tattoos. >> we'll see how this brooklyn temporary tattoo company maintains laser sharp focus to make sure they're brand name sticks, even when all the others fade away. until then i'm j.j. ramberg. 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.
doubts about them. >> i don't think a lot of people just understand stood the scale of what you can accomplish with bikes. i think a lot of people thought i was going to carry laundry in my backpack or on my bike many handle bars. >> reporter: the bike saved the company in a lot of ways. first of aural advertising. word of mouth marketing and the obvious, transportation. >> bike delivery is about three times cheaper than truck delivery in downtown areas. you don't have to pay for the truck itself. you don't have to paper for the gas. you don't have to pay for the truck insurance. we don't get parking tickets. >> reporter: the bikes are also better equipped to handle time-sensitive pickups and deliveries to places likant private residency, gyms and the philadelphia convention center. >> there's a lot of bike lanes where we can bypass traffic and actually move quicker than traffic in most places downtown. finding a place to unload is a lot easier for us. >> reporter: wash cycle laundries help streamline operationing. >> it does everything from allow
like. >> $1.6 million is the goal. >> reporter: williams clearly has financial goals for himself seeing other reach theirs motivates him to keep j's growing one barber shop at a time. >> it's important for me to help barbers become owners because once you're an owner, then can you help others. >> reporter: a philosophy he never wants to see out of style. >> it's good. >> reporter: ron mott, nbc news. we are near the end of this year, which means that now is the time to set up your company to be even more productive next year. here now are five must-dos to check off your list before 2014 is over, courtesy of entrepreneur.com. >> number one, get your books in order. take hard look at your financials and take actions to push in the right direction next year. two, gather with your staff. the end of the year is a great time to reflect on the company's
that getting funding was going to be tough. >> some people are like, that's the coolest thing ever. other people are like, that's one way to pay your bills while you find something else. >> reporter: his bike laundry pick up and delivery service, had a bit of an image issue. >> how could you possibly service a large account on a bike? what sdo you do when it rains? what about the snow? >> reporter: at first gay bree be considered going at it alone whrchlts i started the business i saturday of thought that the savings in my bank account would be enough and i was going to do it all myself and then, voss, the savings in my bank account ran out. >> reporter: he realized as he grew he would actually need some money, so he started out by bootstrapping it to show everyone, including invest. what the company was capable of. >> people have been initially skeptical about whether this is a gimmick or a real business. >> reporter: step one was to stick to the most important part of his plan. the bikes. even though people had their
debt. >> you've found your ebitda. got that number. income statement, have that number and now get a multiple that you're going to multiply it by something. how do i no? am i multiplying it by four, ten? how do i pick that number? >> generally, for small businesseses the proxy is four to six times. generally that's the multiple used times ebitda. your business generates 100,000 of ebitda, probably worth between $400,000 and $600,000. the important point one dollar is worth four to six dollars. a lot of people try to use company credit cards to buy sports season, cars for family, but it reduces your taxable income for the business and hurts the vaum of your business. again, $1 is worth $4 to $6. >> thinking of selling my company, doing it as a multiple. spending money on something else that money is not multiplied. >> yeah. you better really like those sports tictsds. >> tickets. >> you say $4 to $6 but it
performance an get your team on the same page. three, seek out savings. look how you spend your money and find ways to lower costs. monthly software services, for example, often grant a discount to those who pay a year in advance. four, evaluate your company's technology. find out what software your employees regularly use, and which ones they never do. consider eliminating any unused systems next year. and, five, contribute. making donations of your time or money helps build a sense of purpose for your staff and your company. do you have any idea how much your company is worth? if you were to sell it tomorrow, how much would somebody buy it for? there are no hard and fast rules for valuing a business but we wanted to take time to show you how to start to come up with a number. brandon is here to give us a quick rundown of company valuation 101. let's start, brandon. great to see you. a company is worth what somebody
like do you from people coming into your store. she can use them to build up. >> right. use be surprised how many will go into our store that may live in california, she's in new york. that may want to purchase from her later on. >> right. okay. great. so good to see you guys. thank you so much. take care. >> thank you. thanks so much for taking time out of your day to join us. to learn more about today's show, jut head over to our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find our segments plus web exclusive content with a lot more information to help your business grow. you can also follow us on twitter it's @msnbcyourbiz and on facebook and instagram as well. next week, we meet one entrepreneur whose line of temporary tattoos is the latest craze, but that doesn't mean she says yes to every opportunity. >> i started this company because i wanted to fix the world of temporary tattoos and i'm not just going to guess distracted and i will focus on it and i don't want to stop until people call temporary
will pay for it? >> exactly. baseball cards, houses, businesses, the same thing u. might have a number in mind but it might not be what you get. let's figure how to get a number to start with. >> a couple components obviously. the first is it's based off of a multiple of your company's cash flow. the more cash flow your company generates the more valuable it becomes, the faster it generates cash the more equity you build and the more desirable that equity becomes for a perspective buyer of your business. >> yes. talk to us about ebitda. what you will probably look at is a multiple of or ebitda. what that is, tell us what it is and where you find it. >> exactly. cash on ebitda, synonymous. you basically go to your income statement, find net income, add net income plus interest expense plus taxes plus depreciation and amortization expense and that ebitda number represents the pool account to service the
organic skin care line. >> the next question from susan, return as review website. sdhou a tiny business, a staff of five, stay up to date, relevant sand keep up with the bigger guys? our main challenge now is competing with yelp, frip adviser, we have to be selective with advertising, we're a small company that could be a benefit to be tiny, if she plays up on that. >> absolutely. local is key. word of mouth marketing is so important. it is the cheapest and most powerful way to get your word out there. activate your loyal customers. another thing that a lot of entrepreneurs are a little scared of but it's effective is p.r. people get a little scared of it because they think, oh, how do i get into the local paper, even in a national magazine, and it's a lot easier than you think, diypr, because reporters they want good stories. if you've got a great story to share, don't be shy to contact your local reporter, and the
even though people had their doubts about them. >> i don't think a lot of people just understood the scale of what you can accomplish with bikes. i think a lot of people thought that i was going to carry laundry on my backpack or in the basket of my handlebars or something like that. >> the bikes save the company money in a lot of ways. first of all, advertising. their branded bikes encourage word of mouth marketing. second, the obvious. transportation. >> bike delivery is actually about three times cheaper than truck delivery in downtown areas. you don't have to pay for the truck itself. you don't have to pay for the gas. you don't have to pay for the truck insurance. we don't get parking tickets. >> the bikes are also better equipped to handle time sensitive pickups and deliveries to places like private residences, gyms, and the philadelphia convention center. >> there's a lot of bike lanes where we can bypass traffic so we move quicker than traffic in most places downtown. finding a place to unload is a lot easier for us. >> wash cycle laundry's internal app helps streamline operations. >> that does everything from