how growing slow and steady may actually win the race. honestly, it was sort of born out of desperation. the whole thing started as a joke. reporter: the world s largest gummy bear was only supposed to be a stunt. the first ones were made literally in my apartment. reporter: but the gag gift derek lawson made for his brother has piqued the interest of many. we took that money, made two, then four, and now we can make upwards of 3,000 a dae. reporter: weighing five pounds and standing almost a foot tall, the world s largest gummy bear, which calls raleigh, north carolina, home, certainly lived up to its name. it s unique in and of itself. even if it was just the giant gummy bear. i say just the giant gummy bear. that s huge compared to a small one. but the world s largest is completely over the top. reporter: lawson and business
what advice would you give to someone who came to you? do what they do. i think this is very smart. i think where you have a manufacturing business, where you re making product, have all that money tied up, it makes financial sense to build your business gradually and makes great pr sense. we re doing a story about them, right? i think it s far better knowing what you can cope with. certainly getting better at that so that the rate of increase, the rate of growth you can cope with gets bigger as time goes on than plunging head in and trying to work out later, how do i pay the bills? it s no way to build a sustainable business. i think people get nervous, right? here is a customer. if i don t take them on now, they ll never come back. how do you deal with that? how do you get them back later on once you have a business? well, you know, to les s point, entrepreneurs are optimists so it s in their nature to say yes to whatever and figure it out later.
things being equal, they want companies to have collateral. if you don t own home, you need to be perfect in every other way. or have a partner maybe who will help you get the loan miles per hour. and it s he has money from the sale of the home, and that could be good enough. and score, score.org, they have good connections, and there is a lot of good advice there about how to make your loan application if that if you can come up with a collateral, whether it s inform or that form, that s not the issue. and i am starting a t-shirt business online and what are some of the positions i will need to fill on on-line businesses? will i need these people? yeah, a lot of online businesses starts with one person who changes hats and does it all, and how does he figure
at trade shows and pass out business cards without spending money on a pricey booth. two, start a contest. contests can get customers involved with and excited about your product. three, be social. social media tools help a business connect with potential or current customers but stay specific in what you re doing and who you re targeting. four, reward local loyalty. offer a small gift or discount for referrals or repeat business. and, five, be a publicity hound. contribute bi-lined articles to the media. try helpareporter.com that helps journalists find experts. still to come, we answer your small business questions, including what to do when you and your partner have conflicts. and we ll have more on businesses staying small. we ll revisit a clothing company that learned that the way to customer loyalty was by offering them a limited edition product.
elevated the stature of congress manage boehner aan congressm and, it personalizes, what people hope is a local contest and not a referendum. martha: the president is in a hard spot excuse me, he s in a tough spot, because john boehner is going directly at him and says if i m majority leader, basically i ll make sure health care is repealed. made two said cut spending to the 2008 levels and is going after the administration and, perhaps, when they sit around the west wing and discuss these things they say you need to go after him. the president spoke in cleveland, yesterday, because john boehner had delivered his economic address. in cleveland, so, there is a kind of a reactive feel to what the president is doing. martha: let s look at this rasmussen poll, it shows what people think about john boehner and it is no secret to anybody, he d like to be a majority leader and take nancy pelosi s