Hi there, everyone. Im j. J. Ramberg and welcome to your business. If youve taken a ride using uber, or stayed in a place using airbnb you are officially a member of the sharing economy. But those are just the big names. This new way of doing business is turning all kinds of industries on their heads. I find it totally fascinating. And as Small Business owners it makes a lot of sense to take a hard look at what people are doing, because who knows, it may inspire us all to take a look at our own Business Plans and resources, and see how we can use them differently. Its 7 00 p. M. On a thursday night. And sophies fear is hosting a dinner party at her Mission District house in san francisco. Its a pleasure to have people both who i know, and who i dont know. It may not look like it, but sophie is a microentrepreneur. Playing her part in the local sharing economy. And business is good. Im pleased to be able to cook for you. Its not really about the food so much for me as having people join me at my table. So although i hope you enjoy the soup. To chef sophie. Cheers. On the guest list, 12 people who went on feastly, a mail sharing service to find an interesting place to have dinner and meet new people. Super good. Each of her guests have paid 52 for a sophisticated homecooked meal. And while she loves to cook, holding these feastly dinners serves another purpose, as well. It allows her to test out recipes for the cafe she may one day open, as well as make a little cash on the side while shes between jobs. A majority of these meals are happening in peoples homes. And thats typically because thats the space that they have available to them. Theres a sacredness about a home that you dont really find in any commercial space that really enables you to connect with the people around you, as well as the cook. After hosting 15 meals on feastly, sophie has earned a stellar reputation as a terrific cook and host. I have really seen my brand explode, and i do have to thank feastly for that in the sense that its created this platform for me. Theyve helped me reach a broader audience and also with the payment system, it makes it a lot easier for me, a lot smoother for me to manage the meal on the back end. Meal sharing, car services, house swapping, maker spaces, fashion rentals, the list of companies building businesses based on sharing rather than owning is a trend that is promising to be the future of business. The crowd is not just creating media and sharing it theyre creating the physical world and sharing it. Were living through a really, really interesting fundamental shift in which access to talent, goods, and services will trump ownership. They call it the sharing economy. The collaborative economy. The rental economy. And the mesh. But they all mean essentially the same thing. A new way of doing business, where the traditional buy, sell, own idea changes to an on demand model connecting us to the things we need, only when we actually need them. A lot of what the collaborative economy is doing is tapping in to this waste of excess capacity. So theres excess capacity in the form of talent. People who have incredible skills, who arent bringing that forward. But also, factories sitting around, cars in space, driveways extra space on ships for cargo. And also, for example, real estate. Tristan pollock saw on opportunity to start a business using the sharing economy every time he walked by an empty retail store. We saw one in stores tanking in the u. S. His idea called the storefront is a simple platform that connects entrepreneurs with shortterm retail space. The site has tons of photos, and clear pricing for utilizing locations that would otherwise be empty. I always explain storefront as storefront is a marketplace for artists, designers, and brands to get into shortterm retail spaces. Because, historically, you are looking at five to tenyear leases, maybe even 20 years, and so being able to rent something from one to two three days, or a couple weeks, or a couple months, makes a huge difference in how you can strategically plan to grow your business. So, whats the opportunity for entrepreneurs . To turn waste or unutilized assets into cash by sharing. Ahead was the curve was craigslist, zipcard, netflix and ebay. But the rise of the mobile phone in social media has added a level of complexity and opportunity to the equation. What was okay before to have kind of these things sitting around unused, now its not okay. Either because the people would prefer to have the value, the money from it, or its kind of increasingly not cool to be kind of hoarding things that have value. One company that is actually teaching kids to share their toys rather than hoard them is pley. Parents know how legos can take over a household. One set is never enough. And theres always a new, bigger, better, cooler set that your kids yearn for, just as soon as they finish building their current one. Enter pley. A lego sharing company. Its a netflix for lego. Were in a time that people understand netflix. Understand if you can send a product and get it back, which was not true ten years ago. So its not about how many lego sets that i have. Its about how many lego sets that i built, and whats the enjoyment and my development that i got through this experience of building those lego sets. We provide the same experience with for about 40 to 70 less of spending. Pley offers a novel solution. They box up, sterilize and count every last piece in a set. And send it out to you. After your kids build it and then inevitably forget about it, you return it and get a new one. In a way that is more convenient and i think very importantly now, people understand the importance of being ecofriendly. Preserving the resources of the world. So reducing waste is a very big component to us and for many, many people. And while Companies Like uber, lyft, taskrabbit and airbnb have broken through the noise, making headlines for lower prices and better service, they are also the first to go through the growing pains of a new and somewhat unregulated Business Model that is based on trust. Roberto says he was trying to do the safe and responsible thing by taking uber home that night. To do that, and then wake up in the icu is something that i hope nobody has to go through. You cant offer this kind of service out into the marketplace, reap all the benefits and profits, and not take the responsibility. In the collaborative economy, trust is a core currency. And i think that its also fair to say that in any system, once in awhile youll have a bad actor. There are increasing policies, regulations, insurance coverage, things being brought forward by the either regulatory systems, but also by the marketplace themselves, in case something happens. As more sharing businesses emerge, so does the opportunity to create new businesses, and renew old ones. Were very, very early in the shift. And while many businesses have gotten brand recognition, its still really early days. And so, for example, for every airbnb theres thousands of Smaller Companies that are taking a specific crack at a market, and doing really well. Sharing economy businesses are disrupting industries both online and off. Weve got a great board of directors here to talk about this today. Corie hardee is the founder and ceo of little borrowed dress an Ecommerce Company that offers bridesmaid dresses for rent. Alfred edmund is the Senior Vice President and chief content officer for black enterprise and Rieva Lesonsky is the founder and ceo of Grow Business media. All right, corie i want to start with you. Because you are it. You are this is the sharing economy what you do. And its interesting what you said about your business is, this is not about income levels. No. So you rent bridesmaid dresses so i dont have to spend hundreds of dollars buying a dress im going to wear once. Who is your audience . Its really less about an income demographic and more just a state of mind. Its been everyone from a younger a younger person who had Just Graduated College whose friends might not be able to afford it, all the way up to maybe, you know, youre getting married at an older age, and your friends have been through it already. I think universally no woman wants to buy a bridesmaid dress. Is this a shift that is i mean it is fundamentally changing the way we think about things, the pley company, legos, if i can rent legos, am i going to be renting everything all of us who have Small Businesses that sell things or services, should we be thinking about this . I think absolutely. I think its a matter of this woman said it in the piece. If you can build that trust with the consumer, people are willing because they get bored. Kids get bored. Everybody gets bored. You want something new, and heres a way to try it, and its also a great way, if you have a store, a retail store, or even a service business, to try things out. To see what works, and then maybe make that part of our permanent business, and then try something else. And its a cheap, easy way to experiment, and youre not committing to anything. And you know, alfred i sort of divided it into two. Theres Something Like cories doing where you are using resources over and over again. And then theres also Something Like uber is doing, where theyre creating all of these kind of microentrepreneurs. Youve got two different trends. Uber says, and we know 92 of cars just sit. Everybodys cars just sit most of the time. And of course thats unused capacity that you can monetize. The flip side, i like the point about this antihoarding thing, legos is the epitome of just stuff piles up and you get new stuff. Welcome to my house. So this idea that another value is the value of space. And this idea that you can get some things out to make room for new things, and just makes it a very efficient, Cost Effective way of doing that while still meeting the needs of other people in the trust network. Corie, have attitudes changed . Definitely. We every year we do a wedding show where thousands of brides come through and the first year we did it, it was a lot of people were like, how does this work . What is this . And then by this past year its less explaining, more about the rental model, and more just saying, here are dresses and customers know, you know, they like the idea of renting. You know, i love fashion and style. And one of the trends that i think youre taking advantage of, also, is the whole casualization of fashion. 30 years ago, you might say well ill keep this dress, maybe my daughter can wear it to the prom, maybe i can wear it to something. Now there are so few things that youre really going to, you know, gown up for, that the idea of keeping Something Like that around for any purpose is just not as sensible. I think a little bit of it is generational. If you go back a few years with the millennials, theyre all of a sudden Thrift Stores became really cool. It was not the vintage part. Just like everyday Salvation Army goodwill. And it was kind of a recycling thing. Its like we dont want to let things go to waste. Right. And i think thats the new mindset. And it is, its sort of like you said, lets not waste things. Lets get what we need, and then pass it on. Right. All right. Well, its so fun to talk about. I am so fascinated by it. I do everything that i can share. So thank you for joining us to tell us a little bit about your company. Thank you for having me. Though its get being so much attention right now, the actual concept of a sharing economy is not a new one. For many years, commercial cooperatives have allowed Small Businesses to increase their purchasing power and reduce marketing and hr expenses. As we found out, coops are giving independent businesses a shot at growing and surviving by working together. Carpet stores were closing up like flies around here. I said theres not going to be us. Fran, an independent carpet store owner in detroit, michigan, is certainly a realist when it comes to business. We were in desperate, desperate shape. But we just hung on, and worked hard, cut back some salaries, cut back some help. The big boxes were coming in. The lowes and home depot were coming in. They were taking most categories, and monopolizing them. And really putting the locals out of business. Howard, founder and ceo of cca partners is a fighter. Located in manchester, new hampshire, his Organization Helps the small fries. The local, independent business person has the brains, and they have the talent. What they dont have is scale. Individually, none of these Small Businesses has much buying power. But together, as members of the cca retail cooperative, they can compete with anybody. You have to level the Playing Field. And i think what we do is we level the Playing Field so we have the same tools and the same scale as the big boxes. The carpet one cooperative membership is made up of more than 1100 flooring retailers. When we buy something were buying it at x amount. I have no idea what the guy down the street is buying it for but theres no way we can buy it. When you factor in the other industry cooperatives managed by cca partners you realize howards retail cooperative is a very, very large business. Were actually bigger than starbucks. Were bigger than bed, bath beyond. Thats our combined all the different divisions we have. Within cca global partners. For them, membership in the carpet one cooperative gives then the extra leverage necessary to get the price breaks they need to survive. You own your own store. But you buy your merchandise as a coop with all these other dealers. Kathy buchanan is frans daughter. Shes one of three siblings who now one the daytoday operations. Its too yellow. Have a roll of the sandstorm, as well. This is probably sell for about 4 a square foot. But i have it at about 2. 2 a square foot because i bought it at an amazing price point. I can in turn turn that savings over to the consumer. As coop members, theyre also the shareholders. Twice a year they divide up the profits and receive rebate checks that collectively total into the millions. By pooling their buying power this way, these carpet one members have managed to survive the recession much better than nonmembers. If they were not members of the coop first of all they would be paying more for their product on the floor because they would not have the scale. Second they would be paying more for insurance, theyd be paying more for marketing, and they would have less sophisticated marketing. Regularly posting relevant material on topics that your clients care about is an effective way to set yourself up as an expert in your industry. If youd like an easier way to scour the web for useful links check out our website of the week. It allows you to scan life broadcasts, video, and blogs for active content. You can search by key words that relate to your business from viral videos to howto links. You can choose which categories and terms to follow to make it easier for you. Signage in and around your store can go a long way in catching the eye of potential customers, and getting them to make a purchase. Here now are five things to keep in mind when creating a sign that works, courtesy of Business News daily dotcom. One, be bold and concise. People will generally view a graphic for only 20 seconds, so make the most of a quick glance. Two, highlight the differences. The features of your business that make your company stand out from the competition should be front and center. Three, include a call to action. Phrases like limited time offer, and try a taste will effectively draw potential customers in. Four, train employees to test results. Have them ask your customers things like how did you hear about us . And what brings you in today, to monitor and track how your signage is working. And five, attract attention. Make your colors bright, your images big, and refresh your signage regularly so you keep your business top of mind with customers. Today, freelancers are easier to hire than ever. There are a number of websites set up to help you connect with them. Not to mention if you just simply ask around, chances are youd be able to find someone with the skill you need. So if you are overwhelmed with work, and you need some temporary help or just need a project done with a skill that your team doesnt have, think about hiring a freelancer. Jeffrey wald is the cofounder cfo and kroo of work market. They bring freelancers, contractors and consultants together with companies to help them manage their work sbel gently. Its so great to see you. You wear a lot of hats. I do. When youre a founder of a company you have to make sure everything gets done. Believe me i know, i know. So this is great, we hire a lot of freelancers in what i do. And, and so this is really helpful. Its not a matter of just saying hey come work for me, forms to fill out so you need the tools in place. You have to make sure that the freelancers that you onboard meet the compliance of not only your company, but of the government. Right. So our customers you want to make sure the right legal agreements are signed the right insurance is had the right background checks and when someones insurance expires that theyre removed from their environment so they dont accidentally engage with somebody that would be inappropriate. Just think that you dont think about when you seem great. That is true. Right at the end of the year comes theyre gone you need them and you dont have them and now you need to go track them down. You got to make sure people fill out the w9, theyre in compliance with not only the w9 provisions and the 1099 provisions but anything your company set the to make sure it is comfortable engaging these people. The best advice someone gave me is the day they have them fill out that w9 is because its easy as a Small Company to forget about it use tracking mechanisms for their performance so youre hiring someone, you are paying them, yes. You better make sure theyre doing their job. Tracking mechanisms are going to be very different depending on how many freelancers are engaged. If youre using two or three freelancers, youre going to manage them with excel. Youre going to manage them by relationships. You need to make sure everything is happening and at that point you start to need to use data. Okay, you need to think about these things. Youve got to track it. Have a mobile device. You cant just start to use excel you have to use much more powerful software. Freelancers ae until our software was developed. Identify subject Matter Experts. Its good to have a pool of freelafre freelancers you can call upon. It takes 12 freelancers to replace one fulltime employee. When you go to engage that freelancer you have a pool of people ready to go at any given time. You can do that with a large pool of people and then break down that process into its Component Parts. You want someone an expert at pr and someone that is an expert at seo and sem, because youre breaking that fulltime employee into its Component Parts you can get subject Matter Experts that can bring a higher level of expertise to that one area. I find this interesting because fulltime employee, youre going to invest a lot. You are paying them a lot, theyre here to stay. A freelancer, you want them to get the job done, but you still have to onboard them. They still have to understand what theyre doing in order to care. They have to meet your provisions. You dont want to onboard somebody and find out they didnt sign the right legal agreement. Having a process in place and did this person fill out a w9, bank account information, did they run a background check . You have to be able to go through that process and if youre doing it for two or three people, relationships can drive it. When you do it for 100 a day, you have to have a tight process. Even when youre doing it for two to three people, sometimes things get lost. You hire them, theyre on and you start their project. You have to tell whoever is in charge of this, make sure all of this is done before they start working on anything. The calls we get from potential customers are, i engage these ten freelancers and i found out a guys insurance lapsed. I need a tighter process. Can you please help us implement your software . Thank you so much for coming on. I think this is really important as we all hire more freelancers. When we come back, alfred and reeba have the answers to your Small Business questions on hiring innovative thinkers and inspiring passion in your sales people. 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. If you really and truly put the employee first, really and truly, they will take better care of the customer than anybody else. The better you take care of your people, the better theyll take care of the customer. And, you know, a customer that is ridiculously well taken care of and loves your store, is going to make sure the economics of that works well. It is time now to answer some of your business questions. Alfred and reva are back with us, again. I want to see innovative thinking and execution in my company. Are innovative thinkers for hire or could they be groomed by creating an innovative culture within the company . Such a good question. I want to start with you. The question puts the emphasis on the wrong syllable. The truth is you can hire or groom them, but the issue is not the people, its the culture. If its not a culture that is friendly to invasion, then the innovators will leave and the other people will find out not a good place for invasion. Here is how you can tell, are you punished when it doesnt work . Are you punished when its a mistake or are you rewarded or encouraged with coming up with more new ideas. Making sure you have innovative culture than the people in the culture will react to that and attract innovative people. I think this is easy. Its easy to do when youre starting something. What if you have been around for 15 years. You have a certain way of doing things in your company. Should you hire someone to shake it up or Start Talking to the people who are already there . I think you can do both. You can hire somebody and to shake it up. But if you dont have that culture, the people who are there are going to resent this person because it was like, wait, why didnt you give me, i have ideas, you never encouraged me to share them. Resentment builds up and nothing ever works. You cannot get away from the culture, whether youre starting or whether youre in business. You know, my philosophy and its not original to me is you constantly have to be looking at whats the next thing . The day youre satisfied is the day your business is going to stop growing. And invasion cnovation can only in a growing area. What do you do see . The death of a business is not bankruptcy. The death of a business is irrelevancy. A lot of businesses that go on and on and on and on because theyre just satisfy would the way they do things. Theyre operational, but theyre not doing anything important. You have to have innovation if you grow and thrive. The worst words are, we always said it this way, someone is coming up to do it a different way. Lets move on to the next question. People being sued into sell your product. I was wondering what kind of avenues i should look out for to find people that will be able to passionately sell my products like i can. We did a piece on this about how you find good sales people. It is hard, im passionate about my product, how do i know youre going to bring the same passion. You will not find the person selling it from the heart, but you have to find people with good sales skills and expose them to the product and maybe have them fall in love a little bit, but never as enveloped in the product as you are. Youll never find anyone that can live up to that. As long as people have the right skills and understand what your product is, let them lose and dont sit on their shoulders saying, i would have said it this way. Theyll never feel comfortable and theyll never be able to naturally, organically sell. Heres a good source of possible people who do share your passion. Look at your customers. Look at people who love the product because their customers are the product. And some of your best sales people may be actual customers who already love your product and you can find ways to get them involved with helping them solve the product. The story who founded the company that what she started to do is create videos so that when her sales people go out, shes basically bringing them with them. Then the ultimate customer, too. There are ways to duplicate yourself, especially in the ways of social media and how easy it is to put together constant. A great idea. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. An amazing resource for information. I really appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you, all, so much for joining us today. If you missed anything from the show, head over to our website, its openforum. Com yourbusiness. Youll find all of todays segments with with information to help your business grow and follow us on twitter msnbcyourbiz and facebook and ins instagram, as well. We look at how communities around the country are getting customers to shop local. Including a carlsbad, california, Company Giving restaurant tours. I think the tour has been a great promotional opportunity for us. Many people that go to the tour didnt even know that we existed here on the corner. How bringing diners to main street is having a Ripple Effect and getting folks to shop small. Until then, im j. J. Ramberg and, 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. The woman in quarantine speaks out. All right, good morning. Thanks for getting up with us this morning. Only nine days before the Midterm Election and plenty on that including the release of six new polls from key battleground states. Theres also major news this morning out of afghanistan with with where u. S. Marines ended operations. We want to begin this hour with growing outcry over the most dramatic step that some government officials, not some, but all have