Or expand your office. For those who constantly find new ways to grow on every step of the journey, American Express open proudly presents your business on msnbc. Hi, there, everyone. I am jj ramberg. Welcome to your business. The show dedicated to helping your Small Business grow. Sometimes you thought that idea was a sure thing fails to take off, leaving you deep in debt with tough decisions to make. That was the situation one entrepreneur of a super hero Costume Company found himself in when his original designs just werent bringing in sales. But listening to what his customers really wanted, the chance to make their own looks, now has this Small Business flying high. Growing up, scott chastains life was all about sports and superheroes. I loved superheroes as a kid, comic books, thats always been something on my hand. Going to Auburn University i was around collegiate sports, the passionate fans that come into s. E. C. Football. A landscape expert by trade, when the Real Estate Market crashed and work hit a lull, he decided to take the plunge head first into a passion project, making superhero capes for College Sports fans. I always thought athletes and superheroes are similar in how we perceive them. He set up shop in thomasville, georgia and launched Costume Company ever fan. Scott ordered his first batch of capes from a manufacturer. It was a crash course in entrepreneurship. One that scott wasnt quite prepared for. I remember the day that the products came in. And just seeing all the boxes and just being like, a little bit shocked like, man, thats a lot of product. Despite the initial interest, things quickly went south. The first shipment came in after the football season had already started. We had kind of come in late in the game. Football season ended, then sales bottom out. Getting into the collegiate Products Industry requires a big outlay of cash. With collegiate products youre paying a licensing fee off of every sale. They also make you pay a certain percentage in advance. And so you have to hit a certain number of sales to even pay off those prepaid royalties youve already put into the system. On top of it all, even though he had procured ten school licenses, that wasnt enough to get the big collegiate Retail Stores to pay attention. If you dont have the money to get the licensing for every school, then a lot of scores wont really give you the time of day. So two years in, scott found himself deep in debt. It got to the point where my wife, we sat down and she was like if sales dont get better, we have 2. You cant keep doing this. He was devastated. This is a tough thing to have an idea, kind of turning it into reality and it not be a successful like you hoped it would. He already put so much into the business, he felt he had to make it work. So he decided to focus on a small part of the business that he had been pretty much ignoring. He had been getting more and more requests from people looking to place personalized orders. And he had been forced to turn the first few of those away. At the time, all of my products already had logos on them. I realized a huge mistake i did on my end, i didnt give myself flexibility with the products i had. At that point, i went ahead and placed an order of just plain superhero capes, eye mask and power bands that we could start doing printing in house. It was worth a shot. He shifted all his attention away from his licenses and focused on making capes with customizable options. We started on our website. We developed a platform where you could mix and match cape colors and eye mask colors and put different logos, design your own superhero cape. He also invested in equipment and staff so he could customize capes in house. We were very confident in our ability to fulfill an order, whether it be 50 to 5,000. Now, ever fans customers spans from the kid who wants to slay bad guys wearing his own special uniform. This is easy to put on and be your own superhero. And its a mixture of medieval and superhero which is really cool. He would sleep in it if he could. To bulk orders like the one april walden made in 2015 for her nonprofits superday 5k race. The capes were a big hit. When it was over, everyone kept going on and on, so cute, weve never had a race like this, those capes, the kids running in the capes. Even grown adults running down with their different capes on. It was a really cool event. Its orders like these that scott hopes will turn into repeat business. The goal is to create relationships that will be over long term kind of thing, not a onetime order, something we can count on every year and work with them down the road. Ever fan doubled in sales in a year. And has finally gotten out of debt enough for scott to think about the future. This is also the first year the company hasnt renewed its collegiate licensing deals. It would have been a bad decision to renew those and to try to continue to pursue that. It was just it wasnt a profitable thing for us. Somewhere down the road, we may get back into it when were ready financially to go big and to do it right. Instead, scotts looking forward and expanding the companys product line. So that it can be the name in customizable costume product. Our goal was to take the same idea were doing with the superhero products and expand that into different types of accessories, dressup accessories, tutus, princess stuff for girls, pirate stuff, the list can go on and on. One thing scott will definitely continue to did is try to keep one word out of his vocabulary. We try not to tell a customer no. That will help us grow and grow into new markets as well. Today marks the start of national Small Business week, may 1st through may 7th, the nation celebrates the contributions of our Small Businesses with awards ceremonies, workshops and educational activities. This years theme is dream big, start small. The head of the u. S. Small business administration, administrator maria contrara sweet talks to us about the highlights of this week. Thank you. Youre such an advocate. I remember when the week started it was small, its grown over the years. Everybody needs to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Small Businesses. These are people who have been fighting, perseverance, blood, sweat and tears. Theyre fueling our communities, our main streets with the really special energy, unique boutiques, destination restaurants. So thats what were asking people to do, dream small biz if they cant get a job or arent happy, how can we help them start, grow or repair their business. This is the week we take the time to honor and celebrate those restaurants, those manufacturing places, the mom and pops across the country. What im going to did is travel across the country. Im going to start in washington, d. C. , go to new york, phoenix, denver and then off to california, Northern California to join Silicon Valley. Such a hot bed of startups. Its easy to celebrate Small Business. Everyone loves the story of the Small Business person. Even more, the entrepreneur that really hit it big, started from nothing in his or her garage and hit it big. As you go around, you and i know its hard to be a Small Business owner, right . What are the things you hear right now that are the biggest struggles . The biggest thing im finding is that were finally breaking loose some of the capital. Were at historic lending at sba. They really need the right counseling. What were trying to do is amplify the Small Business development centers, the score offices, the veteran offices we have to get people the right counseling and right now, what we know is that 95 of the worlds consumers are outside of the United States. So were really encouraging Small Businesses to take a bold step and to consider trade. And sba can help guide them through that journey. Weve been through a few president ial elections on this show. Often times what we hear during these election seasons is uncertainty leads to uncertainty. Right . We dont know who the next president is going to be, the next administration. As a Small Business owner, people often say i feel uncertain about my business. Should i be hiring . Are you seeing that right now . You know, i have found even with this contentious political situation we find ourselves in, i have had really positive experience with both on the reap and dem side in terms of getting bills passed, getting our funds raised. Its hard to argue when youre creating billions and billions of dollars of capital and creating lots of jobs, millions of jobs at zero taxpayer cost. I think this is the time that people should feel confident that the u. S. Government is there. Weve had 73 months of consecutive job growth. Twothirds of that is coming from the Small Business community. How can you not get behind that . I am, obviously, you know, i love what president obama has been doing. He raised it up to cabinet. He is amplifying the Global Opportunities that are there. Hes hosting a global ministerial, Global Entrepreneurship summit in Silicon Valley in late june. We want to invite everybody out to that. And they came out with Confidence Survey and its at a low. What do you say to those people . What we have to say to them, it is in your own control, thats what entrepreneurship is. Its about getting over obstacles. To me, when i see somebody that has the fervent passion and we can give them the skills, the capital, we can give them access to markets, we control 23 of the federal spend and we direct to to busine it to businesses. They come in and get certified. We cant induce them to department of defense, energy, education, corporate supply chain and to the international marketplace. I say if you are focused, dont it the let a silly poll drive you away from your dream. Thats why this week is so great. Not only about celebrating Small Business but to take a step and have people know there are resources out there. If youre having trouble, visit s. C. O. R. The most important thing we could be doing is shop small. I dont mean a little. Spend a lot at small family owned stores. Thats the way were going to create the uniqueness in our communities and the destinations we all want. Great to see you. Thank you so much for stopping by. Dream small biz. Small business week is the perfect time to recognize the passion that fuels many entrepreneurialists. That passion led to the lifelong dream for a Savannah Georgia man who purchased a troubled landmark and turned it into a culinary hot spot. Nbcs harry smith paid him a visit. Reporter her way with food has made savannahs the grey one of the hottest new restaurants in the country. How would you describe the cuisine of the grey . Southern soul food, european swirl. Reporter its down home ingredients prepared by a highly trained and highly motivated chef. I can confirm, the praise is warranted. I just want to make sure that im being honest with myself and being honest with the food that im cooking. Reporter res vagus, especially on the weekends can be hard to come by. People want to eat here but they also want to see the grey. Savannah newcomer john, bought the long abandoned bus station and didnt really know what he was going to do with it. I think im going to put a restaurant in the 109 mlk. She went, youve officially gone crazy. I started the design work i think the next day. Reporter an audacious makeover which was part renovation and part restoration, leaving no doubt to what this had once been, down to the torazzo entry. If he can could salvage it in its form, we would. Just to have the original logo stunning. Its beyond. Reporter the past is present here. What was back here . Were talking into what was known when the station opened in 38 as the colored waiting room. During jim crow, blacks were only allowed through a back door, an irony not lost on chef bailey. Its a little bit like being on an island, i think. Everyone notices it but me. You know . All of this may seem like an unlikely strategy for success. The old bus station, soul food with style. Savannah. To be a successful entrepreneur, i think one of the key strengths you need to have is complete naivety. It can be more than good. It can be great in a year. Its like wisdom. It has to sit on the stove for a while t. Has to simmer. Could be just a flash in the pan. I want to prove were not that. You shouldnt have to put your work on hold just because youre on the road. Ink. Com has ink tips to help you stay productive on that next business trip. One, check in with your staff, schedule calls with employees to see how theyre doing and get updates on their progress. Two, download what you need in advance. You cant count on having Wifi Everywhere you go. Use your phone for emails and keep Everything Else offline. Three, grow your skills. Set aside a couple of ted talks to listen to on the road. Subscribe to podcasts that will keep you up to speed on the latest news in your market. Four, stockpile reading material. Use your travel time to get caught up on that industry focused newsletter youve been meaning to read or the latest Business Management book your mentor recommended. Five, practice networking. Waiting areas can be great places to meet new people. Strike up a conversation and brush up on your communication skills. You might even meet your next business contact. In 2001, celebrity lawyer Robert Shapiro alongside attorneys eddie hartmann, brian lee and brian lu launched legal zoom. They had a vision to disrupt the legal industry. Under the guidance of ceo john su, the company is a far cry from its beginnings. Its now the leading legal brand for Small Businesses and consumers and in 2015 it even branched out to the uk. We sat down with john to talk about what guides innovation and why boundaries are necessary when disrupting an industry. We never set out to disrupt an industry. Were trying to solve a problem at scale with an original eye. I think if you have some innovative thinking and its original, sometimes you can come up with elegant or radical solutions. If its a large enough jump in quality or large decrease in price, at some point it upsets the apple cart. Right . But the fact that its disruptive is not the intent. You just have to do one thing better than most people. Sometimes people want to be best at everything. That was a big problem for us at legal zoom out of the gate. We saw problems everywhere in the legal system. Lets try and solve everything. Over time the more we realized the more focus we are, thinking innovatively within the boundaries, we could actually do more. What guides our innovation is listening very closely to the customer, to what they say and what they dont say. Sometimes the solution has to anticipate what theyre not saying because they didnt really think you could solve that one. Thats the big issue theyre going off. What we really focused on if we acquire a customer, will they talk to 10 or 20 other people about it. Can we provide an experience that people will actually talk about . If so, if they talk to 10 or 20, 3,000 customers may come out of it. Good people make sure its the right thing to do things 3,000 times in a row. Were warming it with technology and building a special kind of customer experience. As a Market Leader with a lot experience, there are many problems you can see and you cant solve all of them. You have to keep your eye on the big problem to solve is, keep your company focused on that. I think about entrepreneurs as leaders, not just as inventors but leading people. What you have to ask yourself is are you spending 80 of your time on your strengths . If you could have 100, 500 or 1,000 people where every is spending 80 of your time on doing what they do best, things really hum. One the big transitions i learned is to move purely into a coaching role and letting certain mistakes happen. You have to unlock the value of a time. If you interfere, youre like the spider in the middle of a web. Youre the bottle neck for all decisions. Business innovation is not a video game or a sport. One team can swing five times while another team in the same resources, same time frame can swing 25 times. And if you learn from each swing, youre going to get better and better. So i think a lot about innovation is not thinking about it as a mistake but learning experience. I think a lot of innovation, you need some boundaries. The full blue sky, green field is sometimes overwhelming. I think the more that you narrow and understand who it is, the easier it is to innovate and think big. When we come back, advice on how to hold on to employees who are getting offers from bigger companies. And how to say no to your customers. Our cosmetics line was a hit. The orders were rushing in. I could feel our deadlines racing towards us. We didnt need a loan. We needed shortterm funding fast. Building 18 homes in 4 ½ months . That was a leap. But i knew i could rely on American Express to help me buy those building materials. Amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. Our amex helped us fill the orders. Just like that. Another step on the journey. Will you be ready when growth presents itself . Realize your buying power at open. Com what is the best way to keep the best people on your team to stick around when they get huge offers from facebook and microsoft that you cannot match. You have to make them an offer they cant refuse. Go godfather on them. Seriously speaking, you want to find out what are the things that motivate your employees . Not every employee is motivated just by cash. Some of them want flexibility. Some of them want to be able to work from home. Some of them watch the to have more responsibility or the opportunity for upward mobility. You have the ability to compete on a relationship by understanding what it is that your employees really want from the their business and its not always cash. So i think a