Transcripts For MSNBCW Your Business 20161106

Hi, everyone. Im j. J. Ramberg, and welcome to your business the show dedicated to helping your Small Business grow. With just days to go to choose a new president , both Hillary Clinton and donald trump have hit the ground running as they make their final push to get out the vote. Over the campaign season, weve seen that the two candidates have a very different take on some of the issues that matter most to main street business owners. So, do donald trump and Hillary Clinton really understand the challenges that Small Business owners face . And which president ial candidate is best prepared to look out for these growth businesses . Here to talk with us about the concrete plans put forth by both Hillary Clinton and donald trump are rhett buttle who serves as director of outreach for hik hixs campaign, and Dennis Bradford of the trump pence Small Business Advisory Council. Thanks for having us. Thank you for stopping by. I want to start out by talking about the sense that Small Business owners have across this country, which they have had for many years, which is they are often forgotten about in washington. So while big business has the money to have lobbying groups and depending on the industry, can speak together as one, Small Business is so varied and depending on your industry and where you are in your growth cycle, how big you are in geography, you dont all speak as one. Rhett, im going to start with you. Simply, how will you let Small Business have a voice in washington . Well, so i think we made a lot of progress over the last eight years. But we know that Small Businesses are still looking to grow, and i think one of the most important things is this is very personal for Hillary Clinton. Her father was a Small Business owner. The same for her running mate, tim kaine. He also comes from a Small Business family. I think that also infused the waythy see the world, the way they think about policy. But also this Small Business and doing Small Business outreach has been central to the campaign from the very first day that secretary clinton started the campaign, she met with Small Businesses all over the country. Most importantly, she has a track record. As senator of new york, she worked with Small Businesses from all across the state to expand manufacturing across the state. But also as secretary of state, she expanded entrepreneurship opportunities all across the globe. So Small Business has also been central to her t will be central to her administration when shes president and she says thee wants to be the Small Business president. Small business will have a huge seat at the table in a Hillary Clinton administration. Dennis, i would like to ask you the same question. Yeah, i think youre right, jj. A lot of us out here in flyover country, as we seem to be called, feel like we have no voice in washington. We feel like the rules and regulations are being made by a bunch of nameless, faceless bureaucrats, and they really have put a huge burden in regulations and taxes and a lot of other issues on Small Businesses with, it seems to us, no feedback from whats going on out here. The new rules on overtime are a great example. That came out of nowhere and are really shaking up the Small Business world. And i think that donald trump comes out of the business background. He understands, he understands delegating, he understands listening. I think hes done a great job of listening to us as his Small Business Advisory Council in putting together his Economic Vision which is right on point with what we need to grow. Lets talk about regulation. Both of you cite regulation as a burden to Small Businesses. You come at it in two different ways. I have found often the reguleses i hear are problems are the local ones and state ones. Lets just not bunch regulation as a big issue. Lets dig into it for a moment. And dennis, lets start with you. Which regulations do you think are a burden to Small Business that you will tackle . Well, this last year, there were over 33,000 new regulations and put out by the federal government. And all of them require time, all of them require the business to do reporting, the business to make decisions based on the regulations, not necessarily on whats best for their business. So its a real burden for the federal government. And then on top of that, you do have state and local. But i think that we out here, at least in the businesses that im involved in, feel like the federal government has reached way too much into how we run our businesses and how we make decisions and what decisions we have to make. So if you had to focus on sort of the top three that you want to change that will help Small Businesses, what would they be . Well, i think that one of them is work rules. It seems that we now have to worry about overtime, we have to worry about minimum wage, we have to worry about a lot of other things that dont really go to the heart of running our business. And i think that those, all of those work rules have been a burden on the Small Business. The others, i think, are more along the lines of specific to different industries. And not any one in particular, just the huge weight of them. 33,000 regulations that were put out, most of them by agencies that dont have anything to do with the business that theyre putting the regulations on. Okay, rhett, i want to give you a chance to talk about regulations as well. Sure, i think what you said, jj, hits the nail on the head. When we hear from a lot of small bgzs, a lot of the regulation we hear feedback on is state and local regulation. And one of the things that the federal government could do is play a role in helping state and local governments to innovate. One of the things that Hillary Clinton has but out in her plan is actually that, which is how she worked to infuse funding into state and local governments to streamline regulations to make the daytoday lives of Small Business owners easier. One of the things were seeing, for example, is an increase in the need for occupational licensing for all sorts of folks who want to start businesses and all of the licensing they made need to get. Its important to have those protections in place for the consumer, but we want to make the process as seamless as possible for Small Business owners. One of the things ipo s in our s how to bring local and state governments together to make their daytoday lives easier. Another area is also around taxes. Theres been feedback that takes too much time. One of the things thats most valuable for Small Business owners is obviously their time, and obviously as well, cash is king. You think about taxes, we have been thinking about creative ways to reduce the burden on Small Business owners there. One yiet that secretary clinton has put out is a standard deduction for Small Businesses. The same way a individual can take a standard deduction, that could be available for Small Business owners. They could still itemize if thats what they want to do, but this is an attempt to make their lives easier as we think about their day today responsibilities with their taxes. Dennis, lets move to you. Taxes, what would donald trump do as a president to help Small Business owners and taxes . Well, i think hes talking about a full overhaul of the entire tax system. Make it much more simplified. Make it easier. Go to three very well defined tax percentages, from 12 up to 35 . And not have any business tax over 15 . Cash is king, as rhett said, and what we would like to do as businessmen is keep more of our cash and make the decisions of how to spend it to better our companies and better our employees lives than have it go to washington and some of it come back on targeted things that are given to us that we may or may not need or want. We would rather keep the money in the business out here where we work and make those decisions. And i think thats what Donald Trumps tax plan does. He also is looking at eliminating the death tax, which is critical to Small Businesses and certainly family farms of any size, because 65 tax on the death of the current owner passing that asset on to his children would mean the asset would be liquidated. Theres no way a 10 million business can come up with 6. 5 million to pay the tax. Thats another burden thats off business and they dont have to go through the planning and things people are going through to keep from having to pay the death pax today. Rhett, im going to let you respond to that. Im sure jow a different perspective there. Sure. Look, i mean, i have talked about some of the ideas Hillary Clinton has put forward. We think that there definitely are tax cuts and tax incentives that need to be put in place to help Small Business owners grow. One of the ideas i talked about was the deduction for Small Business. We also laid out ideas around making sure theres immediate expensive for Small Business owners investing in manufacturing, who want to grow jobs. What were hearing from the other side are really what i would call the trump loophole. A loophole for folks who are very, very wealthy. The reality is that the vast majority of Small Business owners are middle class and make 250,000. We believe the tax cuts really need to be oriented towards Small Business owners and not the very wealthy. To allow them to help grow their Small Business owners and thmak the investments they need to grow their business and hire more employees. We have to end it here. We could go on for a very long time. I appreciate both of you coming on, explaining very clearly the way that your candidates think towards Small Business owner. I really appreciate this conversation. Thank you for stopping by. Thanks for having us. Thank you, jj. As we prepare to celebrate veterans day this week, were mindful of how difficult it can be to make the transition from combat zone to office building. For many returning skoeoldiers,e process can be overwhelming. Thats where this veteran entrepreneur saw his opportunity to make a difference. Were dustoff aviators. We flew medical evacuation. We picked up the wounded. You dont know if youre going to get shot at, if you can land. Sometimes youre just throwing people onboard and trying to treat them as best you can en route while youre pulling the guts out of the helicopter. Anthony is a veteran of the second iraq war. He and his team repeatedly flew to the line of fire to rescue wounded soldiers. The army trained him to do the best you can. There were definitely things that you cant get out of your head, you know, things you wish you could unsee. Amanda is an air force veteran. She and her team cared for those wounded. At war, they were celebrated hard chargers. But back here at home, things were just plain hard. Were trying to change the way that Inunited States of america views the veteran. Most of us dont have ptsd. Its just were getting used to having our freedoms back. Today, anthony is the cocounter of a tech startup, guide on. Hes making it his business to change those civilian perceptions. There they have always viewed a veteran as somebody who is broken or somebody who needs to be retrained or somebody who just doesnt have the skills to succeed in the private sector. Anthony says thats ridiculous. And two years ago, he put his money where hisouth is. He built a business around getting vets adjusted. Particularly focused on helping them find jobs. I never wrote a resume while i was in the army, and i had several different jobs and was in there for eight years. I never had to network or sell myself. You dont know how to explain what you did in private sector terminology. Part of a Medevac Company working in rc south, part of tell that to a hirer manager and theyll probably give you a blank stare. But tony garcia, sr. Knows what that means. You were the third team leader of particularly department that worked in a regional area that wads in some cases in very dangerous territory. And so guide on takes that military speak and translates it into something civilians can understand. So these are the top skills. A long list of skills. Were only showing the top nine here. Tony garcia, sr. Is cio of guideon. Hes a retired lieutent colonel, a behavioral science ph. D. And anthonys father. I take a look at all the military assignments and positions. We examine each one of those, translating the titles and performance statements. Tonys translations have been converted to dropdown menus. If i wanted to edit this, i could get resume riting tips. They can choose civilian equivalents which can be fitting into a civilian resume template. An e5 sergeant or e6 staff sergeant, theyre well suited to be a line manager or a line operator in manufacturing. In running and leading a team. Guideon is more than just a resume tool. Its a modern tech business with a social network linking vets to recruiters and to other vets also adjusting to civilian life. I know a lot of people kind of downplay what theyre feeling and try not to or maybe pretend like its not an issue but anybody who has been over there and seen those things, i dont know how it could not affect you. Amanda said when she returns, guideon not only helped her get into Business School but also helped her cope. Youre just used to this tempo, going, going, going over there, very high intensity. Its like once you get back home and everything is quiet and you can process what really happened, thats when it kind of hits you. Its designed for a Service Member to come to the community and discover all of the possibilities out there that can help them advance their career. Today, they have Corporate Partnerships and the support of the military, but the philosophy of the Company Comes straight from basic training. Dont sit there and complain about it. Do something. Small business saturday is just a few weeks away, and owners are kicking things into gear to get customers to shop local on november 26th. There are a lot oferchants to dt people to shop small. One couple in columbus, ohio, loves their home state and theyre on a mission to make sure people support local artisans. How . They have gone to where the customers are. Ohio made, its all about ohio. Thats just the way andrea and nate like it. When their real estate careers came to a standstill because of a bad market, they decided to focus on Something Else they love, their home state. At the time, he and i lived in ohio, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere. You would have to drive really far to downtown, and we would have to go to five or six different places if we wanted to support small makers. And we thought, man, it would be really cool to have a place where everybody could, you know, bring their items, anyone that makes something locally. So in 2012, they opened simply vague. A consignment store that offers goods sold by ohio artisans. The storefant in delaware, ohio, was an instant success, but it had a critical problem. There just wasnt enough foot traffic. We were noticing in the downtown area, people would support it, but we couldnt sell through the products in the store quickly enough so that when they came in a second time, it was completely changed. When youre trying to promote local, theres so many people that maybe dont even thing, theyre not thinking ill buy my baby shower gift locally. They go to the mall. So they decided to to the same. Its proven if you make it convenient, people will shop, and they love to shop local. They went to all the nearby malls to see if they could lease a space for simply vague. And after hearing many noes, they finally heard a yes and moved right in. We thought, if we can put it right in their path while theyre on their way from one big box retailer to the next, and it makes it easier for them, theyll shop local without even going out of their way to. The store has been a great way for makers to have a testing ground for their products. I had such a great audience in the mall. And i could find out pretty quickly what was going to resonate with buyers and what wasnt. So at first, i had just a couple products. And found out what was selling really well, and then expanded on that product. Simply vague also gives them access to the kind of Brand Awareness that would have been difficult to reach on their own. I go out now and Everybody Knows about my coasters. Its kind of weird. Like i have fans. And its something i never thought would happen. But the store soon became victim to its own success. We were getting to a point where the customers would come in and maybe they would like a tshirt, and we wouldnt have their size. And when its consignment, we dont really know when were getting more. To have greater control ove the inventory, and give the business a way to scale up, the husband and wife team decided to start their own apparel line called the direction. Having the direction as another concept gives us the opportunity to take what does well about simply vague and scale it and give the state pride to different areas and different states. And where they go, their vendors go. Theyve commissioned some of their makers to develop kuszm products for every new city they enter. Its great for those vendors because now they have more locations they can sell in. Now, with two simply vague stores, two the direction stores, and more locations in the works, this duo hopes that this is just the beginning of getting customers to really understand why its important to shop local. Its a growing trend that people talk about shopping local a lot, but i dont know how many people really think about it and actually like realize what it means. Getting to know the people behind the product is so important, and we hope that when people come into our stores theyre educated on that. If you have people who play sports in your life, or more importantly, in your house, you know their footwear can get smelly. Todays elevator pitchers have come up with a product to contain that problem. Lets see if they can put their best foot forward and impress our judges. Judges. Patrick mcginnis is the founder and author of the 10 entrepreneur, live your startup dream without quitting your day job. And colleen debase is an entrepreneur herself. My name is johnny press and this is rafael delavega. We brought a smelly athletic shoe. Oh, no. Not to worry, not to worry. It cant bother us here, we cant smell it at all. Thats because we invented the air case. This bag uses Patent Pending technology in the lining of the bag to eliminate the odors coming from the shoes and to kill the bacteria within the bag. It is very durable. You can machine wash and dry it as many times as you want and it will still work perfectly for years to come. And were very happy to say we have designed, developed and are now in the process of producing these bags right here in the United States of america. The small Scale Production cost of the air case is 23 per unit. It retails at 65. The air case eliminates stinky lockers, smelly athletic bags and foul smelling trunks for good. We are looking for a 100,000 investment to lower production costs and to create more awareness of this solution that we have created. In the first four weeks, selling the air case, we have grossed 8300. And currently are accepting orders at evo co. Com. Let me give you these first. Two numbers between 1 and 10, first is what you think of the product, the second what did you think of the pitch. Okay. Lets get to t colleen, well start with you. I just want to say, i really dont smell anything, so i think your product is very effective. And you were down there, you were trying to sniff. I was testing it out. You can try. So i gave you a 7 for the product. Because i think it is a great idea. I like the looks of it. I would like to hear a little bit more about how you would handle competition. Because i know there are a lot of other shoe bags out there. For the pitch, i gave you an 8. It was snappy. I know a lot of investors have very short attention spans. Sorry. But, you know, it kept my attention and the only thing i want to hear is how is a little bit more about your business model. Are you planning to get into, like, dicks or are you going to licenses to a manufacturer, just what is the exit strategy for an investor . All right, patrick . So i gave you a 7 for the product, and a 9 for the pitch. The 7 for the product because, you know, my feet never smell. I didnt really understand the im kidding. I do think that it was hard for me to understand exactly sort of how this product sort of stacks up in the market and sort of what the real size of the market is here for Something Like this. But on the pitch, what you did so well is number one you told us numbers. And you got into specifics and have this great product you made as a prototype, which makes the whole thing come alive. Thats fantastic. 9 and 8 on the pitch, little room for improvement but great job. Congratulations on your success so far. Cant wait to see you improve and grow your business. Thank you so much. Thank you. And thank you, both, for all of your advice. Always so helpful. Now, if any of you out there have a product or service and you want feedback from our panel on your chances of getting interested investors, send us an email, your business msnbc. Com. Include a short summary of what your company does, how much money youre trying to raise, what youre intending to do with that money. Somebody out there watching the show may be calling you up like we saw in the elevator. They could be interested in helping you. When we come back, how to consider your personal life as youre growing your business. And ways to build your credibility online to attract new customers. 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. Julie and lisa write to us asking, should we minimize the service upon which our business was originally based . Coaching local groups of runners to maximize our growing Virtual Coaching Service that while not as profitable day to day, has more profit potential in the long run, but may compromise our brand. I want you to be able to go and look at the comedian sam kensen who said move to where the food is. Youre talking about a small amount of food. That is you can only talk to those runners locally you know. You can go to the world wide web, this unique invention that gets you to million and millions of people. You have social media out there you can tag people who are runners and expand your business exponentially. Thats what you should be doing. Take sam kensens advice and go to where the food is. In this case, to more runners. And dont let those profits run away from you. We now have the top two tips you need to know to help your Small Business grow. Patrick and colleen are back with us. Hello, both of you, now here on this part of the set. Colleen, lets start with you. My top tip is to not be afraid to pivot if the business is eating into your personal life. Yes. And, you know, of course, a lot of entrepreneurs start a business, not just because they have a great idea, but because they also want control over their schedules, want flexibility. That doesnt always happen, though. The question there is, what do i want out of my life. Exactly. Not just out of my business, but my life, and if im not getting what i want out of my life, do i hire someone to help me run the company . Do i change the company . Right. But dont forget about yourself. Exactly. I think when we hear the word pivot, it is a buzzword, we often think of it as a strategy, you know, to grow, maybe the business isnt working out, maybe Market Conditions have changed. I think we can also pivot if the business is not working for us personally. Great. Okay, patrick. So before i meet anybody, i think you probably do this too, i google them and want to figure out who they are online. You dont do that . I bet you do. My top tip is, if you want to build credibility, irl in real life, you have to build it online. And so, you know, what i tend to start with is telling people, first of all, make sure you have a great Linkedin Profile that lists everything youre good at. And then pick what you want to be known for and create an online identity that supports that. So blog about the area of expertise you want to be known for, maybe put your bio online, maybe have a social Media Presence that supports all of these things, because in this day and age, if you have credibility online, it can be fundamental to making sure that people take you credibly in real life. All right. Go immediately. Good advice, thanks both of you. This weeks yourbizselfie come from mario and theresa who own i escaped memphis in tennessee. You enelectricter a themed gamed you have one hour to figure out how to escape. Ive been dieing to go to an escape room. Why dont you pick up your smartphone and take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Or tweet it. Include your name, the name of your company, the location and use the yourbizselfie. Thanks so much for joining us today. Before we leave, i want to spend a moment talking about a dinner series i attended recently. The focus was what the country needs to do to support Women Entrepreneurs. As we reported here on this show, Women Led Companies receive less than 5 of venture funding and yet it is abundantly clear were missing out on an opportunity to improve our economic and social standing by supporting more women founders. You can see this suggestions that came from Women Entrepreneurs and government officials in an open letter to the next president on our facebook page. Now, we would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about todays show, email us at yourbusiness msnbc. Com. You can also click on our website. It is open forum. Com your business. We posted all of 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. Please remember to go and vote. Until then, im j. J. 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 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. Go, go. Good morning. Im al sharpton. Two days from election day. That was the scene last night in nevada. Donald trump rushed off stage after a commotion caused by a protester. Returning when security calmed the situation. But he said it was going to be easy for us. But we will never be stopped. Never, ever be stopped. Hours late, trump was going after hillary