Mentorship and s. T. E. A. M. Opportunities and how to develop opportunities for the work force and leverage the programs that the Small Business administration as well as other Government Agencies have for Small Businesses. Lets talk about what you expect to come from this. Shirley, lets start with you. It is one thing to be on a listening tour. Its another to put it in action. Did you get the sense theres going to be something within this administration to help Small Businesses that is different than what we have seen before . I think, probably, just a greater awareness that we are out there. We are out there doing good work and the women who own them are serious and dedicated to the work we are doing. What do you think . Im very encouraged for two particular reasons. Number one, ivanka trump was also at the table. She said its one of her priorities. I think she is going to work closely with her father to make sure theres a positive impact
on. Shes very well spoken. I appreciated her being there and her input. You feel the same . I do. I do. I also feel as if, you know, its just a reset. That means theres opportunities across the board. While people are talking about doom and gloom and theres uncertainty, as Small Business owners, we find the opportunity and juch at it. Its been an Exciting Team for we, as Women Business owners, to put our communities back to work to create the jobs and the successes our country needs. I want to ask you each one a question, what is one thing you will be excited about if it comes out of the administration in the next many months and what is the one thing you would be disappointed after the meeting . Excited if theres reform around access to capital. I serve on the board of an organization that provides sba backed loans. We have difficult times getting out money to the Small Business that need it the most. If i see reform around the Small Business lending, i will be
excited about that. Why do you have a hard time giving to Small Businesses . Because of some of the regulations because of how womens Credit Scores tend to be different from mens Credit Scores. As a minority, how our Credit Scores lag behind some people. One size fits all approach doesnt work. Got it. People that can get the money arent always the people that need the money the most. Shirley . I would be disappointed if i didnt see a decrease in taxes. That is one of the major difficulties we face as a Small Business owner. We are subchapters, and everything flows through to us. Also health care. We need to Reform Health care. Premiums are rising. Its not getting better. I hope we get Health Care Reform and it will be more reasonable cost wise going forward. All right. Thank you both so much for coming and talking to us. I would like to invite both of you back in six or eight months
from now and check in with you and see how you think this administration is doing on helping people like you. We welcome that. Thank you, jj. Thank you. Ven tur capital money is often portrayed as the golden ticket. Convince them to invest new, and youve got it made. The founders of little passports thought that until they were rejected by every single one they talked to. They had to rethink how to get their company off the ground with close to nothing in cash or resources. In the world stella and amy come from, getting Venture Capital money for a new business seemed like the only way to go. Here in the bay area, your ability to raise money from Top Tier Venture Funds is a real pedigree. Its a real kind of bragging right and its hard not to get caught up in that. The two cofounders and best friends met at ebay where they were surrounded by ven tur futu
funded companies. They assumed they would follow the same path. When they went out to raise money for their own company, little passports, they sensed their own story might play out very differently. We must have had at least 50 meetings and kept hearing no for a number of reasons. Some of them were demoralizing. A small percentage of Venture Capital that goes toomen led businesses. One insvestor feedback hit too close to home. Literally this was in writing. The fact that we were women and moms with young children, there was no way this business could possibly get off the ground. To them, that was their strength, exactly the reason they ventured out on their own. We had a hypothesis we werent doing enough as an education or country to raise global citizens. Hoping to spark wonderlust in
kids imaginations, the two came up with a concept for little passports. It started with a simple suitcase, packed with a passport, maps of the world, stickers and activities set by Fictional Globe Trotting pen pals. A bundle of fun continued to arrive every month with a new country featured in each package. We feel like we really innovated within the space. This is before birch box and before subscriptions and the box craze. With endless rejection and not a drop of money, they could have closed shop quickly, but they took every harsh bit of criticism and pushed forward even harder. You have to have that Intrinsic Plebelief in yourselfd what youre doing to get past them. It required a razor sharp approach to Product Development and testing. We started a prototype and tested it with 50 families. On the flip side, they believe stand out and memorable packaging was a must. With the help of angel investors
including linkedin ceo, they received an additional 175,000, which helped them sustain their company and gear up for launch. But the weekend before little Passports World Edition officially hit the market in 2009, amy was blindsided by a blow that would only be a start in a series of devastating events. I was eight months pregnant with my second child and my marriage ended unexpectedly. My baby came along a couple weeks later. I developed bells palsy on one side of my face. Then my dad got diagnosed with cancer and he died within four months. I lost my house in the divorce. It was like, could anything more possibly go wrong . Stella wasnt spared, either. She delivered her second child at just 29 weeks and spent three months caring for the baby in the nicu, while trying to keep their startup afloat. It was a nightmare. With all this turmoil in their personal lives, the friends had to persevere and they needed a clear game plan for the financial challenges ahead. Rent space or investing in any fulltime employees early on were two commitments they were dead set on avoiding. My husband helped code our website and my mom and sister helped us do fulfillment out of our dining room, on the Dining Room Table we would have an assembly line. Eventually they needed more help. Instead of hiring full time employees, they outsourced. For marketing, they relied on Mommy Newsletters and paid researches. But nothing seemed to move the needle significantly. We couldnt find a way to get it in front of a lot of people. We were really looking for Hockey Stick Growth. Just when they thought that Hockey Stick Growth was only for a lucky few, everything changed. In 2013, the pair focused on advertising and started to use facebooks marketing tools. The decision was a game changer. Finding facebook as an Advertising Channel was a Pivotal Moment for us. Facebook ads have a conversion tracking feature. We could clearly identify the dollars we invested into facebook to the actual subscriptions we were selling. And the other thing that was great was you could test a facebook ad for a couple hundred dollars. You could tweak the copy. You could tweak your targeting audienc audience. Facebooks lookalike tool was also invaluable. They create an algorithm that identifies customers and targets them for you. And thats really our winning formula. Little passports has grown into four subscription lines, a book and an animated series in the works. Last year, the Company Earned 25 million in revenue. I think that what has created our success is that pushing
through the nose. We believe that little passports is a pathway to peace. Kids are having conversations ability the differences amongst us, but how those differences are amazing and beautiful. And how the differences are similarities in the end, once you understand them. As many of us know, it is hard enough running one venture, so imagine the difficulty of running multiple and unrelated companies. We decided to take some time exploring what it means to have your time split between different organizations. How do we do it effectively . We found out from a virginia couple that run not one, not two, but five different businesses, ranging from a Recycling Company to a bird bookstore. They all were created and developed because of each other. Every business, really, that we have here is very reliant on the other businesses. Jeremy hale has been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. Youll find the proof in this warehouse turned headquarters in virginia where the hale businesses are under one roof. Our primary construction business, the cold storage warehouse, the architectural salvage business, Nelson Storage llc, a restoring business and a bird bookstore. The hale company is the oldest of the five. The storage and recycling companies followed. We started storing automobiles and industrial stuff and architectural stuff we were collecting. As that developed, we had a byproduct of recyclables. Beauty of books and the old Warehouse Round out the group. We started thinking about the bookstore, which my father owned. Why not move it into the warehouse and utilize the space. Put all our businesses in one location. After that, we started going into renovating and restoring materials we had been
collecting. To an outsider, five companies in one place may seem like a lot. Jeremy says the setup makes sense. I would say they all Work Together and all feed off each other. Here is just one example. When jeremy goes looking for things like the factory parts he used to make coffee tables, the synergy becomes obvious. The Business Holding the materials is my construction business. I take the trucks from the construction business, Purchase Materials for the cold storage warehouse, store the material in Nelson Storage and take the byproducts to nelson recycling. Youll find nelson Storage Containers both on and off the property. Nelson recycling has outside customers as well including the local county. They are unique and separate, they seem like they need their own individual attention. When trying to manage multiple businesses can result in some major headaches. Dealing with daily hurdles is
inevitable. I try to plan out a time where i have one task for one business that has to get done, start to finish. Once that is done, i can move on to the next. Otherwise, its chaos. The hales market their companies in a variety of ways. While there are some similarities, theres no set formula. There cant be. The architectural salvage and antiques are what i advertise and market the most for that and the bookstore. They are our retail operations. Their websites, i think, are the first place people find us. We rely a lot on word of mouth, people that have bought from us before, local architects and designers. The Marketing Plan helps the brands maintain separate identities. Very few customers visit the hales warehouse. Even those that do usually dont know the companies are linked. Owning five businesses means five times the bills and five payrolls for the employees. Recycling, one person can run the entire operation. Old cold storage has one employee to do republican renovation and work with Nelson Storage and warehouse management. Jaime runs the bookstore and we have three part time employees. Jaime says the challenges associated with running five businesses arent going to get any easier. If jeremy has anything to do with it, more businesses will soon call the warehouse home. He has the spark that i think isnt going to go anytime soon. Well keep growing. Jeremy says the wheels are already turning and the desire to launch new companies is part of the plan. Six and seven are in the works as we speak. Theres no limit to the amount of businesses well run. The power of the podcast does not seem to be slowing down any in 2017. I, personally, love podcasts. This week, inc. Com shares five
great Business Podcasts to tune into to spark ideas and turn Business Plans into action. One, brown ambition. This weekly Podcast Bills itself as a conversation on career, business, Building Wealth and living in brown skin. Hosts mandy woodrough and tiffany talk finance and empowerment as women of color. Two, entrepreneur on fire. The host featured over 1,000 successful entrepreneurs sharing their best and worst moments as business owners. It was awarded the best of itunes and ideas on how to turn ideas into success. Three, accelerate your business growth. The host gives Small Business owners and aspiring Entrepreneurs Tips from sales and tech to work life balance. Four, your partner in success radio. Dennis griffith brings together a wide range of entrepreneurs to tackle everything from
productivity and leadership to marketing and sales. And, five, the femtrepreneur show. They provide advice for women hello. Im the owner and inventor of hangohmatic. Are you tired of crooked pictures, shelves, mirrors, even crooked televisions . I invented the solution. Hangohmatic is an all in one picture hanging tool that levels, measures and marks the walls. So when you put your nails, your screws up, its perfect the first time. Let me show you how to use it. Take the hangomatic, take off
the cover off and align the pointers on the back. Item. You lock it down. Bring it up to your drywall. When the bubble is in the center, press on both sides. You end up with two perfectly measured dimple marks. So you know where to your put your screw or nail. Beautiful thing about hangomatic, its reusable, its only nine inches so you can put it in your kitchen drawer. It goes up to six foot. Its great on side by side hanging. It retails for 14. 99. Proudly made in the usa. How much money are you looking for . Im looking oh. Thats okay. 60,000. What are you going to do with it . Make my tooling better to continue to make it in the u. S. Got it. 14. 99 . 14. 99. That sounds pretty good right now. If you can get that even cheaper. Two numbers from you guys. Number one, what do you think of the product . Number two, what do you think of the pitch . Its been out for two and a half years. How many have you sold . About 120,000 in two years. How many directly and retail. I would say 90 is via retail, mostly online. I feel like Brick And Mortar support is key. I like your packaging. It looks very as seen on tv. That was the look we were starting for. On the product, i gave you a 10. On the pitch a six. I love the product. I have holes behind every picture in my house. From a user perspective, i would use this product all day long. From a pitch perspective, you didnt tell me anything about the business. You told me purely about the product, nothing about the opportunity, the market. The economics behind what youre looking for and how it would compel me to want to invest. Sara . For the product, i gave it an eight. That might be because i just tape everything to the walls so i dont have personal experience but that might be your point that i need it. For the pitch, i gave a seven. I thought you did a great job. As you said with the as seen on tv, heres the product. But dive deeper into the business behind it, how big is the Market Opportunity . Distribution models, that stuff would have been awesome to hear. You did a great job. Its a perfect example of needing different pitches for different people. You gave a pitch perhaps for a customer, client consumer. All of you out there watching. These are potential investors so theyre not buying this, theyre buying you and your company. Right. Great job, though. You two, we still need you in the show. Stick around. If any of you would like to come on your business and pitch your company like you just saw, the best way to do that is send your video of you doing your oneminute elevator pitch. Make it either an mp4 or wmv and send it to us at
yourbusiness msnbc. Com and post it to our youtube page and let us know. We look forward to seeing those videos. Coming up, maintaining your credibility with customers, vendors and your entire industry. And boosting your business through internet referrals. 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. This email comes from marty. He writes, as a News Business we need to build credibility with our industry. How do you market to both sides . I wouldnt worry about marketing to both sides. At the end of the day, you want to market to the end user of your product, whomever it is. If your product is super awesome, theyre going to tell everyone else and all sides will have knowledge and understanding and want for your product. We now have the top two tips you need to know to help your growing business. Scott is the cofounder of so cozy and sarah kuntz is the owner of sports media pro day. Back with us. Hi, both of you. Hi. Lets start with scott. One tip . Top tip is figure out if youre running a Lifestyle Business or a Growth Business. Theres a huge difference between the two. Lifestyle business is a business that relies on the skills of the entrepreneur, pays the bills, it provides for a nice life. Growth business is a completely different animal. It requires different resources, infrastructure. Thats a business where you can scale the growth of something. It could be a service or a product. For example, our kids brand, so cozy, we can grow the business by increasing distribution. We can grow it by adding more products. We can grow it by putting marketing against it. Thats a business that can grow way beyond our capabilities as a single individual. So its really important as youre planning your business to get very, very clear on that point because it will determine everything you need to be successful and help you set your expectations. Do you find people think theyre running a Growth Business but its a Lifestyle Business . Frequently. What kind of mistakes do people make . Theyre not properly capitalized. They dont see the opportunity. They are overly ambitious. They put their family in jeopardy. Everything you can imagine. Got it. Are the problems that come with that. Sarah, youre up. I think its important to turn your customers into advocates. Social media is a great way to do it, but asking for yelp or facebook reviews and giving your customers something as a gift or money off, a discount, an incentive to refer other people to you. If do you that, and that person refers somebody, youll have an endless stream of new customers with less marketing costs. And youre also learning from your existing customers about what they love about your service because thats what theyre going to refer people on. Do you have any tips about doing that . I know companies who have tried to do it, give a referral and you get 5. Sometimes it works amazing. Uber, gilt, all of these companies, and sometimes it just falls flat. I think you need to think about the product right. If its something people will feel a little shy, you maybe arent going to refer people to your Marriage Counselor. Think about where is there leverage and also think about the rewards youre giving them. Theres very few people who wouldnt be happy to refer someone to a Marriage Counselor if they got 1,000 off but not 10 off. Its a living thing. When people are happy with the core business, and you give them the right incentives and test and iterate. I think youll see that over time. Thats real time. Test it. If you do something that doesnt work, try something new. Not set in stone. Thank you. This weeks your biz selfie comes from jennifer who owns sandhill models and talent in north carolina. They provide training along the modelling and voice joefr services. It looks like she sent a picture of some of her models. Thank you for sending that in, jennifer. We really love seeing the selfies we get each week. If you have a company and want it profiled on the show, send us a picture to yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Include your name, the name of
your business and use t the yourbizselfie. If you have any questions on or want to say hi email us at yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Also our forum, we posted the segments from todays show and a whole lot more. 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. Until then, im jj ramberg. 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
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