maximize social mediate at a private golf club. we tried twitter with dismal results. any suggestions? all right. fierce loyalty. >> i will go with that because i'm a twitter junkie and you have to look at the tweet stream to see that, but twit ser not the place for everyone. it sounds what she has with the golf club, she needs a place to set up a private community, and that is more facebook. google plus. probablylinkin would be good i would bet for her membership so she can create a closed community and really communicate directly with the people she is trying to get. twit ser great for broadcast, but not great for a small community to talk to. >> look at something like pinterest or youtube to think about the content that you are sharing and not just talking about the membership messages or the dues or whatever it is, but videos of the golf pros having the videos and the tips or pictures of your favorite golf products on there. >> or events if you have evens s at the club. >> that is great idea. >> brian and sarah, thank you both so much for all of that advice. it is helpful and if any of you have a question for the expers s and you want it answered right here, just go to the website and the address is open forum.com/your business and once you get there, just hit the ask the show link to submit a question for the panel. again it is openfor uu openforum.com/yourbusiness. or you can e-mail us at your business@msnbc.com. one reason i like you on the panel is that you have experience and you know you cannot talk about it in the details until you have done it, because then you realize what a headache it is. that is why we go out periodically and go get advice not only from you, but other entrepreneurs and so let's get other great ideas from them. >> so my tip for a small business is to start out slow and share space. we currently share space with another similar business and it is great, because we can share creative ideas as well as save money on the rent. so you can move slowly rather than taking on rent and, you know, having a big expense. it is never too late to start your own business. my husband and i started our own business after 50 years' experience in our industry and we decided that this time was as good as any. so my tip is to take a risk and start your own business, it is worth it. >> so i'm about to go back and date myself to my 15th year reunion for business school and i'm so excited because i got to look at the courses happening there, and one course that you have taken since school that is helpful for business? >> i have not taken any courses since school. >> zero. you? >> masters marketing course and really helpful. >> we forget and you need to know that courses are incredibly helpful and today, we have five free online courses that every entrepreneur should take. this is courtesy of i, inc.com. this six-week course taught by james green from the university of maryland will help you there the initial steps of creating a business plan and evaluating if there is real demand for your product. two, introduction to finance by gautam kaul from the university of michigan. and in six weeks you can think about business strat yes in a more systemic way. and four, growth to greatness by edward hess and each of these courses each four weeks long e focuses on the challenges off an entrepreneur who wants to grow his or her business. and five, design thinking for business ib novation which is a five-week course taught by jeanne liedtka to stimulate both the right and the left side of the brain. so i don't know if it is generational, but so many entrepreneurs of my age still write on post-it notes, and you? >> well, i write lists, hand written. >> handwrite it? >> every week, i try a new online service, and they are great, but when i need to remember it, i put it on a post it note and paste it on the computer. >> in is the app of the week called spring tab and it helps you the save reminders into an easy to visualize platform and then it will enhance it with relevant suggestions to help be more productive. and finally effortlessly save and access all of the information from all of the devices and the web and it is worth at least us trying. thanks so much for watching the show today and a quick reminder that you can find these segments and all of the others that we have done on the web. it is at openforum.com/business. on twitter @ @ msnbc your biz and don't forget to become a fan of the show on facebook. next week, a company in venice beach is making exciting big deals by making an inviting first impression. >> because it is eloquently display and we have a clear cohesive message they end up being drawn in and want to see what we are doing. >> see how these two entrepreneurs are getting customers by integrating their design aesthetic from everything of the work space to booths at trade shows. and i'm jj ramberg and remember, we make your business our business. we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. >> here in our nation's capitol it has been a particularly lovely spring friday. but also kind of a sweaty one. not because it is unseasonably warm or humid but it is a season for friday night nervousness in washington, d.c. and there is flop-sweat nervousness in washington tonight because tomorrow is the washington, d.c. nerd prom. god forgive us. tomorrow is the white house correspondents dinner in which the president, and lots of politicians and reporters and people who work in the media and celebrities who have inexplicably become attached to this event, they all cram into the same