Hi there, everyone. Im j. J. Ramberg and welcome to your business. Today we bring the story of a Small Business and a small town whose fortunes have been tied together. The business is the Missouri Star Quilt Company. And the town, hamilton, missouri. Hamiltons main street, like so many in small towns across america, has been struggling to survive with store fronts empty and crumbling. As the Missouri Star Quilt Company grew, the doan family who started the business in 2008 saw an opportunity to improve their main street and grow their business by bringing quilting enthusiasts from all over the world to town to shop and sew and meet up. So far its working. Well show you how in this weeks main street usa. Welcome to hamilton, missouri. Population, 1800. Until now hamilton has best been known for being the birth place of jcpenney. But today, this city, which is about an hour away from kansas city, is known for something quite different. Quilting. Its been dubbed the disneyland of quilting. And thats all because of the vision of one family which started the Missouri Star Quilt Company. People have come from all over the world, from as far away as australia. But once they get here, turns out theres not much else for them to do. So missouri star has broadened their business. And now theyre working with local partners to turn this sleepy town into a true destination. How many of these buildings do you own . Right downtown hamilton we have 12 of them. So youre really taking over this town. We kind of taking advantage of people not using them, and letting them just kind of be run down and fall apart and putting together something new and exciting. And some of them, i see, you have the sewing retreat here for quilters. You have sew seasonal over there. Well, so were focused on quilting. We want to have the most quilt shops of any town in the world. Its a big idea for a very small town, whose main street has been in decline for a long time. With just one street light, and until recently only one restaurant, there just wasnt a whole lot going on in hamilton before the Missouri Star Quilt Company came along. Jessica green, hamilton bank, 75 years on main street. Have people started things here that havent stuck or has this just been kind of a dead downtown for a long time . We have got some great businesses that have been here and have stuck it out during, you know, during the downturn. We just werent figuring out a way to get other people into town. I think Missouri Star Quilt Company uniquely has gotten people from outside hamilton in to downtown, and on our main street. Ellen gentry, proud mayor of hamilton, missouri. Been a resident since 1978 and serving my first term as mayor. What do you think the Missouri Star Quilt Company is doing for this town . They brought in employment. I think they employ over 100 people now. Im sure theyre the largest employer in the city, and very possibly in caldwell county. Theyve improved a lot of our buildings that were in disrepair and actually maybe dilapidated and going to fall down. Its been a really good situation for the city of hamilton. And the city of hamilton hases about been really good for the doan family. 20 years ago ron and jenny doan were barely making ends meet living in california when they decided to pack up their large family, and head to missouri. With the hope of finding a slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. We actually just picked a place off a map, and within three days after we came to the midwest, i mean, i told my husband, i says, you could bury me here. I was an odd ball in california. I had a lot of kids. I liked to sew. I canned. I gardened. You know. And i just there wasnt many people around that did that. It was just completely different way of life. And we just fell in love with it. With a fresh start in missouri jenny stayed home, raised her seven children, and then suddenly found herself with an empty nest. She took a class in quilting. Fell in love with the craft, and found she was a natural. Inventing shortcuts that allowed her to block, stitch and patch far faster than anyone else in her class. I made about 12 of them by the time i was done. I was just so addicted. With the economy shaking in t 2008 and ron nearing retirement the doan children were concerned that their parents had little money for their golden years. Since jenny was spending so much time on her new hobby, the kids thought purchasing a professional quilting machine might be a good investment for the future. Helping them start a little business that might bring in a small income for their parents. We got a building for 24,000, and a quilt machine for 40,000. So the quilt machine cost more than the building were in. So that was the catalyst that got us all going. And from those Humble Beginnings the Missouri Star Quilt Company was born. Alan, his sister sarah and another partner built a quilting website based on the daily deal. When the website gained some traction they realized jennys larger than life personality was perfect for youtube. The competition begins now i know this looks a little crazy but ive done crazy things before. But wait, theres more. Shes always been just a big ham, right . Like she loves her form, she was what people were going to fall in love with because shes a good teacher. She doesnt mind if youre not perfect and every stitch isnt just right or your block doesnt come out square. Now it turns out jenny is the real star at the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I was hoping for a kwshs heres jenny . As jennys notoriety on youtube grew, so did the business. She now has a devoted following of more than 150,000 subscribers. And her folksy videos have been watched more than 28 million times. Shes Just Sunshine in a barrel. Oh, shes an awesome instructor. You know, she has some wonderful sense of humor, too. The business was humming along nicely, when something totally unexpected started to happen. Jenny wasnt here, i was kind of disappointed. But today i got to talk to her. People started to making the pilgrimage to hamilton to visit the quilt shop and meet jenny in person. The family quickly saw an opportunity to grow their brick and mortar business and their town to supported influx of guilting tourists. We cant all just be quilting, right . I mean we know that we kind of have to build an ecosystem that supports everyone. So we have a couple of these buildings that are going to be refinished into just retail space or just space that people can come in and rent and run their business from there. And thats really exciting to me because that means everybody gets a chance. One of those new businesses hoping to succeed is poppys bakery. A local caterer, poppy has always dreamed of opening a storefront of her own. But hamilton just didnt have the foot traffic to support a retail store. That is until the Missouri Star Quilt Company came along. Poppys bakery, in business for four days. I was in the process of looking for a place to land and open a business of my own. It gave me a huge step up because it allowed me to focus on the business, not having to repair buildings. So that we were able just to come in, design the kitchen to fit my needs. The doans also helped navy diver and burgher connoisseur don dotson launch his business, opening a muchneeded burger joint that shares an outdoor patio with the bakery. John dawson, j. s burger dive three weeks on main street. Would it have been possible for you to open this restaurant without the Missouri Star Quilt Company . No. What did they do for you . They provided a building that we lease from them. And finances to get the business started and running and with lines out the door, the demand for burgers, fries and shakes in hamilton is clearly there. It is crazy. Its 34 degrees out there and people are coming and making milkshakes. Yeah. We sold over 500 milkshakes in our first week. A remarkable change for the sleepy town of hamilton where the chamber of commerce just started up again after years of inactivity. And their local mail truck can no longer manage the package pickup at missouri star. Unless they make several trips a day. Cramming packages into the small truck on each visit. Is there a Ripple Effect from the success of the missouri star book company . One instance i can think of is this year the banks christmas party. Typically we traveled out of town and held that at a restaurant. This year because of the Retreat Center that they built they have a large banquet area that we were able to use. So were able to feed back into the community. And im so proud of my children. You know, they were at a town meeting one time and somebody said this is just going to be a one dimensional town. You know, and alan said, well isnt it better than no dimensional . Were doing something. Im telling you, im just as tickled as i can be to see it happening and i think most everybody is, too. Hamilton has a storied history because jcpenney was born here. Do you think the point of pride around that might be taken over by missouri Quilt Company . I think its possible that it could be. Theyre a booming business. And i think they have a lot of the same values jcpenney did. So is the focus of hamilton going to move from, heres the place jcpenney was born to here is this quilting capital of the United States . Its very possible it might. If you think we should visit main street in your town, please write us and tell us why. Email address is yourbusiness msnbc. Com. Taking your Small Business mobile doesnt have to be an excruciatingly difficult process. To help you, check out our website of the week, dudamobile. Com converses your existing website into a fully customizable mobile site using its easytouse online platform. Edit the layout, color scheme and images to fit your needs. Also, you can preview your site just as your mobile customers will see it as you make adjustments. There are hundreds of great books out there for entrepreneurs, and Small Business owners. Entrepreneur magazine created a list to help us figure out which ones to tackle first. Here now are five books every Small Business owner should read in 2014. One, the power of habit by charles duhigg. Learn how our customs predict not only life changing events, but also the behavior of consumers. Two, the innovators dilemma by crayton m. Christenen. Harvard professor and serial entrepreneurs christensens 17yearold book still provides helpful take aways for the modern Small Business owner. Three the lean start upby eric ries offers advice that breaks away from the Traditional SolutionsSmall Businesses are usually given. This book offers a fresh p perspective on how to start and grow your company. Four the wisdom of failure by jim mcconoughey. This how not to guide explores the failures of individuals and companies through a sevenyear study. And five, the goal, a process of yoon going improvement by eliyahu m. Goldratt. This novel will teach you how to be a better Decision Maker for your Small Business. Since its creation in 1932, Ethan Allen Interiors has risen to become an iconic American Furniture retailer with a worldwide brand recognition. At the helm of the company is farooq kathwari. He became ethan allens chairman and ceo in 1987, after years of supplying the business with lighting and other Home Accessories from his import business. We headed over to ethan allens headquarters in connecticut to sit down with kathwari to talk about everything from the importance of getting your team on board, and why you cant be afraid of change in this weeks learning from the pros. One of our main jobs is to make sure that ideas are so internal that people have a great buy. So when we have an idea or i have an idea, i ask opinions. What do you think . Not only do i get input, but they become part of their idea. At the end of the day, good ideas work if people accept them. As their ideas. You have to take on the road. You have to talk to people continuously. Because a good idea is good if it is accepted by people. Being relevant is very critical. I question my zfl all the time. I discuss with my societies, are we relevant . When this Great Recession took place five or six years back, it really hit us like it hit everybody else. Ethan allen brand was only sold in ethan allen stores, sold by 1500 interior designers. So we questioned are we relevant . Should we have 1500 interior designers when the world is moving towards more service. Are we relevant in our technology . You question it and you keep on improving. Youve got to embrace change. Invention has got to be part of our dna. Ethan allen is a great iconic american brand. When i got involved, ethan allen had over 85 to 90 brand recognition. It was known for early american colonial furniture. When i got involved things were starting to change. Colonial and early american was no longer the predominant style. The manufacturing that had been established since 1932, some were great, and some were not in the right places. So, we had to change. We had to change our product lines. Our image. Our manufacturing. Even many people in the leadership positions. A leader has to be captain of the team. That is playing with the team, strategizing, caring. Not be sitting on the sidelines. We have complex organization, lots of talented people so one has to be careful on one hand you are involved but on the other hand youve got to let people do their work and do their jobs. Be involved in the decisionmaking off determining what the strategy is. And then letting people implement it. And be part of it. Understanding that its being implemented but not being involved on every detail. My involvement is generally at the beginning and at the end. In the middle our associates develop the programs. Coming up the answers to your Small Business questions about moving your business out of your home and into an office. And whether College Grads should work for a Small Business before starting one. And do you get frustrated trying to recharge electronics from different manufacturers with different systems . Todays elevator pitcher has the ideal power solution. 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. As a new person in business or a person who wants to get into business you should always have an open mind. Always. Especially with somebody who is successful. You listen, listen, listen, you grab and take what you feel is best for you, and then you incorporate it into your own style. Because youre never going to be like them. Youre going to have your own style on how you do business. And then go for it. Over our eight years on the air weve shared many stories about inspiring entrepreneurs. Many have overcome hard times by starting as successful Small Business. For a North Carolina couple, it took a move prompted by their Childrens Health needs to discover an unusual opportunity. Nbcs harry smith has their story. Heres a big bump, colton. Reporter the ball family sets out for an afternoon stroll in asheville, North Carolina. Troy and her husband charlie moved here from texas ten years ago to save the lives of their oldest boys marshall and colton. In texas their frail constitutions were constantly compromised by the heavy pollen. Life in the cool, clean air of the appalachians has agreed with this family, including their youngest, luke. Its also provided a unique business opportunity. Doesnt it smell good . Its like grits. It is. Its exactly grits, right. Reporter troy ball makes moonshine. You heard that right, corn liquor. This is whiskey. You can put your finger right in there and smell it. Oh, it smells like whiskey. And thats hard. This is the good stuff . Thats the good stuff. Troy got the idea of making moonshine because when they first arrived in asheville, shed get mason jars full of the stuff as housewarming presents. Soon, troy was heading back into the hollers to find out for herself how it was done. Came home one day and with the Pressure Cooker and said to my husband, i need you to help me convert this to a still. And he said, youre nuts. Im not going to do that. That little Pressure Cooker turned into this. A thriving distillery that makes the real mountain dew. Just take a little sip. There you go. Wow. The key ingredient to troys whiskey, Crooked Creek corn. Grown for generations by farmer john mcentires family. This is not genetically modified corn. And were very proud to say that. Yeah. This is old school corn. Call it moonshine for the masses. You know once you take the first sip, youre kind of prone to want to take a second. Plenty of people here thought she might be crazy. But troy believed if she could overcome the myriad obstacles to keeping her sons healthy, she could probably do almost anything. Thus on every label it says troy sons. So i spent 24 hours a day for about 18 years taking care of the boys. It is my job to keep them alive. And so when it came time to finally have a moment to develop a business, this was my way of honoring them, and making a statement about our lives. A statement