Growth presents itself . Hi there, everyone. Im j. J. Welcome to your business the show dedicated to helping your growing business. When it comes to travel, Lonely Planet is one name backpackers and wander lusters trust. But apps and mobile sites started taking the place of guidebooks, the company was in danger of getting left behind. We met with ceo daniel at their offices in franklin, tennessee, to find out how the travel brand managed to avoid going extinct and has changed to keep up with the times. A chance encounter with an american billionaire, daniel found himself running the largest guidebook company Lonely Planet. Whatever range of emotions you can imagine one might have, i probably had all those. In some sense probably glad i didnt know what to expect. When he joined the company was a sinking ship. Guidebook sales had plummeted 40 industry wide from 2007 through 2012. Daniel knew it was going to take a major upheaval to save the iconic travel band, but he also knew there was real value in a brand that so many people had love its really hard to go into something thats been around for so long and try to understand and do the best you can with, you know, the pieces that make it special that you never want to change and what pieces, you know, you actually need to make a change on so that you can get back to being on the forefront of whats happening. The leadership was just the beginning of the changes in 2013. The executive office moved from london to franklin, tennessee, and about a fifth of the companys employees were laid off. Its an unbelievable amount of responsibility whenever anyone loses their job to handle that the best way possible. But it was a necessary process that we had to go through. Pierre has been with Lonely Planet through 2006 when the brand was still with the bbc. On a personal level i was seeing friends leave the company, but professionally it seemed the light thing to do. Everybody knew the change needed to happen. It was just hard making it happen. Daniel knew the content wasnt the problem. They were great at that. The issue was that the company had not changed how they delivered that content in years. The world was changing around them and they werent changing with it. It was more to us about setting up the structure of the business so that the content that we worked so hard to gather could be utilized across a bunch of different platforms. We have people that will go into a destination now that are gathering video content, that are writing the story for a magazine, that are working on a part of the guidebook, that are posting up dates on snapchat. Thats how you share the world with people these days, sort of in a number of different ways. How do we Gather Content . What type of content . But in which different ways are people going to interact with this. As it always ultimately does with business t ca, it came dow what the customer wanted. For Lonely Planet, that included be otos, a mobile app. The guidebooktill has its place but not the same place. Now instead of information on hoel hotel prices ts filled with stories and experiences. The problems were trying to solve are changing. People increasingly arent so worried about finding things like accommodation or reviews. They can find those in lots of places. They really want Lonely Planet to advise them on how best to spend their time, what they can do, great experiences they can have, and how they can connect with the people and places theyre visiting. It was a big change in philosophy that required a lot of new thinking and buyin. After all, theyve been doing things the same way for over 40 years. But its working. Today guidebook sales are up 27 and they have a growing social media audience. The challenge now is to not fall behind again. We were a launch partner with google for the google home device, so you can literally say hey, google, i want to talk to lonely plan skpet and away wel. You have to show up if you want to get in. Thats the truth. You definitely have to be there. It gives you an opportunity to watch spaces like that evolve and be a part of the conversation. The entire culture of the company has changed. Instead of thinking well, weve always done it this way, the conversation now starts with what can we be doing better . In many ways it was like creating a startup inside an operating business to launch new things and new initiatives. Theres probably nothing that we do that isnt a constant gut check on are we going about this the right way, could it be differently just because wee done it that way before doesnt mean were going to do it that way going forward. Since 2014 the company has evolved, but really its gone back to its roots. All the changes have had less to do with reinventing the wheel and more about returning the values Lonely Planet was founded on. Translato the business has been an innovator since day one. I think tony was the first good like compa to publish digitall one of the first 25 websites the internet fortunate to share the stage with apple, so a long history of being out in front. We want people to think about travel and automatic le think about Lonely Planet. It really is that broad from a lean back tv experience to im on the road specifically with this planned thing that ive really meticulously organized and i want to have a great experience. We want to be synonymous with travel. Challenges circumstances can often lead to you having to rethink your entire company. That was the case for an owner of a maine based tote bag company when her Business Partner left because the two couldnt see eye to eye on direction and vision. Turned out to be a good thing as she brought in new employees with new ideas who helped her change everything. The company was growing at a pace that was hard to keep up with and we needed more fan width, more capital into the business and not money. We needed some skills that we currently didnt have. Beth and her Portland Maine based company sea bags were at a cross roads. Beths Business Partner hannah wanted a change and while the company had been growing fast, beth knew she had to do something to make sure it reached the next level. If the company got busier, hannah had a desire to kind of step back from the daytoday and i still had the vision to see the company grow and add more employees and scale it up. Beth and hannah had coowned the brand. It totes and duffles from used sales. Before she could restructure anything, beth neeldded new partners. We wanted the product to continue to be made in maine and we wanted the product to stay out of recycled sales and the product it our practices to be as green as we could be. She quickly discovered she wasnt going to meet her match immediately. Not everyone saw sea bags future the same way. Some of the people that talked to me thought it would be so much easier if you just mad these things in china. Yeah. Wrong business. Thats not really whate set sea bags up to be. As the search went on, it was business as usual. The operation never slowed down despite the inevitable changes. We kept investing in the business as if we were going to continue to own it in the current structure because thats the only way we knew how. We had to keep our foot on the gas and keep growing because we now had at that point over 30 employees that we were proudly responsible for. Something finally clicked when beth met fran phillips. The addition of frans former colleague don to the conversation set the ball in motion. Don and i are both originally from maine born and raised. She made it clear she wasnt looking for ip vnvestors, but s was looking for partners. Before any formal agreement was signed, they got to work. The hope was that their involvement would ensure a smoother transition. The most important thing i needed to do was learn the business so i was looking at it from the outside in and now to be able to sit in on the inside. After eight month of wrangling, the deal was done. They knew their skills complemented each other. Don and fran came on as beths new partners with don serving as ceo and beth as the president. Despite the formalities, the leadership is collaborative. The twosided desk they share is proof of that. Neither of us is big on titles. Theres nothing thats going on that beth or i isnt in the know about and one of us is taking the lead. So thats kind of how we work it. Step one was to formally reorganize the Company Including the creation of a board. The way we structured the deal with don and frans investor system that it was just more beneficial to restructure as an llc. Within weeks a warehouse opened where sales could be stored and cut. On the sale side beth knew to where focus. Our wholesale business has been extremely strong over the years because that was my comfort zone. I wanted to grow our direct channel. Thats why don spear headed a new look. We redesigned the website both the back end as well as the branding. We shot all the bags in a consisnt w. The addition of new staff is helping drive future growth at its three Retail Locations and online. I have a marketing team. Can you believe it . I didnt have one believe. I actually have a sales team which is amazing where before i had a salesperson. Don has consulted with employees to find out if theres a better way to do business. The changes we made were really focused on how do we improve the business and really focused on the little steps that tried to make peoples jobs easier. After all will comings and goings, the staff is now at about 50. With that increase has come a push for more open communication. Our core team is in place and we need to get everybody settled and on the same page. As sea bags goes forward, beth has no regrets looking back. Shes grateful that she fond not just partners, but the right partnering to help restructure her business. For me owning a smaller piece of a Bigger Company and reli relinquishing control is 100 better. I got the better partners. If youre an entrepreneur who has to or maybe wants to live out of a suitcase, it is easier than ever to leave your desk behind and work from anywhere across the globe. Whether youre traveling on business or making the leap to become a Digital Nomad, share five ways to stay productive while youre on the road. One, drop in and get busy. These days a cafe with reliable wifi is on every corner and shared Co Working Spaces are going global. Apps connect you to laptop friendly spaces in 100 countries. Two, find a place to live. Housing for Digital Nomad need to be flexible and connected. Sites like rome, from bali to miami. Three, network globally. Travel opens us up to great networking opportunities. Apps like nomad base provide a social network to learn, collaborate and socialize. Four, learn how to fly. The savvy Digital Nomad finds flight deals by being flexible about when and where they go. If you dont mind extended lay over overs five, keep your finances in order. Globe trotting entrepreneurs dont need a fixed address to take advantage of final services. Sites can help with International Money transfer and change in data security. What came first . The chicken or the egg . In the case of purdue, when arthur founded the company in 1920, they started out selling eggs. Today theyre one of the largest american producers of chicken and the business is still in the family. We sat down with grandson jim perdue at the companys headquarters in salisbury maryland to talk about the importance of getting face time and why you shouldnt get defensive in this learning from the pros. Im third generation. My grandfather was first. We have four fourth generation in the business. My grandfather Arthur Perdue was fair to say risk averse. Especially growing up in the depression. He didnt want to owe money to anybody so he didnt want to borrow money, but he really established the values of the company, the quality. My dad came in in 1939 and he really was the entrepreneur who took the risk that was necessary to grow a business. He knew he wanted to advertise and then he hired an agency in new york and they, after watching him manage people around here, said youve got to get on tv and do it. And he refused, but after about a year, they talked him into it. Because he actually was a very shy introverted person. Ey said youll sell twis much chicken if you get on tv. That caught his attention and he decided that was something hed try. We try to round it as a family business. Once a year we go around to the plants and share information on what we did, what were planning for next year, answer questions. I think they need to see a face. They need to hear it from, you know, from the person in charge of the company. There was a couple of undercover videos on two of our farms. The normal reaction i think would be to be defensive and say they snuck on the farm and those sorts of things, but our response was we thanked them for letting us know. There were truly some situations that were not anywhere near acceptable on those farms. But then what we did is we said why dont we invite those two groups to our Corporate Office and let them look at it and see what they think. And so thats a reaction i think that is the right reaction. We have 21,000 people. There are a lot of decisions being made every day. Somebody has a can of solvent in one of our plants. He can either, at an expense, make sure he gets it the proper way or he goes in the back woods and dumps it. I wanted to make sure he understand the value of the company before he makes that decision. Because i cant be there when he makes the decision, but i want him to be thinking about those values, because those zidecisio every day are what make us an Acceptable Company or not. My dad used to say ready, fire, aim, meaning, you know, move forward and do it now or dont take so long to make the decision. If you stop learning, youll die. Stop listening to consumers, you you have to continuously improve,reinnt yourself, innovate all the time. Be a learning organization which is something i really push a lot on our people. You need to learn something every day. It is not always easy as many of you out there know for Business Owners to get ahead financially. Even if you have a great product, you have customers, you may be financially sinking. If this describes you, youre not alone. Amanda steinberg is the founder of author of the new bok worbook worth it. Its been a couple years since ive been here. Congratulations on your book. I know your companys been growing. Lets get right to it. There are a lot of people in this position. Its very hard on your personal finances when youre putting all of your money into a business. So lets just get some hacks for you to save money in someplaces. The first one you talk about, just ask. Yeah. We often are afraid to ask, especially because you have to hire accountants and lawyers to get incorporated. You have to get your books set up. They have their standard rates. We forget sometimes we can ask for a discount. They dont want your one time business. They want you to be with them for a long time. How do you do that without feeling a bit awkward . You realize youre actually doing yourself and them a service by sustaining your longevity for the future. Just do it. Swallow whatever awkwardness you feel and think im investing and theyre investing in our future. Then bartering great idea. I used that enormously in the beginning because i needed to generate a lot of journalism and content for daily worth. Com that was financial advice. At the time i was a Computer Programmer when i started it. So i worked with lots of journalists who needed their own websites at the time. It was 2009. Everyone needed their own personal website. I was exchanging my shefervice them. The you can do it in all kinds of ways. You find another company that goes after the same customers and just barter marketing. Exactly. Have you have an email news lae letter and they have one, why not do it together. Absolutely. We still do this. Then going on to the third one, this is different than when you were first starting and people needed you to create a website. Now people can create their own. Yeah. Everything is digital. If you are needing to hire someone and pay designers and pay programmers to change your website, if you want to save money, its a good idea to look at some of the services to do it on your own. Its not that hard. Maybe take a class. You can safe thousands. If somebody else is doing it for you and theyre not on your team and you need something change and you have to wait for them to do it, it may be critical to your business. Wait until you have money. Once youve proven your concept. Even then there might be a typo and you cant reach the person and you need to fix it. Spe spend the time to loearn how to update your own website. Hire slowly which is something everyone has trouble with. The reason it fits in here i suspect is because when you hire quickly and you have to fire someone t someone, its expensive. Every business is different, but as far as the businesses ive run, peoples salaries are the greatest expense. Especially if youre not a skilled hire and youre hiring someone out of a corporate job who hasnt worked in a Small Business environment before, theyre coming with certain expectations about salaries that can be quite expensive. What i have learned is to hire much more slowly over time. Start them on a project basis. I have rose colored glasses. I love everyone at first. Give them a project. Hire them hourly. Let them kiennd of grow into th company more slowly. Wait until you know they can do the job and hire them. At that point they know too. It gives them a chance to see does this work with us also. So good to see. Thank you for stopping by. When you come back, what you need to know about turning your personal brand into a Company Brand. Why you need to have fun in the workplace. Will your business be ready when growth presents itself . American express open cards can help you take on a new job, 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. Wh what are the suggested steps that you have from taking it from a personal brand to a Company Brand . Moving from a personal brand to a Company Brand is a significant shift because you have to change the name of the business itself. The personal brand is how i grew my business was my own name. But that limits me just to me. So moving to a business brand required that i took on new names. For me it was profit for professionals. I started an organization around one of the products, a book that i created. I have an organization with nine employees and were building that business bigger and bigger. So you have to adopt a new name that isnt your name. But to bridge over has to associate with you. So as a personal brand, what can you do as a derivative . I did a book called profit first and spun that into its own company. You have to look for the same opportunity. We now have the two top tips you need to know to help your growing business. Lets introduce our panel and get their advice. Matt is the co founder and ceo of tee sheets they provide gps tracking and scheduling for companies with hourly employees. And steve is the Small Business columnist at usa today. I got you both from the west today, so its a west coast not west coat, but west side of the country team. Grated to see you both. Matt, youre here, lets start with you. Fantastic. Great to see you again. When you come out west, we would love to host you at our offices anytime. Thank you. The question was how do you grow your company or whats something important when you grow your company. One of the things i believe in is be delusional about your future. Its really important to actually see out into the future. Create something spectacular. Dream big. In fact, some Business Owners will write a check in advance for 10 million and im going to cash it. For us we want to build a 30 million company. The reality is a small fraction of percentages will ever be a 30 billion company, but its okay to dream big. But do not be delusional right now. Never think that you have arrived. When people approach me and they youre doing great i say were not doing that great, were not that big, honestly. Think about an elephant. If an elephant had a trunk on the trunk there was a mosquito, were not even an itch yet. Compared to your 30 billion, dont be modest, youve had 100 growth year over year. You are a large team. Just not as large as you want to be. Thats what youre saying. Thats right. Never think that youve arrived. If at any point you think that youve arrived, youre in trouble. Then you will start slipping backwards. Yes. I very much believe in that. Steve, what about you . What i would like to say to my Small Business brothers and sisters is remember the words of bill murray which is lighten up, francis. People go into business for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they get an idea that they cant let go of or wont let go of them. Or they want to make more money or be more creative. Or if youre like me and want to get out of the corporate grind and away from that crazy boss. Whatever the case is, if youre going to start your own business and youre going to be the boss, then be not just a good business. Be a great boss. I think that necessarily entails having fun in the office and creating a culture that incorporates fun in the office. If you ever see profile these high tech Silicon Valley firms, google or facebook, those kind of companies, one of the things that you really notice is that theyre having a great time at work. Maybe theyre writing scooters around the office or theyre playing foosball during a break. They know that doing that kind of thing is great for business. Its good for morale. People like working at places like that. Its great for creativity. You get an idea not from reading a book and being quiet but from playing around with the kids, whatever it may be. Its great for productivity as well. It doesnt have to be expensive. It doesnt have to be google with those kinds of budgets. At my company we have a fun committee. Their whole job is to come up with fun things for the employees to do together. Its fantastic. And a lot of them are free. You can put up a basketball hoop out in the parking lot or bring in a foosball table. And incorporate the idea of having fun in the office. It doesnt cost anything. Ping pong tables are not expensive. Even a couple kegs in the office. We finally turned people arent playing ping pong so we turned it into an xbox lounge. Thank you so much both of you. This week your big selfie comes from laurie from new jersey who is the owner of transition guardians. A special emphasis on helping seniors with the emotional demands of moving and downsizing. Thank you for what you do. All of you, we love seeing pictures of your businesses. So why dont you pick up your cell phone. Take a selfie of you and your company. Send it to us. This is important. Do not forget to include your name, the name of your business and your location and u. Thank you for joining us. If you have questions or comments about the show, email us at yourbusiness msnbc. We put up all of the pieces from todays show plus a whole lot more. And dont forget to connect with us on all of our digital and social media platforms as well. We look forward to seeing you next time. Remember, we make your business our business. Will your business be ready when growth presents itself . American express open cards can help you take on a new job, 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. If you have an image in your head for general Douglas Macarthur, its probably this one, right . The iconic hat, the awesome sunglasses, before biden, right . Douglas macarthurs sunglasses, obviously the giant corn cob pipe. When he was the commanding general for u. S. Troops in the korean war china sent hundreds of thousands of chinese troops over the border into north korea to help the communist side in the korean fight and general Douglas Macarthur went to president truman when that happened and he told president truman tt