help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc. hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business." october is an exciting month for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that it is national women's small business month. so, it's appropriate that we start off today with two stories about two women entrepreneurs. both dealing with the challenges of running multiple enterprises. jeanine sylvester didn't start her new hampshire running store with the intention of growing it to multiple locations. but, thanks to the competition and customer demand, her company now has three stores. while the expansion has not always been a walk in the park, it's had a positive effect on things like buying power, brand recognition, and retaining employees. >> having three locations has a lot of benefits. people feel more comfortable or confident knowing that, oh, this is the same as is in manchester or concord or portsmouth. >> reporter: jeanine sylvester never knew the kind of impact her runner's supply store runner's alley would have on her and the community. >> i opened 17 years ago. it's grown so much every year. >> reporter: this first time entrepreneur turned her passion for running into this portsmouth, new hampshire business. now the company is a regional favorite which was only made possible by adding stores in manchester and concord. >> our tag line was new hampshire's only running only store so we felt like if we don't do it and somebody else comes in we may be disappointed after that we didn't just take the lead. >> reporter: after four years in business, the expansion in manchester took jeanine some convincing. concord the newest store opened because of customer demand. >> we had had customers asking for years, please come to concord. why don't you come to concord? when are you coming to concord? i was like no, absolutely not. this is it. >> reporter: at each store people can get fitted for sneakers, buy apparel and run in organized groups. manchester manager betsy coco says customers are dedicated. >> we have a lot of people who come in, who travel from far away, because runner's alley is owned locally and owned by jeanine. >> reporter: the company has taken full advantage of running three locations. one of the most obvious benefits is buying power. >> we have a little bit more leverage to say, this is when we want it and this is how we want it. whereas one store you may not get the attention that you want. >> reporter: orders for footwear and apparel are handled centrally. >> we have an individual who does a lot of our shoe ordering. sundays i'll send over my inventory what i have and then he'll fill in on what i need. and look at what future products we'll be bringing in. >> reporter: portsmouth manager justin widic says inventory is regularly shifted to make sure customers get what they want without each store having to order too much. >> runners are looking for such particular items, for example your favorite shoe, in the length and width that fits your foot perfectly. with the other two locations to call the chances are better that we can have it quicker. >> reporter: all of the managers speak with jeanine and each other regularly. >> the three managers are in really constant contact. via e-mail, we have a chat system on our computer, talking on the phone. we have monthly manager meetings. >> reporter: jeanine also visits the stores once or twice a week. with a common point of sale system, employees can work anywhere. >> moving around to different stores is just kind of a part of the expectation when one is hired at runner's alley. >> reporter: having multiple locations has helped with employee retention. >> when you're in a small business like this it's hard to really give people a job that they consider a career job. we had to give them something to keep them with the company. we needed to give them something to hang onto, or risk losing them. >> reporter: sean gray who manages runner's alley in concord said he benefited from jeanine's desire to grow talent. >> i wasn't expecting the offer. i've heard rumors about the new store. jeanine kept asking me about how i wanted to grow in the business, and i was always thinking oh, maybe more running groups with her. and she offered me this, with a sense of accomplishment i wanted to challenge myself and move on to something bigger. >> all of our managers have come internally, so they've been with the company for at least a year before ever getting into a management position. so they know what's expected. >> reporter: it helps keep the culture intact. and ensures customers have the same experience. managers are tasked with billing, purchasing and hiring new employees at their locations. >> after they would meet a potential employee i would meet them, as well. and then give the thumbs up or down. now i'm like, if you guys think they're great, the references check out, hire them. >> reporter: the stores are far enough that one doesn't take any business away from the others. >> i'd say manchester and concord probably overlap the most within, you know, 20, 25 minutes a lot of people in manchester work in concord and vice versa so we do get customers coming to both stores. >> reporter: despite three successes, not every runner's alley location has worked out. at one point, there was a fourth location which was co-owned. >> i was more interested in having a partner than i was having another store. i felt if i had somebody that was invested as i was, that it had a much better chance of being successful. >> reporter: soon enough, it was clear the two of them were not on the same page. eventually, the partnership was dissolved. the decision to end the relationship was strictly business. jeanine wanted to protect her brand. >> i'm very hands-on. so to let go completely was hard. it just never felt right. we've got to be able to stick together and come across as a strong, well-managed company. >> reporter: with that behind her, jeanine is keeping a steady pace. >> i think hanging with three is a good place to be right now. >> reporter: she's focused on her stores, grateful that customers have embraced her brand in multiple locations. >> it's almost surreal when people say, oh, runner's alley, everybody knows runner's alley. it just seems like, wow, really? i never thought that we would grow to be, you know, kind of new hampshire's place to shop for running gear. but it's just kind of happened. people supported us, and it's been fun. >> as jeanine sylvester found out, running three stores for the same business can be really hard, but also financially, and operationally rewarding. for a raleigh, north carolina chef, the challenge was how to run three locations with three distinct brands in the same exact building. her biggest hurdle, customer mindset. >> i'm pretty crazy, but i'm not crazy enough to just want to open up three businesses that close together. i liked the idea of having three smaller concepts. >> reporter: restaurateur ashley christensen has always admired the building at the corner of south wilmington and east martin streets in downtown raleigh. and when the space, which was originally a piggly wiggly, opened up, the wheels started to turn. christensen, who gained some fame competing against bobby flay on iron chef, already owned a restaurant, poole's diner, just blocks away. but she was itching for more. >> i'm definitely one of those people, who when things are going really well, i get a little antsy and start thinking about what needs to creatively happen next. >> reporter: the building's landlord suggested it be divided into three spaces. >> within, you know, two weeks, we had decided that i would take the whole first floor, and within four weeks, we decided i would take the whole building. >> reporter: as a result, three businesses were born. there's beasley's chicken and honey. just next door is chuck's. and then downstairs is fox liquor bar. one key component of christensen's business model is that on paper, these three concepts actually exist as one. >> we can obviously track sales, and what goes on in the different profit centers, i guess, you could call them. but it's one set of books. >> reporter: the plan from the start was to share resources. >> we wouldn't have had the ability financially to open up three concepts independent of each other. when it comes to all those things that are services that you invest in, you're doing it once, as opposed to doing it three times. >> reporter: part of that design includes things like shared phones, a sales system, a keg room, and storage for food. the most dynamic part of the structure is the shared kitchen. the staff simultaneously prepares meals for two restaurants with ease. having a shared kitchen does pose a unique challenge. when customers ask to eat burgers at beasley's and chicken at chuck's. instead of the other way around, the response is, no. >> if we allow people to come over on the burger side and have fried chicken or come over on the fried chicken side and order burgers, it's just one big restaurant and that's not what we wanted. >> reporter: and while there's an emergency exit that links beasley's and chuck's, customers can't use it. they must leave one space and go outside to get to the other two. >> just like you would if you were in one restaurant, and you decided that you wanted to go to another restaurant, you have to exit that restaurant. and it is something that people find challenging, knowing us pretty intimately. >> reporter: while fox liquor bar largely has its own staff the employees at the restaurants are interchangeable. people move around to meet customer demand. if you're wondering why christensen didn't go with just one large business. her answer is simple. >> i'm not personally a fan, nor do i feel that i -- that it's one of my strengths, to open up a large restaurant. it's just not something that i enjoy. >> reporter: even though beasley's, chuck's and fox's are a few feet away from each other, that connection only gets modest attention. >> i won't say we actively talk about it but we comfortably discuss it. it's nothing, i think most people are aware of it. if we can start to establish a clientele through the first concept and get really comfortable, it only serves us well to then associate that with the next concept. >> reporter: since the experiences are different, christensen says they're not dependent on each other. if one concept hits hard times, some retooling can happen fast. but this entrepreneur has high hopes. she seems to have struck a balance, and so far her customers have responded. crafting client proposals is an important part of reeling in customers, but they can be time consuming to put together. if you'd like some help creating professional ones check out our website of the week. bidsketch.com helps you write and manage all of your client proposals from one place. they have several design templates or if you'd rather you can customize your own. the site also automates your client work load to make things easier for everyone. have your sales slowed down? if so, here are five tips that will get your numbers back on track courtesy of under30ceo.com. one, reach out to your connections. referrals from people who know you and your business well is an effective way to build your customer base. two, offer discounts. any profit is better than no sales at all. use your social media account to promote the markdowns. three, don't forget your e-mail list. blast out relevant content to get back on your customer's radar. thursday night around 10:00 p.m. eastern is a good time to send out e-mails. four, partner with influential bloggers. consider teaming up with relevant sites or personalities to run giveaways. this will give you exposure, provide valuable back links, and increase the size of your listserve. and five, offer sales on off calendar occasions. you'll stand out from other retailers who primarily provide discounts during national holidays. we have a lot more great information coming up to help your small business. we'll look at ways to monetize facebook likes, and another woman business owner hopes to find some comforting words from our panel as she pitches a product to help babies sleep better. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. the power and capability of a small company and generally companies run by an individual is they can make quick decisions and they can move and they come from one lens and so my advice to small business owners is to use that strength and power. the big companies have scale. you have the ability to move quickly. and that's what you want to be. >> it's time now to get to those your business questions. let's get our board of directors in here to help us out. serial entrepreneur david kidder is the co-founder of bionic, an enterprise accelerator platform and monica mehta is a managing principal at seven capital a new york based private equity firm. she is also an ambassador for operation hope which teaches financial literacy for the working poor, the underserved, and the struggling middle class. thanks so much for being here. it's so great to see you guys. congratulations for all your work on operation hope. let's get to the first question about social media and money. >> we have a lot of likes on facebook and we're trying to figure out how to monetize those likes when it goes from 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, how does that translate into dollars? >> does it translate into dollars? start with you, monica. >> i mean it's a version of markets like anything else. we need to have compelling content but because you're in someone's personal feed you can't be spamming them all the time. so it's a combination of keeping the content interesting and then also having offers that are compelling. >> i was on a panel with someone the other day and he said, if anyone out there can tell me how they turned social media into sales, actual sales, stand up right now. he said because i haven't figured out how to do it. >> it's hard. i mean, there's -- i think it's just a big experiment. you have an audience. it's a pool of people who raised their hand in interest about your product or company. there's great tools like euclid if you start experimenting. you can connect it. it's rare. sort of like a unicorn of a conversion -- >> but is it still valuable? you've got thousands -- >> small business direct response is the way to go. facebook is not a direct response platform. so find those audiences. shape your message. but if you're looking for direct sales revenue -- >> like e-mail marketing? >> e-mail marketing. search marketing. places where your conversion happens. >> i want to ask that question again, though. is it worth it? a lot of people would listen to him and say, thousands, thousands of likes i wish i were you. well that's what i find aggravating too because i feel like a lot of people kind of position social media as free, oh, it's all this stuff that you get and you don't pay anything but you pay a lot of time and that time costs money. again i think it depends who your audience is too. you have a younger audience they're more likely to be on these services. yeah, it's a better way to reach them. you have to think like a marketer, traditionally. >> moving on to the next one. a question about whether or not to ask for capital. >> i'm trying to figure out if i should just stay bootstrapping or raise funding and what are some characteristics that we should use to decide between those two. >> great question. and one we get all the time. >> i do a lot of angel investing. some ideas deserve capital out of the box because they're big, bold ideas and they need economic oxygen. i'd say most businesses can work through the kinks of learning about their audience and convert them to revenue. and they can bootstrap. that's where that acceleration lives. you're trying to understand a problem and how to solve it. i encourage you to bootstrap as long as you can. if it's a successful business, the workers will come to you. >> but let's just say you're boot strapping right now and it's working but you think you may need capital down the road. shouldn't wait till that last minute, right? >> here's the reality. even if you do have a product with a huge market and that track record of success, and that big return to show, a third of a percent of companies actually get investor capital. are you that one third of a percent? i'm not sure. and you may spend six months to a year going out there and knocking on investor doors and wasting a lot of time that you could be spending growing your business. the reality is most people bootstrap, they fund from profits, they get loans from mom and dad and they go to the bank. so those are your options. >> by the way, if you can boot strap good for you, right? because in the end you have not shared equity in your company with somebody else. >> money is not free. when you've raised venture capital having done it, it comes with a lot of sort of time and energy, these are sophisticated investors. there's no dumb money so to speak. so you usually are much further ahead in the growth in reality. so it's a big tax on a business and you can't forget that. >> you're thinking of things for them that may not exactly be the way you would run your business. it doesn't necessarily mean it's more successful or less. >> yep. >> but it would be different. okay. finally, a question about products made in the usa. >> owen and fred manufacture their products in the united states. do you think consumers are willing to pay more for usa manufactured products? is that a trend that we're going to see in the future? >> what do you think? either of you? no one has an answer. >> it's a point of difference but i think one of the things that a lot of small business owners have been complaining about since the recession is lack of sales. consumers have really been closing their wallet, so is made in the usa enough of a differentiator to ask for people to pay more money for your product? i personally don't think so. the quality has to come with it. you just can't rely on that goodwill just to have people pay more. >> right. >> i agree with monica. i think you have -- if made in the usa creates radical differentiation for you, it's probably that and other attributes of the product. >> right. >> so i'd look for the made in the usa plus other elements that create that radical differentiation and leverage that but if it's really not there i don't think that it's going to move the needle economically for you. >> i agree with you both but you need to make the product great, and then this will make people feel good about buying that product. they're not going to buy a lesser product simply because it's here. they're not going to buy something because it is, something that was so much more exponentially more expensive because it's here. you've got to have something inherently in the product that gets people excited. >> and the one opportunity is that there are a lot of big retailers that put aside a certain open to buy for made in the usa products. walmart, bed bath & beyond, target you'll have a new playing field. >> or also, emotionally connect with people. you look at tom shoes which emotionally connected with someone or the audience because of the good that they're doing. if made in the usa, you can create a big campaign around that, that captures somebody's imagination, it's hard, it's marketing. >> i agree with that. if you're building community, if you're building jobs, if you're making things stronger both socially, community, you have a charity who does this, that is a really great bonus and brand halo around the idea. >> okay. you guys, thank you so much. this was a great conversation. do not go anywhere because right after this, you guys are heading into the elevator. and if any of you out there have a question for our experts, head on over to our website. the address is openforum.com/yourbusiness. once you get there, hit the ask the show link and you can submit a question for our panel. again, openforum.com/yourbusiness. or if you'd rather just e-mail us your question, the address is [email protected]. trying to soothe a baby to sleep can be a tiring and long task for parents. i remember it well. well, today's "elevator pitcher" says she has a solution to help out. >> hi. countless parents around the world have relied on swaddling their babies to help them sleep better. yet we know they sleep best in our arms, so we have tried to bridge that gap combining the swaddling and touch. this uses hospital-proven techniques. and these gently weighted parts apply gentle pressure on the sides and center of the baby's body to mimic a mom's or a dad's touch. and what we've seen is that that deep pressure is known to self-soothe and lengthen sleep. it's like a bionic hug. we have two models. the high-end model at $40. the midrange model at $30. and since our inception, about less than two years ago, we have sold 20,000 units in about 10 countries, hundreds of independents, nicus and recent growth on amazon. we are raising $500,000 to take our online challenge to the next level to increase our marketing operations and to develop a unique category of sensory products. we believe that each product category will expand a market opportunity by about a quarter billion worldwide and -- >> i'm going to stop you there. good job. i'm going to give you guys each this. you can erase that one there. so on a scale of one to ten, how did you think the pitch was, and you're pitching to parents which i think for you is great, right? because people understand the problem. >> absolutely. >> i've got to say, three kids, i never figured out how to swaddle. i could never get it, even at the end. congratulations on that pitch. let's see what they think. monica, one to ten. whoa! this is the first ten we've ever gotten on the show. >> i like it. i get exactly what you're talking about, and i'm not very loose with numbers either. i think that your positioning has a focus on technology which i think is not really how marketers position in this space. i get it. i've been there. i've had the sleepless nights and it's invaluable. >> thank you. >> that is amazing. all right, david. >> now i feel bad. i said 8 1/2. i love this idea and you're incredibly bright. i think you would do yourself a favor by talking about the technology out in front. patents, protections around this idea, the expansion of that is a huge part of the scaleability of business. and also, more of the science behind this. we know there's alice staten who increase the improvement of their life as they get mother's touch. so there's elements to this that i think are scalable and signal strength that transcend just the product so to speak. so i think when investors invest, they want to see a big future. it's a great product with a big future. you can sell more in the big future. >> absolutely. thank you for that advice. we have plans to have more sensory products in that vein. thank you. >> well, congratulations. the first ten since we started doing this. good luck with everything. both of you, thank you so much for everything today. so great to see you guys. and if any of you out there have a product or a service and you want feedback from our "elevator pitch" panel on your chances of getting interested investors, just send us an e-mail. the address is [email protected]. don't forget to include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise, and of course, what you intend to do with that money. you never know, somebody out there watching the show may be interested in helping you. when it comes to getting the job done, two may very well be the magic number. there's a lot to learn about the chemistry and synergy of pairs. so here to talk about the power of collaboration and how to put it to work at your business is josh wolfshank. he directs the arts in mind series on creativity. he's also a contributor to the atlantic, harper's and "the new yorker." and he's author of the book "powers of two: finding the essence of innovation in creative pairs." great to see you. i was so interested in this topic because in technology companies, or many of them right now, there is this trend of having programmers work in twos. >> yes. >> a lot of people are looking at that say aren't you just getting half the work done? if you have eight people working alone, wouldn't they get double done? people come back and say absolutely not. some people are religious about pairing. >> it is fascinating. they've studied it, and it turns out that they do work a little bit slower, but the code is so much more free of errors and debugging is really the part of the process that takes so much time. the whole process actually is much more efficient and saves a lot of money. and it's also interesting to see the way they divide themselves, those two people. there's the driver, the guy who's actually writing the code, and the navigator, the person sitting by his side, observing, watching, correcting and amplifying. >> so can we extrapolate this into all kinds of things? i'm writing a script, perhaps, for the show. and if i had somebody with me, maybe i'm taking their time away from something else, but in the end, we're not going to have as many revisions? >> yeah. >> should we all think about pairs? >> we should. and we should think about the role divisions that really work well for us. some people are better with vision. and they need someone by their side who is much more of an executer. some people are really outside people. they're charismatic. they can sell a business. and they need someone on the inside who is better managing day to day. we have this myth of the lone genius that we should do it all ourselves, that there should only be one leader. but very often, a great leader has a great deputy. and that's the way things actually work on the inside. >> well, let's take a pair that we see all the time on this show, which is co-founders. >> yes. >> and the problem that i hear a lot is they started out. they're working great together. and then you get a little bit down the road, and one person ends up getting to do all the creative fun stuff, and the other person who is also creative is stuck doing all of the busy work. the accounting, et cetera. and it doesn't work. how do you address something like that? >> yeah. well, great pairs need to be able to talk to each other very effectively, very quickly. they can be blunt with each other. often they are able to be honest with each other in a way they can't be honest with anybody else. it also could be something that you say with a wink and a smile. but you definitely need to communicate relentlessly. >> so how much time do you spend on this communication? >> yeah, no, i think you do need to take it head on. and then move on to the place where you're doing your best work. how do you best -- how do you thrive together? and who does what best? >> but when i'm working on projects, just yesterday i was working with somebody who is an entry-level person, and we were working together on something. we are a pair in that moment. she was giving input, and i was giving input. >> that's right. one of the myths of collaboration is that people have to be equals. they have to be good at the same stuff. very often there is one clear leader and a clear deputy. but that doesn't mean that there's not a kind of interaction between them that's very fluid and energetic and that the leader is taking his or her cues sometimes from his or her deputy. >> i really appreciate you coming on the show and at least prompting these thoughts. people can go read your book if they want to hear more. thanks so much, josh. >> thank you, j.j. >> to learn more about today's show, head over to our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find all of today's segments, plus web-exclusive content with a lot more information to help your business grow. we are also on twitter. you can find us @msnbcyourbiz. we are on facebook and instagram, too. coming up next week, we head out to eldridge, iowa, where the community is being encouraged to change your shopping habits starting with toilet paper. >> i was in the restroom, and there it was on the back of the door. and then it got me thinking about what do i spend in the eldridge community, and should i be spending more? >> we'll show you how this city's locally owned businesses are getting their residents to shop small one item at a time. till then, i'm j.j. ramberg, and remember, we make your business our business. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. rachel has the night off and we will be hearing from her later in the hour, so stick around for that. congress on its 54th day of vacation, and today members went to dallas fort worth international airport. it was a field hearing. there was a field hearing today and it's because of ebola. it comes a day after the direct tur of the centers for disease control said something about ebola that made anybody paying