Hi there, everyone, im jj ramberg and welcome to your business. The only show on television completely dedicated to helping americas Small Businesses. How many points of failure do you have in your business . If one thing falls apart, a supplier doesnt come through, an employee quits, what would that mean to your company . I travelled to bend, oregon to go badle boarding with the owner of standon liquid who found out exactly what happens when something goes wrong. Mike mudd, the owner of the bend, oregon Paddle Boarding Company stand on liquid was on vacation with his family in mexico when he got a message that had the potential to topple his business. Mr. Mudd, so sorry to inform you, like a dear john letter, from china, one of our premiere board manufacturers was performing us that a container that probably should have shipped two or three weeks before that had all burned up. It was one of the worst messages he could have gotten. He was expecting a shipment of his best sellers, his highest margin paddle boards. Instead, he found out his inventory was destroyed in a factory fire. His stress level when from 0 to 100 in seconds. The timing could not have been worse. They were preparing to are the start of what they call the silly season. The four months that most paddle boards are sold. Getting these boards in august or september, its too late. We would have lost a tremendous amount of opportunity to sell and maintain margins and keep the company profitable. On top of that, mike just brought on a new partner who had made a big investment in the company. I was mortified. I thought maybe he would contact Legal Counsel and say i dont know what ive gotten myself into. You sold me a little of goods. Not getting the boards in time would be a major blow to the company mike and his wife started three years earlier. Lifelong outdoor enthusiasts, they opened a paddle board retail store to capture what they saw as a growing trend. When you started the company, how big was stand up paddle boarding compared to now . I believe at the time, the sport was the Fastest Growing water sport. Now its just the Fastest Growing sport. With a frontrow seat to this explosive growth, mike started to see an even bigger opportunity in manufacturing his own brand of boards. We could double our margins and we could become profitable. Did your boards fill a hole in the market that you saw as a retailer . Well, yes. A lot of the nicer boards, the touring boards we manufacture ourselves are 200, 300, 400, 500 less than some of the other move of manufacturers. The board i got last year, the durability of my board with the amount of people is absolutely amazing. The popularity of the sol brand of board had grown. By the time mike got that call in mexico he had promises to deliver to Retail Stores across the country. We would have let down our new retailers, sign up, dont have anything for you. Mikes options were not looking good. He had already paid the factory in advance for the boards that were destroyed and the factory was supposed to have already started on a second shipment of boards, which they hadnt yet. I was trying to come up with a strategy that was going to be, you know, appropriate. And all of them seemed like they were very high risk. Though he had not expected so much to go wrong so quickly, mike had known that Something Like this could happen. He had just one manufacturer providing these premiere boards and he was never comfortable with the lack of diversification. A few months earlier he had started conversations with another overseas factory. They had all of our files, graphics, they knew the pricing. Mike quickly ordered a container of boards from the new factory and he doubled down on the old one. Paying them extra to ensure the lost boards would be replaced immediately. I said ill go ahead and wire you some additional funds. Youll build us two orders at one time. So i kind of bought our way to the top of the production schedule. It was a big risk. Tieing up all of his money and crossing his fingers that everything would get there on time. Otherwise, it would turn into a big hit for his balance sheet. Lots of expenses, little sales. We would have been it would have been a terrible year. I mean we would have just written the whole year off of work. It was a gamble that paid off. By june 1st, mike had his complete lineup. And a more diversified manufacturing process for Going Forward, just in time for him to take advantage of the silly season. Creating and running a startup Small Business is challenging enough. But at least youre starting off with a clean slate in the eyes of potential customers. But taking a company with a wellknown brand thats failed and then turning it around can be particularly daunting. As nbcs jenna wolf reports, one entrepreneur has done just that with her hat store and in doing so, became the youngest woman to own a manufacturing facility in new york. Reporter from Kate Middleton saucers to pharrells ranger, the hat is making a comeback. Graced for fashion and function, its personalized statement and one size fits all mentality, the accessory once men to the cover you up is revealing a lot. It takes me 30 minutes to do what he does in a matter of seconds. Reporter this is the owner of founder of this new company with a very old and rich history. Frank sinatra, bill cosby, madonna, all frequent customers in years past. A year ago, when the company went belly up, it seemed like the end of an era until a young woman with an old soul came along and changed the landscape. When you see the process of making a hat, this is nothing to what it turns out to be. Back in 2010, she took up a hobby, hat making. After finding out her mom was seriously ill, she decided to make her a hat. When she explained of the cold nights. It was nice. One hat led to two and three and so on. When i was looking at this apartment filled with handmade hats, i made a decision that it was my time. And that time is now. After raising 172,000 on kick starter and borrowing from family and friends, sachi who just four years prior was making hats in her bedroom bought herself a hat company for a bargain price. Positive through the process i knew it was going to work. I just had such faith. Im going to figure out how to make this happen. Reporter at age 31 she had become the youngest female factory owner in manhattan. Dating back to 1904. Reporter a tour of the new cleaned up factory which sits behind the showroom is an eclectic mixture of past, prnew and old and new again. 2,500 different wooden blocks most from the old factory now paired with thousands of colors and textures for any hat idea imaginable. A story that started with her mom whos doing well today and continues on as she tosses her hat in the ring of fashion flair and fun, both on the red carpet and off. If i can just inspire somebody to feel magic when they wear the hats, ive been successful. Todays elevator pitcher is another new york stew entrepreneur with a sense of style. Lets see if her closet consignment concept convinces our great panel. Former sba administrator, Steve Preston, the ceo of Livingston International and tanya yuki, the founder and ceo of sharably. Hi. My name is kate. Im the founder of kates closet nyc. We are on Online DiscountLuxury Fashion and consignment business. Being a new yorker, time is a valuable commodity to us all. We can barely find the time to shop. Kates closet is changing that. With almost ten years of experience in the fashion industry i use my connections to get the best possible deals for my customers. I always work with clients to con sign their gently used designer goods. All these products are sold through kates closet nyc. Com. Other secondary websites and private events. With sales doubling each month, its been easy to find funding. We are looking to raise 300,000 in exchange for 20 equity in our company. Well secure a larger warehouse base and hire a larger employee base. You had me at no time to shop. You have one customer here. But as a business, which is what theyre here to comment on, how do you think she did . I want you to say the pitch from one to ten, how was it . You got your pr thing down. Katescloset. Com. Got it in there. One to ten, how was the pitch . Im going to go with an eight. The reason is, also as a customer, im very excited by the concept. Thinking about the pitch, though, i would challenge you to really help me understand how youre different from all of the other solutions online. I think you referenced your experience and that was strong but i didnt understand with the actual business how you were going to really stand out. Okay. Steve . I gave you a nine. I thought it was terrific. I have three teenage daughters an a wife who are disconcerning shoppers. So it spoke to me. I liked the idea you talked about where you were getting materials from, where it was going, who was buying it. I also wanted to know what you would lack like relative to the competition. The Growth Numbers were exciting, too. Thank you very much for coming and pitching. Thank you so much. Good luck with everything. Great job. You two, thank you for giving your advice and scores. Stick around. If any of you out there have a product or service and want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chances of getting interested investors, just send us an email. The address is yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Please include a short summary of what your company does, how much money youre trying to raise and what you intend to do with that money. We lack forward to reading your pitches and seeing some of you here in the elevator. In elevator pitches, just like the one we just saw, your listener is paying attention to a lot more than what you are talking about. How you present yourself and what you sound like is just as important. And with many more meetings happening with Services Like skype, your body language and your quality of voice has even more clout than in the past. Thats why i recently sat down with susan berkeley, ceo of the great Voice Company to find out three things you can do to make sure youre representing your brand in the best way possible when youre meeting with people. So i know people who have been ding a lot of webinars recently. One of the tricky things about that, theyre used to presenting in a room. Its on the computer, they dont know who theyre talking to. Do you have suggestions for making it more personal . An avatar is a visual representation of your ideal customer. In this case, our clients ideal customer was the owner of a tech company, about 55 years old, a white male. And so we gave all the people that are doing webinars in that company a physical representation of that, we took a picture. We gave that to them. I love that. You put that on your computer and suddenly you know who youre talking to. Thats right. You feel like it takes away the feeling that youre presenting into a black hole. So the next thing you say not to do, i do all the time. I know people do it to me which is multitask. Its a terrible habit. Isnt it . Its time to break that habit. Look, im holding my phone now as im talking to you. The tendency is when youre in the middle of a skype call or a webinar or somebody else is presenting or Something Like that, you pull out this youve got one eye on the phone, is somebody texting many he, whats going on there . What happens people hear that in the sound of your voice. You sound disconnected and distracted. And then finally, warm up your voice. Yes. As if youre about to go do a play on broadway or something. Yes. We actually speak more than an actor might in a twohour play. Most of us are on the phone more than two hours a day. It is important to warm up your voice for two reasons, so it sounds richer, warmer, also so it wont give out on you. Let me teach you quick warmups. You want to get your voice into the facial mask so it sounds like this. One. One. Two. Two. What this does is makes my voice sound richer . Right. By doing the mmm youre bringing your chance forward. It sounds deeper, authoritative. More authoritative, richer. Its healthier for the voice, too. Some people speak like that. You dont want that. Do it in the shower where the warm moisture is getting into the voice. Another great thing you can do is like this. Right. Very good. Not everybody can do that. Thats another great way to work your voice. If you have babies you can do that. So people think of that as something that actors and actresses do. And maybe professional speakers but all of us should be downing it. Thats right. In many cases were talking more than a radio person and actor. Were on the phone five, six hours a day. Your voice can give out on you don dont. You dont want that to happen. The voice is what people hear. They make impressions on your voice. Its your voice brand, that part of your company. We pay a lot the attention to our visual image and almost no attention to our spoken image. Very important to train, everybody. When we come back, Steve Preston talks to us about what you need to know about the complexities of trade compliance that could put your business at risk. Well grapple with the question of finding a balance between growing too slow or too fast. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. 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. You might stumble or trip or fall in a gully. If you have the plan, you can get up and continue on your path. Its time now to answer some of your business questions. Steve preston is back with us as is tanya yuki. The first question is from an entrepreneur whos ready to raise capital. What are the fundamental metrics, things we should have in place before we start going out and looking at alternative outside financing sources . Good question. All right, tanya, lets start with you. So the biggest thing is making sure you have your finances in order. It sounds like youll be looking through institutional money which means theyre really going to understand three years from now how youre going to grow and have the projections clear as to why youre going to go out and corner the marketplace. Particularly early on, its less about really proving everything that youve done but more about ensuring that you have a vision and you have your numbers in order to prove how you can execute. Anything else, steve . Yes. Add to that, stability is important, especially in the lending community. If youre going to get debt capital, theyre going to look closely at can the cash flow support your debt so your coverage ratios. Your cash flow to total debt. Theyll want to look at the amount of your company that is represented about i that debt, debttocapital ratios. If things get difficult, theyll want to know how to get repaid. They want to look at working capital and property. The next one, its about how fast you should grow. We develop a lot of technology and were always talking about is it riskier to grow really quickly, meaning we have to take funding or is it riskier to grow more slowly and risk that a competitor could come in and steal our market share. I love this question. It is tough. Ive been in this position. Whats your opinion . Its a highclass problem, obviously. Yes. I think i always have a hard time saying no to growth. Understand whether that growth is sustainable and whether you can handle it, whether you can handle it operationally, can you continue to serve your clients with excellence, can you handle the back office function. All the things that made your business great, make sure you can do that. At the same time, if youre going to take debt financing, make sure you can that you understand how to operate within the parameters of the bank requirements, right . You need to be able to make your Debt Service Payments but youre also likely to have covenants. You want to make sure you can run the business within those restrictions. Know what youre getting into. I would add, particularly in technology, the landscape evolves so quickly, i believe the risk of not growing fast enough is actually far worse than the risk of growing too slowly, because its not an incremental business. You really do need to step on the gas. You need to know your fundamentals and ensure that your customers are growing. You dont want to just have people lying around. If youre into a big opportunity you do want to fund it, otherwise your competitors will grab that space. Money is not available for everyone. Youre lucky if youre in a position to get it. Finally, heres a question about managing your company sales. My company is growing in three different channels, online business, wholesale and export internationally. Theyre all trending upwards. My question is do you try to straddle all three and grow as a Small Business or pick one and focus in on one . I love that we have a lot of questions about growth today. This is a good sign. Where do you focus . How do you decide. Another wonderful highclass problem. Im a huge believer in focus on your core, pick one thing youre really strong at. If its the online business, i think having a secondary channel is a great thing. If theyre all trending upwards this could be a tough choice. Particularly as a Small Business if you try and focus to succeed in three quite different areas you may be setting yourself up for failure. That is so hard to turn down something thats working, though. They are three quite different areas. Right. I think its important to look at the three channels and say how big is each channel, whats my potential profitability and also what does it take to be successful in those channels . If im selling direct to consumers i need to be have marketing presence, i need to fulfill the orders. I might even need a call center if im selling to wholesale, ill have large contracts but lower pricing, more favorable Payment Terms for the buyer. If im looking at internationally, i have to think about logistically how i manage the delivery of those goods and i have to comply with International Trade requirements. Three different channels with different requirements. Go into it with your eyes wide open, knowing what the value is and what the cost and operational burden would be. Lift the curtain, go beyond the numbers, see who do you want to be, where can you be successful, what are you strong at Going Forward . These are Great Questions and answers. Thank you for helping out today. Thank you. Appreciate it. If any of you out there have a question or our experts, send us an email, yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Online con ten is the king. Weve said it many times. But creating original material to post and get the word out can be time consuming and difficult on your own. So why not enlist your followers . Here now are five ways you can engage yr consumers to create shareable brand theme content courtesy of matchable. Com. One, let your followers vote. Give fans a say in the brands direction. The results can provide content to use on other chans and will give you insight on current opinions of your brand. Two, provide a personalized brand experience. Implement a set of product or Service Choices that reflect the identity of your customer thats revealed in their profile data. Three, ask your fans for cont t content. This macs them feel like an essential part of a brand. You can ask them to submit photos, videos or other stories on a brandrelated theme. Four, challenge the knowledge of your social audience. Offer quizzes or polls that post questions where the answers are informative and useful. The results themselves can become shareable content. And five, help your followers uncover profile insights. Provide ways to are your audience to learn something about themselves by interacting with your brand. Its important for Small Businesses not to get left behind as the u. S. Continues to emphasize programs to stimulate trade with other countries. Here with some key questions you should be asking in order to expand your business beyond the border and stay competitive is steven preston. He joins us once again. So great to see you. Good to see you. This clearly, you started thinking about this while you were at the sba . Sure. Tell me about livingston news. Livingston, basically we help companies who want to move their goods across the border do so. We do customs brokerage. We handle the compliance requirements to move them over the border. We do Freight Forwarding and consulting and we have a business where we outsource trade activities for clients what we call global trade management. Tell me some of the things you need to think about. In general, it is so daunting. I am a Small Business. Some people obviously thinking about doing this. Lets start from scratch. Im not. How do i get to the point where i can feel comfortable with starting to think about it . Well, i think one of the important things you could do is find a partner that could advise you. Thats one of the things we do in our business as a customs broker, work through with our clients all the things they need to do to be complaint. In addition to that, theres support through attorneys and other organizes that can help you. Frankly, i think the most important thing to do is figure out whether you have a Business Opportunity overseas, whether its a client or a vendor and then start thinking about how am i going to get that good or ship that good and start from there. Went you have that, youll begin to build the pieces you need to be complaint. Lets take a different situation. Im already doing it. What questions can i ask myself am i doing something wrong . Im sure a lot of people just jumped into this and inefficiencies are happening. Inefficiencies and problems. First of all, time is money. If your goods hit the border and they dont move quickly, you have delays. That might mean components arent showing up at a factory, goods arent getting on the shelf, perishables are perishing. You might incur logistics costs and have unhappy customers. You want to understand if your goods are getting across the border quickly. Done the leave this to someone else. Maybe after you get it going you can trust someone else. You better understand it all yourself. I dont you have to understand it. Even if you have somebody else do it, youre ultimately liable if youre importing goods for your compliance. Work with people that run a tight ship. Someone you can trust. And costs. There are ways to get around these costs or reduce them. Understand if you can take advantage of free trade agreements. Nafta has been around for 20 years. Most of us know about nafta. There are bilateral trade agreements with any number of countries that reduce duties but you have to, once again, comply with requirements and demonstrate your goods qualify. How do you find this out . I work with a lawyer, somebody who understands, i just need to know to ask the lawyer. You can work with a customs broker or an attorney. Basically you need to be able to document that your goods were sourced in a particular way that they qualify for that trade agreement. Now i want to go back to something you said before, ultimately you are responsible. Yes. So you better make sure you are not doing anything to risk your company. Thats right. And if you have problems, there are fines, penalties, audits. And if its an ongoing problem, it can be more difficult to get your goods across the border because you know, the border officials will flag your shipments. Okay. So then, again, you need to have partners you can trust. Exactly. How do i know if this is a big world and i dont really understand it and i dont understand the compliance issues and put my faith into some partner, how do i continue to have faith that, okay, i trust them, nothing bad is going to happen here. If youre dealing with a good partner theyll be able to show you clear indications of their record. Theyll be able to show you the other clients they work with, perhaps theyll be able to show you if theyve worked with the kinds of goods youre trading. Many of them will be able to show you their ontime metrics and Quality Metrics because theyll keep those. There are ways to get that comfort. You do it with all kinds of people, accountants reputation is very important in this business. Okay, steve, thank you so much. I know this is an area that a lot of people think i wish i could. Yes. And havent made the step or as we said, maybe doing it poorly right now. With the right partner you can streamline your operations and do it well. Make sure that you are doing it well. Thanks so much. Thank you. To learn more about todays show, just click on our website, its openforum. Com yourbusiness. Youll find all of todays segments plus web exclusive con ten with the more information to help your business agree. Follow us on twitter twitter, msnbcyourbiz and please do not foretote good become a fan on facebook and we are on instagram, too. Next time, our main street usa series continues as we visit ft. Collins, colorado, a town that real sizized a culture of getting folks to shop local. They established an urban Renewal Authority in the 80s. I think that turned things around. Find out how making their main street pedestrian friendly and offering big selections and an entertaining experience gave the ft. Collins businesses a major advantage over other retailers. Until then, im jj ramberg. Remember, we make your business our business. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. Almost exactly one year ago, president obama announced that he wanted to begin air strikes in syria because the Syrian Government had used chemical weapons. President said he wanted those air strikes but he wanted congress to vote to authorize them. And congress did nothing. Congress never voted on that. In theory, the president is still waiting for that vote from congress. But now a year later, the white house is, again, openly considering air strikes in syria. The target this time would not be the syrian regime, but instead, isis. The al qaeda Splinter Group that has seized control of territory inside both syria and iraq. Isis last week beheaded an american journalist they had captured in syria, jim foley