This pluming and Heating Company got into a rut, find out how the owners changed their Company Culture by emulating big name businesses. And the owners of a company that makes new yorks iconic water tanks thrive by finding other revenue streams. Thats all coming up next on your business. Hi, there, everyone. Im j. J. Ramberg. And welcome to your business. Today we start the show looking at what it takes to build a company that lasts, one, where both the customers and the employees are fiercely loyal. I headed to new jersey to visit a service business, a company of plumbers and electricians who bucked the trends to be get his business to the top of its game. 20 years ago, mike was an electrician working seven days a week, 18 hours a day. First ten years, i always tell people, it was like a
hamster wheel. It was me and rob, my Business Partner in a van, and we would just start early morning, end at night. Today, gold medal service, that company that was once just mike and rob employees 128 people, has more than a hundred Service Trucks on the road, and brings in more than 20 million a year. So what happened after ten years . Rob came to me, he was really burnt out. He came to me and he says, look, im done. Im out. Look, if youre not going to do it, im not going to do it. No, im not going to go anywhere, lets make a change. Rob meant change the twoman operation into a different kind of business. One with employees and processes and more customers. One where they would be the bosses, not the technicians. Somebody many years ago told us, you know, you can be great technicians, but you have to a great business owner, working on
the business and not in it. So we seeked out different organizations and we went there to learn best practices. They wanted to create a company that bucked all the stereotypes. We know the stereotype, right . The plumbers crack, electricians, trades people are going to come, going to be dirty, not polite. So they looked outside their industry for inspiration. We looked at nordstroms, disn disney, swrap poes. And take these Belief Systems and put it into our company, no one could copy that. It would be unique. They were determined to build a business to last, and to do that, they felt they needed a lasersharp focus on customer and employee satisfaction. They summed it up with with four core values that direct every decision. Safety first for our family and theirs. But the way you wrote it is interesting, safety first for
our family and theirs. Yeah. I imagine that was deliberate. It is. Our family is everybody inside our company. We care about them as much as we care for the customer. The second value is to deliver wow through service, and exceed every customers expectations. Mike and his team go over ideas on how to do this at every meeting. From wearing floor protecters, tucked in shirts, to suggesting ways to interact with customers. Lets look at it in front of the customer, i did my greeting, okay where i parked . Put the floor protecters in, my tools, right here and right now for you. Michael jackson has been with the company for five years and still learns something new from every one of these gatherings. It helps you see things maybe in a different light sometimes. Going to houses constantly, no interaction with someone other than the customer, sometimes you can get stale, sometimes you can forget a step. The third value is to always have the highest level of integrity. To do right even when nobody is watching. A hes been with them for eight years, and he keeps coming back. Above and beyond is the standard. Set High Expectations for their service technicians. They dont try to oversell you. They educate you about whats taking place. And finally, the fourth is to be a great place to work, all for one and one for all. A sentiment many of the employees never felt before they joined gold medal. Describing the office as a second home. Family atmosphere, camarader camaraderie, the upper management to the lower guys. But the technicians themselves. Friends in work and outside of work as well. I know a lot of company talk about their core values but dont live them. Every Decision Making in the company, looking at the core values to make sure that it fits
that employee. Were taking a pulse of the employees and the customers. Were surveying both to see if the core values are getting deep enough into our culture and brand. They are reinforced in the office, from signs on the wall to the value ball they throw around. Lots of time when we have the meeting, wherever your thumb lands, you have to say what it is. Heres one on them, you know, compliment someone. I would say, hey, j. J. Youre amazing today. This interviews amazing. I appreciate you for it. This isnt the kind of thing you see at most Companies Like theirs, but maybe soon. Mike has been so successful that he offers classes and mentorship to other companies, including competitors, on how to create a winning business. I think any time you help other companies, you raise the bar. When you start pulling that up,
it not only pulls my company with it, it pulls theirs too. Mikes got his army, hes got his vehicles on the ground, and hes determined to change this Industry Service technician by service technician. Another plumbingrelated business faced the same problem as gold medal, keeping the business fresh. It was a specially challenge for rosenwach water tanks, a centuryold business making the same product for generations. Their solution . Diversifying the business into whole new areas. Andrew is the fourth generation owner of new york citybased rosewach tanks. Look across the new york skyline. From brooklyn to manhattan to the bronx, and you will find his familys handmade wooden tanks proudly perched on rooftop after
rooftop after rooftop. If these tanks look a bit oldfashioned, thats because they are. Even today, these wooden structures are still shaped by hand with halfcenturyold tools based on the physics of wooden barrel making by a familyowned Company Nearly 150 year s old. They have been described as abandoned relics. Actually theyre used today in plenty in new buildings. The city has the strictest fire codes in new york. And the tanks serve as that requirement. As outdated as they may seem, they are in fact anything but out of date. For that matter, so is the company itself. We have a city of stone and masonry and glass, and they really dont look like they belong. But it is a wellused product, and probably new yorks best secret. If you want to the understand the secret of how this small familyheld business has managed to outlast more than a dozen
competitors for more than four generations, you need to start with their very simple philosophy. You dont try to throw out something that works. You just try to build upon it. This has meant several things for andrew. First, he studied all the aspect was of the core business by getting the five key licenses and certificates needed to operate the company. Beyond the understanding of the core business, they allow andrew to become his own subcontractor in the fields. This meant better control over the cost and quality. The president of new york citys 100 Year Association is also an entrepreneur himself. But as head of an organization which focuses on the citys oldest multigenerational enterprises, clint knows what it takes for a business to survive. I would say that businesses survive as a family business, the nextgeneration finds a way to innovate and leverage the
assets they have. Youre keeping up with production beautifully. Thats just what andrew has done here. First, leveraged the labor force of wood workers by developing and selling a line of Outdoor Furniture in the winter when rooftop tanks are slowing to a halt. They have workshops, they have found a way to expand their line. It allowed us to keep the only workshop open for wooden water tanks for the sty city of york. He found another offseason opportunity for masons and welders, servicing and building rooftop cooling tours. Look around his supply yard in queens, it may look like a junk yard, but it is not. You will see several interrelated businesses each supporting the other with tools, labor and supplies, all connected in different ways to the core business, and key to
the survival in a competitive market. Rather than challenge the competition directly, andrew says, find new customers in related markets. Add additionalselves to your menu. And going elsewhere, developing on your own efforts additional businesses. They cannot be compared directly with the competition, and as andrew puts it, makes them invisible to their competitors. We strive to be invisible. The competition cant find you. As soon as they try to find you, youre somewhere else. You cant be seen. All of a sudden, youre outside their customer base. I want to point out the concerns with the structural steel. Today his 23yearold son henry is taking the business into the fifth generation. I have big shoes to fill, im not worried, but im confident i
with bring a successful future to the company. While the rooftop towers remind us of past generations, they will do their best to keep them on new york citys rooftops for generations to come. Chances are a lot of you dont have a big budget for legal fees and trying to figure out a lot of things on your own. In some cases it might be okay, in many, you absolutely need counsel. What are some of the big,you definitely need help with . Rebecca geller is the president and ceo of a law firm that works can Small Businesses, including startups. So good to see you. Thanks for having me. I was interested in the first thing we many talked about. You say avoid those online sites. For a lot of Small Businesses, thats where they go. Because they dont have a lot of money, you need a quick document, go online. Its a mistake people make. Theyre trying to save money, but in reality, theres three big problems with the online legal tools. The first and most important reason is they dont stand up in court. If they get challenged, the courts look at them, and the documents are not valid. And theyre left having no documents or contracts to bind the company. Arent there some kind of generic contracts that you can get online . They are generic, and thats a problem. Just last week, i had a client who asked me to review a document downloaded from the internet, its based in california law, and shes a virginia company. I have a question for you, would it make any sense to reduce your fees to get a contract online and then bring it to a lawyer to review . Almost always when we look at the contracts i see online they are so cookie cutter and template, they dont address the companys needs. A restaurant versus a Technology Company are different. Youre going to have a lawyer recreate anyway. Okay. Be careful about anything online. Permitting matters. A lot of people are doing things without figuring out if they need a permit. They register in the state and with the irs, but they forget about the local or county and city requirements. Do you have a business license . If you dont, youre going to get fined and have penalties. A lot of people are starting businesses from their home. You know, with technology you really just need a phone, your internet and your computer. You have a business permit . Youre probably not zoned to have a business. Thats something. And thats maybe something, at least to start, ask other people in your industry or doing the same things. Then once you get to the lawyer, youll have a list of questions to ask to reduce the time spent with them. T the permitting is not necessarily something you need a lawyer to do, but point in the right direction for the requirements for your county or city. Its going to vary depending on where you live. I own your ip, we get questions about intellectual property. Its a mistake i see them make. They started business and get the wonderful name and the brand name, dont own the intellectual property. Getting a trademark for your business name before you get started is huge. I just had a client come to me this past week who has launched their business already and now wants to trademark it. I took one look, youre going to get sued. Hes infringing on somebody els. And its so easy to do that. No reason not to do it in the beginning if youre going to do it later on. And this one, as a business owner, this makes me cringe a little bit, and anyone not in the legal professional will. Short and simple can be dangerous. We on the business side think, i dont want a 50page contract, i want a one page agreement. I get that all the time. One pager with all the information. But often times the devil is
really in the details. If youre having a customer contract, how are you getting paid . When is the payment due . What if the check bounces . What is the scope of work to be promised . How are you delivering the results, what are they expecting . Having the information is going to protect you. The friendly handshake idea of making it simple, thats where people get into trouble. And sometimes, when you come on a simple deal and come to them with a 50page contract, that works the other way . People always ask me that, and i find the opposite is true. People find when you present a customer with a contract, theyre going to take you more seriously. They know you mean business, not being unfair, fully disclosing of what you promise to them. I can only imagine you have this conversation all the time. Thank you, this is really helpful. Thank you, j. J. When we come back, we answer your Small Business questions on traits to look for in sales
people, and be ways to get your delinquent accounts to pay up. And toel el salvador, how these women are starting their Small Businesses to help break the cycle of poverty. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online 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 its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. So where the brands get themselves in trouble, well, they go past prime. Theres not much market share or growth yet. And instead of reinventing themselves, they say lets work harder next year. Lets trim some costs. But unless you find a way to reinvent yourself, find new services and products, youre on a slow death march and youre in denial. On this program, we primarily focus on what it takes to build and grow your company here in the u. S. But around the world, millions of people are starting companies every year. Changing their lives, changing the lives of their families, and all the people around them. I recently traveled to el salvador with world kenconnect, nonprofit i work with to visit one of them. Im in northernel el salvador. We drove 45 minutes on bumpy dirt roads, passing burros and chickens. There are 50 houses, this is one
of them. This isnt just a house, its where glenda started her Small Business. Zblt we are a Small Business, we make candy with milk. With the help of a local ngo, she and six other women learned to make candy and started a Small Business selling it. Do you sell a lot . Translator yes, we sell a lot. And helping to coordinate the efforts. This is the first thing done on their own, and i would say it means a lot in their lives. I mean, its very significant. Significant because there are not many opportunities for women to make money in this remote area of the country. And so theyre creating their own opportunities. With the goal of lifting their role in society and ending the cycle of poverty. Translator here we dont have funds, nobody earns money, none of the women have jobs. Patrick is the Program Director for world connect, a u. S. Based organization helping to fund these efforts. When we support women, they get traditional returns, build strong businesses, quickly with energy, and generate social for their community. They reinvest in education. Education is top of line every time she makes a sale. Translator i want to work to better the lives of my family, my kids, so they can study. While the business is still small, getting to this point has taken a lot of work. In addition to learning how to produce the candy, the women have studied sales and accounting, created their own branding and have a detailed plan for going forward. They will soon start to sell bread along with the candy. And patrick says he thinks the next time he visits, things will look very different. Expect to see a burgeoning business. They have already started their
work, and they have experience, and they have a plan to grow, they have a vision to grow. And i have no doubt that theyre going to meet that vision. Hes not the only one who thinks so. Translator you have to dream big. I dream big, and work hard. Because with work, i can make dreams come true. Running a Small Business, as we all know, can be incredibly hectic and keep you busy 24 hours a day. So sometimes a quick reminder of what needs to be done is what you need. If you could use help staying on track, check out the website of the week. Follow up. Cc helps you stay organized. You can schedule reminders to check emails, or followup if someone doesnt respond to an email you send. If a task doesnt need immediate attention, use the snooze option to be reminded later of that task. Are you looking to venture into a new industry or diversify
your Current Business . Here now are five of the best industries to start a business in, courtesy of mashble. Com. One, the smart objects. The internet of things, or iot, embedded with sensors allowing them to communicate digitally. And in order to make what they do faster, cheaper and more efficient. Two, cure rated e mercy. Catering the Online Shopping experience to the unique tastes of the customer will continue to grow. Three, education technology. Orred tech. Schools and teachers are incorporating more tech into all aspects of the school day. For entrepreneurs, this is a chance to meet demand. Four, mobile app development. Businesses are expanding their operations on to mobile platforms and need the experts to help them make the transition
smooth. And five, cyber security. Security breaches filled headlines, and as a result, businesses are investing heavily in their network projection. Its a growing opportunity. Its time now to answer some of your business questions. Lets get our board of directors in here to help us out. Scott is adobes Vice President of products and community. He was the founder of an Online Platform and sold it to them. And the founder and ceo of cyber sinks. Its great to see both of you guys. Likewise. Lets get started. The first question is about getting paid. One of the things i cant understand is why people wait 60, 90, 120 days or longer to go after the cash flow. Its the life blood of their
business. Yet always the last thing they work on. What would be a good time for a particular business to approach his delinquent accounts . Its a great question. Awesome question, actually. I think, depending on the business, from my standpoint, 30 days, a 10 day or 15day grace period. But most companies dont have that about to do that. It honestly depends on the type of business. A construction business, takes a while for those receivables to come in. Normally, 30 to 60 to 90 daytime period. At what time do you go after them, at what point do you contact them and again . I think that i think that you should contract them as soon as the 30 days is up. I think theres a big irquestion here, is a Customer Relationship around the point of sale, or something thats ongoing. Lets face it, a lot of our customers have a tight cash flow and selectively choose who to
pay on time and who not. The more empathy the customers and clients have for your business and needs, the more likely to pay ontime. Make it ongoing. What do you think about reward for paying ontime . 30 days, this much, 60 days, this much. For that or against it . I dont think im for or against it. I think its a process that its really dependent on the entrepreneur itself. I dont think a reward system would necessarily make me pay someone quicker. Right. But as someone whos also run a Small Business, every customer is different. And oftentimes, with when you have someone who struggles to pay you on time, make a deal to incentivize them to do what you need to do. If you can pay me on time this time, im happy to give you 5 off. Got it. Another tool in the tool box to use. Its a conversation that you
would have with the individuals working with you. If you cant pay on time, maybe time to reassess that relationship. And the next question about finding a good sales rep. When youre hiring a sales professional, what are the top three traits you look for in order to ensure youre making a good hire . What do you look for . First of all, a genuine interest in what they are selling. They should be thinking about how to sell. Sell the marketing, not just hit the streets. The second thing i would say, you have to make sure that this person is eager, yet principled. You want someone who is hungry, but also someone not going to risk reputation. We know that reputation is the easiest and the most quick thing to lose. And the third thing is, they are really good at relationships. And not just buddy buddy like lets go to football, but also i want to help you know how your product is performs. Share analytics and data on what
your customers are doing. Building relationships like that, great trade. I think dedication to the product and the company and to the culture, honestly. The second thing would be for the person thats hiring that sales rep to really have a conversation that you are not a Business Development person. And most sales reps really get frustrated because those businesses place them as Business Development and sales rep. So a clear, concise role is really important. So no am biguitambiguity, dead d reliability. Its an incredibly hard hire. It is. Youre traveling 50 to 60 of the time. And these people are representing you. You need them to sell and be as passionate as you are. Yeah, true ambassadors. Thank you. Great to see you both, and thanks for all of your advice today. Thank you. And we have a few more great ideas from Small Business owners just like you. My tip is to be very
responsive with your customers. If you can offer a 24 7 service with live chat or a really quick email support team, your customers love you. Focus on your fastest path to cash. If you have a lot of products considering to grow to build the business. Look at the one thats going to make you money the fastest, and do that one until its done. Then move on to the next one. Many Companies Make a mistake of doing too many things at a time. A lot of times we want to give so much information about what we do. We dilute the call to action for the customer. Putting your website out there, think simple, easy, functional. What is the next step that you want that customer to take and just give them your first introduction. Its almost like the handshake instead of giving the verbal history of your entire company. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Hope you learned a thing or two that you take back to work. Head over to our website, its openfor openforum. Com yourbusiness. We have todays segments and webexclusive piece and on twitter, msnbcyourbiz and facebook and instagram too. And next week, focusing on the Solutions Rather than dwell on the problems. How these entrepreneurs turned their limitations into assets. Until then, im 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 ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online 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 its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. So you thought our American Congress could not be any more embarrassing than it is, right . You thought theres really no way that our Current Congress could further humble itself in the eyes of the American People more than it already has . You thought we sort of bottomed out, right . You thought that was true, but you were wrong. Oh, my god, were you wrong. This is amazing in all the wrong ways. Meet republican congressman curt clawson of the great state of florida, represents floridas 19th district, hes a tea party guy, won a special election there last month to fill the seat of trey radel, resigning after being convicted of cocaine possession. So if you are the
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