American express open proudly presents your business on msnbc. Hi there, everyone, im jj ramberg and welcome to your business. Since august 13th, 2006 weve been bringing you the information and advice entrepreneurs need to help them run their Small Businesses. Today, were kicking off our 11th season with a highflying show that highlights some of the many outdoor and sportsrelated Small Companies weve covered over the years. We start off with one that is taking off. Literally. Waterbased leisure activities hit a new level with the creation of hydroflight, made possible with the water propelled boards that have enthusiasts turning cart wheels over oceans, bayes and lakes around the world. How do you get customers to try out a brand new extreme sport . I travelled to san diego to find out how this business took off and got the ride of a lifetime. Undoubtedly, unequivocally it is the next big thing in water sports. It looks like its right out of a james bond movie, flying over water, powered by water craft engine attached to big jets strapped to your feet. The ceo of this san diegobased company fly dive says if youve not tried it yet, surely once you see someone up in the air, youll start to want to be there, too. Why wouldnt anybody want the ability to fly over water or dive leak a dolphin . Fly dive launched in 2015 after founder james plant got on a board himself and fell in love with it. At the time, hydroflight was geared towards the extreme sports junky, looking for the next crazy thing. The fly dive team had a different idea. We were going off a different population, a different Demographic Group than our competition was aiming their efforts at. Theyre going after a Demographic Group that is more towards the action sports, hard core, you know, weekend warrior, the one that wants to do all the really complex tricks. We wanted to stay away from that and actually build a product and a technology that would really address a much broader and different type of individual. The beginner . The beginner. They joined the industry at the exact right tile. The space was new enough that they could reach an untapped audience but had been around long enough that they didnt have to learn everything from scratch. When fly dive entered the market, how Many Companies were doing this . There were probably a handful, maybe only three. Now theres four, including us theres five. I imagine because you were not the first you got to see what the other guys did right and what they did wrong. We did. We spent literally 18 months sitting back, studying, learning, collecting as much data getting all the data points that we needed to rally understand where the potential opportunities were for us. The opportunity was in the engineering, over many, many months, they built a board that they say anyone can get on. Whether youre 6 or 66. But because of all the amazing footage out there of the crazy things people can do on a hydroflight device, fly dive has had to be strategy wick their own marketing efforts. When i went online an i looked up hydroflying, i saw people doing flips in the air and all these amazing tricks and my response was, no way, i cant do that. So how do you counter that to get someone like me to go try this out . Everything about our brand permeates simplicity and ease of use. All our marketing assets, most of the marketing assets, for that matter, you will not find a lot of people doing advanced maneuvers. A lot of tricks, things that dont seem accessible or relatable. Their place in the market was really cemented when they got a couple of the kardashians on a board. First time look at that. He sees other Companies Making hydroflight boards as the competition, but he says friendly competition. I am probably t biggest cheerleader on the sidelines, hoping that the other four competitors that are out there are having Great Success because all it does is expose the sport even more. We want this to get into as many hands, as many people as possible. Fly dive operates as a b2 b business, distributing boards to marine and power sports dealers. Dean omalley is the president of jet pack america. He recognized the opportunity to reach more customers. Theyre focused on the part of the market that we really focus on, which is the family, the general population. We try and emphasize this is not an extreme sport. You can do extreme things but you dont have to be an xgames athlete to do what we do out there. You take a first timer out there and literally within three to four minutes, you have people up, sometimes five, ten feet in the air, theyre doing tricks and dives. The smile you see on peoples faces with be thats what makes it work. About this talk about how anyone could do it, i had to give it a try myself. I got a quick lesson with fly dives lead engineer and trainer, ryan lawrence. Push the lift with your toes in midair. And got suited up for my first flight. Lets get you in your boots, life jacket and helmet. Im ready. There were a couple of hard falls. But then i made it. We had people trying back flips on their first day. Next time. Next time for sure. Come back for more any time. I will. Im hooked. Fly dive is confident thats exactly how everyone who takes a ride will feel, creating customers for life. What we want to do is build our base of customers, create brand loyalty, knowing they can actually do it, enjoy it the very, very first time. As they advance well continue to build more and more products that are going to be more in alignment with where they are relative to their skill level. Youve been very early to what is becoming a more popular sport. What has it been like to be part of this . Theres nothing more gratifying and more exciting than being part of the process of innovation. Were actually going to set the pace. Were going to set the tone. Were going to set the new standards and safety, new standards in certifications, all that. Were going to be that company. Thats whats exciting. We have the capability of doing it now, early enough before it becomes too mature. Hydroflight is one sport for which entrepreneurs are coming up with new innovations to appeal to fans of water sports. Another sport people are flocking to is paddle boarding. Which is come into its own over the past few years. We travelled to bend, oregon a few years ago to talk to the owner of the company stand on liquid. It almost drown over supply and employee issues but finally found its balance. Mike mudd, the owner of the bend, oregonbased 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, its like a dear john email from china. When our premiere board manufacturer was informing 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, highest margin paddle boards. Instead, he found out his inventory was destroyed in a factory fire. His stress level went from zero to 100 in seconds. Timing could not have been worse. They were preparing for the start of what they called 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 the margins and keep the company profitable. And on top of that, mike had 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 i got myself into. You sold me a bill 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 0ed a paddle board retail store to capture what they thought was a growing trend. When you started the company, how big was standup paddle boarding compared to now . I believe at the time, the sport was the Fastest Growing water sport. Now its the Fastest Growing sport. With a front row seat to this explosive growth, mike started to see an even bigger opportunity in manufacturing his own brand of board. We could double our margins and we could become profitable. Did your boors fill a hole in the market that you saw as a retailer . Well, yes. A lot of the nic boards, the touring boards we manufacture ourselves are 200, 300, 500 less than some of the other manufacturers. The board i got last year was their 11foot original. There are a couple scratches on the lava guard but the durability of my board is absolutely amazing. Popularity of the s. Omplg l. En brad of board had grown. He had promises to deliver to Retail Stores across the country at the time he got the call in mexico. We would have let dunn our retailers. Sign up, we dont have anything for you. Mikes options were not looking good. He already paid the factory in advance for the boards that were destroyed. The factory was supposed to had already started on a second shipment of boards which they hadnt yet. I was trying to come up with a strategy that would be appropriate and all of them seemed like they were high risk. Though he had not expected so much to go wrong so quickly, mike had 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 already had all our files, graphics. We 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. 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. Theres a lot of competition in this world of waterrelated sports and a friendly rivalry can sometimes be good for business. But imagine going headtohead with that competition and then one day youre coworkers. That was the case at three White Water Rafting companies in West Virginia. While the decision to join forces was clearly good for business, the owners never realized it would quickly become a lesson in conflict management. Once upon a time in the wild and wonderful mountains of West Virginia, there were three river rafting companies. Class 6 river runners, Mountain River tours and river men. They had all started in the 1970s and each had their very own personality. Class 6 are wine drinkers, river men are beer drinkers. They were friendly competitors and all loved running the business they were running. We often disagree. The class 6 guys are often wrong. Thats okay. Im wrong also. We were fueled by passion. We werent fueled by cash. We werent fueled by anything other than we were doing what we loved. So you can only imagine what it was like when the owners of these companies were approached about merging their operations into one. When paul first called me, i really wasnt interested. I actually said no. We had agood gig going. We were growing, we were making money, not a lot but we were paying our bills. Thats brian campbell, the founder of river men. The paul he was referring to is paul buickler. A few years ago, paul saw an toon the to change his job, his lifestyle and become the ceo of a new or sort of new, company. The first thing i realized in this industry, they were very profitable at one time, because of overcapacity, price cutting and a little bit of a decline in revenue to the users, they werent nearly as profitable and that to make this work, i was going to have to do merge at least two, if not three together. And thats how the idea for the lansing West Virginia based adventures on the gorge was born. Paul approached all three company owners, everyone involved sensed that the deal wouldnt be a simple one. I did see some challenges because we were competitors, for sure. And you know, that relationship, we had to work on. Soon enough, paul was able to convince them that the key to their collective survival was joining forces. Theres a point in a Family Business where the family is necessary for its survival. Theres a point in a business where the business outgrows the family. And the river men were at that point. They came to an agreement, got a team of investors and each founding owner maintained partial ownership in the new company. With paul serving as the ceo. While the Founding Companies all fall under the adventures on the gorge umbrella, the brands themselves live on independently. When i walk around this campus here, i still see logos for all three companies. Why do that . It seems more expensive and confusing for your company. The loyalty is to the brand. In lots of cases these companies have been around for 30 plus years. When you say the river men or class 6, they automatically become emotional and tied to that brand. But adventures on the gorge Means Nothing to them . Adventures on the gorge Means Nothing to them. Thats the tricky part. Its not just the customers. While some departments were easy to merge, others were not. River men are very passionate. Class 6 was very passionate. Adventure Mountain River tours was very passionate. There was a fair amount of culture clash. Many employees who lived through the merger are quite loyal to the individual brands. I found a lot of the back room operations, housekeeping, accounting, maintenance, even reservations staff, the office staff were easy to merge. The most difficult has been the guys. Because they were the personalities an competitors, really. Theyre competitors and anybody that is in charge of eight people for a day, getting down the river safely has got to have an ego. Some of them have very large egos. Theres a section of river where one of the companies puts in at one place and another one puts in about two miles down river. And one of the companies feels like where they put in is the best experience for the customer. And the other one feels where they put in is the best experience for their customers. And i cant seem to get them to agree on putting in at one place. There are other disagreements that to an outsider may seem small but have taken on a life of their own. The river men put ice in the bottom of their coolers to keep the lunch meat cool during the day. And the other group uses ice packs. I remember saying, guys, the customer doesnt keep how we keep this lunch meat cold today. Paul had another challenge besides merging the personalities of the companies. With the investment money he raised to form adventures on the gorge, he wanted to do something none of the three original companies had done before. That men the looking beyond the white water. Our strategy is simple. We need people to stay longer. And do more things. You can run two or three different rivers, you can participate in a kayak school. You can take a climbing and repelling class. You can do Mountain Bike tours. You can do horse back tours. Do atv tours. The zip lines have been the biggest product weve expanded into. We now have two zip line courses. With all the new activities an a bunch of new accommodations, the adventures on the gorge was turned into a true allinclusive destination. The future was a resort, the future was more lodging, restaurants, and a variety of scenarios. Sometimes radical change needs to happen. It has made us much more profitable. It has made us a much stronger company. Weve been able to reinvest in things. After three years, paul says hes incredibly proud of what theyve been able to accomplish in both merging cultures and building out the company. But he says theyre nowhere near done yet. One day, he hopes that these three companies will truly be one. As time goes on, it will take more prominence and youll see it being on top of the main brands and as time goes on, youll see the flipflop go on. Someday its our goal that adventures on the gorge will be the primary brand associated with the adventure resort. When we come back, our special Anniversary Edition of your business continues. We visit one of our first stories. The ohio man who wanted to go Mountain Biking year round regardless of weather and created a company to indulge his passion. Will your business be ready when growth presents itself . Our new cocktail bitters were doing well, but after one tradeshow, we took off. All i could think about was our deadlines racing towards us. A loan would take too long. We needed money, now. My amex card helped me buy the ingredients to fill the orders. Opportunities dont wait around, so you have to be ready for them. Find out how American Express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open. Com. Since usually smaller africanamerican based businesses have a hard time gaining capital, are there any tips for us to help us improve our chances of landing the big dollars . If youre looking to gain capital for your Small Business, any Small Business, whether youre africanamerican or not, it starts with your personal credit. In order to get a loan, even guaranteed by the sba, you have to have a minimum credit score of 620. If youre looking for angel or Venture Capital to come into your business, your credit score needs to be 750 or higher. It starts with you and your personal credit. Make sure you have a really tight pitch and you want to make sure that you lead with your confidence. If you dont believe in your business, no one else will. When we started this show back in 2006, we had a simple mandate, to help Small Business owners by providing information and inspiration. And one of the first stories we reported was a perfect distillation of what we tried to accomplish over the last ten years. Like many of the entrepreneurs weve spoken to over the years, ray petro had a dream and a passion, to be able to indulge of his love of Mountain Biking year round. The result, a successful Small Business that capitalized on a niche and still thrives today. People said it wouldnt work. One friend said, just keep your money in the bank. They told him he was crazy. I became the subject of some jokes. They said no one would come to an indoor Mountain Bike park. But ray petro of cleveland, ohio, had a dream of starting his own business. Like Kevin Costner in field of dreams he knew in his heart that was enough. Its like a Mountain Bike miracle, like field of dreams type thing. There was no Business Plan or business model. It was just blind stupidity, luck, passion. For the diehard Mountain Biker riding was an addiction, one that replaced the life of drinking, drugs and partying. I sobered up, started riding my bike. Ive been riding ever since. When those cold winter months hit cleveland, he had to endure a whole season off the bike. Here in the northeast, when youve got rain and mud for like five, six months out of the year, he always thought it would be fun to do something on an indoor level. He tossed around the idea for years but never acted on it. But one day, ray got together with an old friend and they started talking about dreams and regrets. And the idea of the Mountain Bike park came up again. He asked me, and i was like, theres this one thing that still bothers me. Its this indoor Mountain Bike park. I think it would work well. And he said, i think its a great idea. So i got a sunday paper. Monday morning i make a phone call. To a little small ad in there, it said clean space, low rent. The next day, ray saw the space. She slides open this big door and theres this huge space with all these skylights in it. Its like a bible card where the sun is blasting through the clouds. With a day job in construction and his life savings of 50,000, this was the moment when he turned his love of Mountain Biking into a business. Did you have any doubts at that time . I did after i got home and i started thinking about it. Im like how am i going to do this . This is crazy. When i asked myself, whats worse, going broke or having to live with myself for the rest of my life knowing i had the opportunity to live my dream and i chickened out. Soon there was a buzz in the Biking Community about the worlds first indoor Mountain Bike park. They just showed up at my door and they started building and hauling wood. Hes got this whole community of people and those are the people that really make this place work. They all rally around ray. Thats a hard thing to make happen. As ray and his army of volunteers worked building elaborate ramps, berms and trails, there was one problem that kept rearing its ugly head. They didnt have the citys okay. I phone up to city hall and i was like, i want to open up an indoor Mountain Bike park. The guy on the other end of phone laughed. I was like, oh, boy, this isnt starting off good. The city way and the right way may be two different ways. But frankly, the innovative spirit doesnt always raise their hand and ask for permission. But when ray ran the risk of being shut down, he worked diligently with his local councilmen to comply with all the local codes. I guess they had every right to shut the doors. So i just laid my cards out and i said, look, if you shut me down, im headed to bankruptcy court. Im willing to work with you and whatever we need to do and thats how we started the whole thing. Youre in my lane. Now rays mtv is a local fixture in the community, a destination for out of towners and a magnet for the pros. My initial reaction when i walked in here was like, who did this who did it . Ray. Ray is the man. Its like speed defies gravity, the old get close to death and experience life sort of thing. You feel that. And the sponsors are lining up to take part in the phenomenon that is rays mtb. I get a phone call, left on my voicemail. From subaru. I phone them up. Theyre like, hey, we think this is really cool. Wed like to help you out. So they said throw us a number. So i threw them a number. Theyre like how about we do that and well send you a car. Well have it all stickered up. And im like, okay, if thats what you want to do. Why would you choose to sponsor this place . Rays is the only place this is the only place in the world. We are in cleveland, riding bikes in the winter. Its a unique place. It really makes it special. Financially its nice to have the extra money. Personally, it fuels me. I try to maximize every nickel. Ray continues to work his day job in construction so he can put all the profits from the business back into the park. And despite his success, he doesnt think of himself as a businessman, just a guy with a dream who got lucky. Ia businessman, i dont know. I think there are people watching going, this dudes an idiot. He just got lucky. I dont know who said it but if you do what you love, youll never work a day in your life. Im fortunate. I got to experience that. Instagram can help your Small Business target millennials, especially if your brand is visual like some of the businesses we featured so far. So how do you increase engagement and keep those like counts high . Entrepreneur magazine has smart ways you can get the most out of this social platform. One, great images. Either upload photos taken with a professional camera are 0 you can use phone photos if theyre high quality. Two, add five to ten hash tags on each image. Identify industry related tags and include a good mix of common and uncommon ones. Three, locations. If you have a brick and mortar store, make sure to geotag your images, this way people can scroll through your snapshots and add their own to your destinations photo library. Four, graphics with text. It can be challenging to stand out with just an image. So add graphics to call attention to your post. And five, reposts. If a customer uploads an amazing photo of your product, give them credit by reposting it on your feed. This is a great way to interact both with your client base and the instagram community. Thank you all so much for joining us today. Wed love to hear from you. So if you have any questions or comments, please send us an email to yourbusiness msnbc. Com or you can head on over to our website, which is openforum. Com yourbusiness. Weve posted all of the segments from todays show plus a lot more to help you grow your business. Also, you can connect with us on all of our social media platforms as well. We will see you next time. Until then, im jj ramberg. Remember, we make your business our business. Brought to you by American Express open. Visit openforum. Com for ideas to help you grow your business. Ta, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. Find out how American Express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open. Com. Heres an american entrepreneur story thats quite remarkable. Really somebody who changed the world. Selfmade zillionaire. After world war ii, young americ man, grown up in michigan. He had worked at bausch lomb and a Company Called univiz. But he founded a Company Called armor light. What he did at armor light changed everything for that industry. It changed everything for all of us who wear glasses. Because he invented prescription eyeglass lenses that were not made of glass