♪ ♪ it cannot wait i'm yours >> hi there. i'm jj ramberg. welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. when her husband max, the owner of new york's legendary village van guard died lorraine knew all about jazz but next to nothing about running the business her husband left behind. now, 20 years later, thanks to her, the club is still hopping. ♪ >> the village van guard is aly gaenldary jazz nightclub in new york's greenwich village. >> welcome to the west village in new york. i'm josh jackson. we're a minute away from show time here at the village van guard. ♪ >> the village van guard is by far the most historic jazz club in america, possibly the world. >> come in at 8:30 for seating. your name will be at the door. >> that's the owner, low rain gordon. >> the owner doesn't sound exciting but that's what i am. >> at heart lorraine gordon is a classic small business owner. figuring it out as she goes. >> i don't do bookkeeping. i hire someone to do that. i answer telephones a lot. i can do that. i do the bookings, i do that very well. i like to think. you have to do it because you got your back to the wall. now what? sink or swim. well, i don't swim very well but i swam -- i treaded a lot of water. >> it's been operating in this tiny basement since it was started by lorraine's husband max gordon, 75 years ago. >> he opened this club in 1935. it was not a jazz club then. it was the same room but it did not jazz, it was poetry readings. >> i attribute the success to max gordon who ran this club for many, maesz many decades and had a great horse sense. >> this was max's office. there is a picture of max sitting here in this spot. this is the same terrible ugly desk i dare not get rid of. >> my father max set down strong roots. >> dera helps her mother run the club her father created. what's the secret to the vanguard's long survival? it might be knowing what to change and when. through the 40s, 50s and 60s the vanguard's format shifted from poetry to jazz, and the business model shifted, too. >> you don't serve food. i have no phone bills that could eat up half of your business. we threw the food out when the chef died, the restaurant part went with him. that's great. people don't care. you know, all of that clatter, the smells that go with the food and the roaches, oh, god. don't even talk to me about it. >> eventually it came to be known as a showcase for new musical talent from john kul train to harry belafonte. even the then unknown barbra streisand. >> do i have to tell you who barbra streisand is, no. miles station was playing at the time. miles asked max would he accompany her. no way, he said. she got up and sang and she was very good. >> last year streisand repaid that debt by performing again, something she talked about recently. >> after everything i've done and everywhere i've been, back to where i started. life is a circle. >> you're surrounded by the faces of jazz greats. the history is thick. you can almost breathe it in. >> in 1989, max gordon died and lorraine gordon says she was completely unprepared to take over. >> i really was not trained in any way. i wasn't encouraged to, you know, lorraine, would you like to take over. nothing. i closed it that night. i wrote a little sign, closed. opened it the next night. now i learned what to do or what not to do, and i learned on the job as they say. >> lorraine takes a hands on approach to the village vauard. i think that's because she cares so much about it. >> i didn't think this club should go because max went. or i didn't want someone else to have it. i would rather close it up. that's all. i didn't want to see it in anybody else's hands. it was too precious, too precious. >> after more than 20 years running the company, listening to the musicians still gives lorraine a chill. listen to her talk about a recent performance. >> that was a magical night. the music was awe theerial. everyone was like floating on air. it's so good. it was so perfect. it was that way all week but that particular night it got to me. so i say, god, i'm so lucky to be -- to work all day and come down at night. and hear this. it was super. don't ask. it works. somehow. the people come. if they come, the place stays. that's enough, guys. it's 6:00. out. >> it took lorraine a little time to get into the swing of running that new york institution but she certainly proves that perseverance and passion can lead to success. let's turn to the board of directors. john leu is the new york city comptroller and norm broad sky an entrepreneur and ink magazine columnist. great to see you. have you been to the village vanguard. >> i have. >> i think maybe the secret is cutting it off in two hours as she did to our team. >> she has great instincts and exactly what you said is keeping things the same. what most do in business they try to change in large place. that place is small, i think it sits 150 people. she kept it that size and kept what worked and what worked and that's what worked for her. >> the same with any business, how do you know what works? this has been around for 75 years. how do you know when to change, what to change? >> to some extent i'm sure even though she didn't necessarily go into detail, she changed what the times, some of -- there had to have been some changes after 75 years. but nonetheless, the basics of what that business was about, stayed the same. it kept people coming back. >> also her passion. you see her passion for that business. she smiled when she said boy, last week, fabulous. and the passion is what carries it. it carries it not only to her employees but the people who perform there. >> what amazed me about it is she talked about her husband passing away, she closed the doors that day, she opened it up the next day. what kind of character does that take? >> obviously she has a tremendous amount of character and fortitude to go on for so long. even in the most difficult time. and then to have that kind of passion, you know, it's great to love your job or to love the business you run. it clearly shows. >> there is a lesson to be learned it work forward her but you need a succession plan. >> you do. most don't. everybody thinks they are going to live forever so that's one thing. he never taught her. she was lucky in a respect that she was able to carry on the business. it was her instincts that did that and what she picked up from max along the way. but if you don't have a succession plan, it could be the death of your business. >> you feel this is something you should discuss with the whole business or just the people who you're going to pass it along to? >> well, i think that you should first discuss it with the professionals around you. then you have to decide what you want to do. then the time comes when you made up your mind to get other ideas from the people working for you. also you can see she's already started a succession plan. her daughter. yes. absolutely. >> that was such a fun piece. she's quite an inspiration. >> it's a new yorker. true new yorker. exactly. he sing, he dangss, and yes, he even gross avocados. while award winning song writtener may be best known for his music, he doesn't need to look further than his own back yard for his entrepreneurial inspiration. as an advocate for everything green his grove is symbolic of a larger environmentally friendly effort. he has set the bar high and he's encouraging others, especially entrepreneurs to do the same. ♪ >> a passion for your business is essential. it's business, you don't know if you're going to win or lose. it's going to be a game regardless. the passion is going to create the enthusiasm, the excitement that keeps you in the game. it's going to make it easier for to you spend your money on your business without the passion, you may be stopped. you may not spend your money. you may not play as big a game as you think you can handle. so the passion is what makes it fun. ♪ good job >> my community of peers is probably my biggest resource. i'm the young man in my 20s, i bought this farm, and when i first decided to take the grove by the reins and know not what i was doing i looked around, there were quite a few houses in the area, everyone's growing something. i said i'm going to see what people are up to. i guarantee somebody's got a tractor, got a compost, somebody has the skills, talent and resources that could benefit me rather than me have to search high and low on the internet, let's see who is next door and who may even want to participate in my community garden and my community project. whether they are growing on my land or their own, and i quickly learned that everyone's interested. ♪ live mighty >> in any business it's important to create environment based on respect. even if your business is a taxi driver. you know, your environment is on the road. you want to respect everyone else on the road. respect definitely keeps the game of business light and fun and possible. it's important to acknowledge each other that we're all in this together, we're all going to have hardships, we're all going to have victories, they may not appear at the same time but it's important there is a certain level of respect. what we call hold space. let's hold space for anything to happen. please and thank you. the best thing we can do to respect one another. then also we go out of our way to practice gratitude. so that thank you rubs off on other people. one of the things i learned in both as an avocado grower and a touring artist it is as important to ask for or to take the advice of those who have been in the business longer than you. after i performed at farm aid i got to know willie nelson quite well. i relate to him so much because i feel like i'm in the exact same game of song writing, of touring, of agriculture. and you know, i couldn't be who i am if i didn't look up to others, you know. if they didn't give me a template and map to follow. what i want to create for my business, for my businesses, is the possibility for others to watch, to follow, and be part of mine or to create their own based on what they have seen. ♪ the idea is to be inspired. when i grew up i was inspired by musicians, now that i'm older and i've got my farm i'm inspired by farmers, by activists and i want to create a life where i get to inspire others. the idea is to play full out, inspiring others, inviting others to do your possibility so it appears as an opportunity for others. that's how you're going to attract people to play your game. ♪ still ahead, we'll answer your small business questions including one about what to do when your employees aren't as enthusiastic as you would like them to be. and our musical theme continues with a look at an entrepreneur who was able to corner a market when he bought a vinyl record pressing plant. ♪ i own a small law firm and i'm a much better lawyer than i am an accountant. so, when i wasn't getting paid as quickly as i would like, i did what came naturally. i threatened to sue. turns out, that's not the best way to keep clients. so i went looking for answers online at openforum.com it's a place where i can talk with other small business owners like thomas and connie and learn about tools like acceptpay. it's a new way to bill online that can help me get paid much faster, without the need for any legal intimidation, which gives me a warm fuzzy feeling... sort of like these super comfortable socks made from the soft, supple wool of alpacas. looking good. thank you. owners are asking questions. owners are getting answers. and american express open is building the tools they need. tools like acceptpay, which lets owners take their accounts receivable online. acceptpay. invoice digitally. get paid faster. only from american express open. continuing our musical theme, signs of a shrinking market would cause most entrepreneurs to stay away. one nashville business owner says if you know what you're doing that may actually be the time to jump in the game. >> records? you drop a needle into some groove and it wobbles around and sound comes out. what is that, magic? >> for music connoisseurs shopping at stores like grimy's the sound of vinyl is magic. ♪ >> it's sexy playing records is sexy. >> but even if vinyl records are sexy to some hard core music fans, there aren't very many of them, making vinyl records a very unsexy market for most entrepreneurs. >> friend of mine who had been doing the books for this company for many, many years, gave me a call one day and said chris, i know you don't have anything to do, would you like to take a look at this business? nobody seems to be interested in it. maybe you can figure out what to do with it. >> the company he was calling about was nashville's united record pressing company. >> good afternoon. >> and the man who bought the call was chris ashworth, a life long corporate finance guy, not a music industry insider. but back then he was looking to buy a company and become his own boss before buying the factory with its history of motown, rock 'n roll and hip hot hits. ♪ ashworth asked for advice from an industry expert. >> i said i'm thinking of buying a vinyl record pressing plant. what is your suggestion to me as to whether or not i should do it or not? he said hell, no. >> fortunately for ashworth and his employees, he ignored those warnings. >> i think my corporate experiences allowed me to look at my markets totally differently than my competitors. >> good to go. >> and we started out we had ten employees. today we have 54 employees and we'll run from 5,000 to 6,000, 7-inch record as day, from 20 to 35,000 12-inch records a day. >> though his company was growing, the market for vinyl was shrinking and his competitors were struggling. ashworth realized he was in the midst of a full-blown industry shakeout, something new to his competition but not new to him. >> i had the experience of working for large companies that saw those kinds of opportunities in their markets. so, what i was able to do is take that skill set and apply it to a very small market. >> ashworth took advantage of this outsider's insight to buy up his competitors at fire sale prices. >> in a lot of industries when there is a decline in the market, folks rationalize or think about whether or not they want to still be in a particular business or not. and from our standpoint it is a question of saying to them, listen, we can do it probably a little more coast effectively than you can and gee whiz, why do you need to be in this business in the first place. >> now he has assembled the biggest vinyl record factory in the country and along the way he also discovered he has a new love. >> our receptionist looked at me and said chris, do you know what business you're in? i said you know, i don't know. why don't you tell me. she said well, chris, you're in the business of making dreams happen. >> they couldn't kill the record. they tried but they couldn't kill it. ♪ >> it's hard enough running a business of your own. but now imagine adding family members to the mix. thing cans certainly get tricky. so, here are five tips for managing a family business courtesy of entrepreneur.com. one, hierarchy. make sure your chain of command is clearly defined and family members are aware of what's expected of them. two, communicate formally and openly in the work place. your staff should see that decisions are being made in the office and not at home. three, set compensation. paying family can be a tricky issue. set a predetermined compensation plan or work with an independent consultant to decide salaries. four, establish a welcome plan. determine how family members should be brought into the business. and, number five, have a secession plan in place. determine future ownership and management far in advance so as to avoid any confusion. it's time now to answer some of your business questions. john and norm are back with us once again. the first one comes from adam and he writes, my company has been in a bit of a slump due to the downturn, but we just got a great opportunity. i feel like my small staff of five people is not excited about it. there's something wrong with the culture and i believe it's my fault. is this something i can change or do i need to fire everyone and start fresh? first of all, good for him for taking ownership of the problem. >> that's right. i think he's taking charge. he understands that there's a tremendous amount of opportunity and i think the first thing he needs to do is impress upon all of his team the five people on his team that this is an opportunity not just for him to grow his business. it's also an opportunity for each individual employee or we could even call them partners if they've been with him for a long time to improve upon their skills. >> so how does he do it? let's give him the practical. >> he's right. one of the biggest responsibilities a ceo has is to create the culture and carry out the culture. he's got to, like john said, meet with his employees. the last thing he does is fire his employees. but if they don't buy into the culture, then he has to look for a different employee. but he has to give them that opportunity. start with the carrot first. >> it's the opportunity to really excel especially when this huge opportunity comes along. >> i think you had a good point, too, the opportunity for them. >> absolutely. >> yes, this is an opportunity for the company but very clearly this is how it's going to benefit you. >> i think the best kind of effort, campaign, business, whatever you want to call it, is when you engage everybody involved and everybody understands there's a stake for it themselves. >> and he has to believe in the culture. if he doesn't believe in it -- >> then it doesn't matter if he fires everybody. let's move to the next one. this is a question are from the owner of a staffing firm for health care professionals. >> what you'd like to get an answer about is how to scale up for a rapidly growing company. and learning what i need to do first in terms of scaling up my organization. >> and you know, norm, this is a two-part question. there are the logistics of scaling up and then there is the culture of scaling up. >> she did ask, what should i do first? so i have two questions i'd like to ask. the first question -- >> you're here to answer. >> i know, but the first question is why does she want to do this? and the second question, before she even attempts it, do i have enough cash to do this? will my business be able to survive? now if you can answer those two questions, it's now time to scale up your company. >> okay. so if she is ready to scale up, then what does she do with that? >> that's right. if she's ready to scale up, first and foremost, make sure the things you want to be doing with your business are actually being done well and properly and then once you do that, once you're sure of that, then start to scale up. you never want to bite off more than you can chew. on the other hand you do want to take some risks. with risks come reward. >> most entrepreneurs, unfortunately john's right, but most aren't going to listen to that advice. they're going to get as quick and as big as they can quickly and learn the lessons later. >> so what advice do you have so at least they're doing it, you know, somewhat in an intelligent manner? >> well, the advice is you're going to do it anyway but what happens is get a good board of advisers who have been through that process before that can advise you on it. so maybe you won't make the same mistakes most of us make. >> let's move on to the next one. this is a question from a tote bag designer. >> as a small business opener, are there innovative and effective ways to hire and retain employees for small businesses? >> right. so, i mean, the one good thing is many studies show that people don't stay plac