Your business is sponsored by American Express open. Helping you get business done. Hi everyone, im j. J. Ramberg, and welcome to your business, the show dedicated to helping your growing business. In seattle, we met one entrepreneur whos taken her great grandfathers Old School Business model, the corner store, and updated it to fit the millennial lifestyle. Its got a wine bar, Coffee Baristas and locally sourced handmade gifts. This entrepreneur has already got three neighborhood locations in seattle, and just like other local seattle business, starbucks, she told us shes got big plans. Puget sound, earl grey or coconut lime. We focus a lot on community here. And that opportunity to come and have somebody say, hey, hows it going, and really mean it . All of that is what creates the opportunity for me. Dani cone is the owner of cone steiner is, a small chain of three Convenience Stores in seattle. Ive been in the Service Industry my entire life. And one of my favorite things about the Service Industry are those relationships that you form, literally, over the counter. For dani, the community focus, or shop local idea, isnt just limited to her relationship with her customers. We believe in creating opportunity on all sides of the counter. Which means with our team, with our customers, and with our vendors. This isnt the dani cone show. This is us. For her largely urban, millennial customers, small batch locally sourced products are a big draw. So many of the products are surrounding us in this store that were sitting in have roots here in seattle. Shopping local gives all of us a chance to grow. In fact, she sees her shops as a threeway growth opportunity. For manufacturers who get shelf space. For shoppers who get unique products, and for her stores which get a reputation for offering these kinds of hip goodies. We support them. But in that way, they also support us. We have unique access to some of these products, because of what we do. Because thats part of our values, and part of our Business Model. Dani is providing an incredible service. Erin nelson is head of seattle made a local manufacturers advocacy group. She sees an Economic Impact in what dani is doing. There is an exponential Multiplier Effect in terms of the amount of money that stays in the community when you are having local retail, local manufacturing, and employing local staff. Danis expanded vision of shop local doesnt stop with her customers and vendors. It also extends to her neighboring storekeepers, too. Here at the Pioneer Square store, she opens the wall between her store and her next door neighbor. How has the week been so far . Good. They both say the customers love being able to pass through from one place to the next, and at the capital hill store, theres a wide open passageway between her shop and the next door bakery. They let us use the walkin, we store our excess ingredients over there. We have a really nice relationship with their staff. We use their bathroom, they use our bathroom. Customers just flow back and forth. Its really nice. Customers that werent aware of cone steiner see it through the window and while dani is very focused on developing her own community she is quick to tell you that she has not lost sight of her own bottom line. I mean its a business. In a forprofit business if our Business Model is not viable and successful, then i cant create jobs. I cant create that shelf space for local vendors. I cant create a Community Place for people. I cant do any of these things. With seattle as her hometown, dani says shes got a great example of a shop local success Business Model. Everybody starts from somewhere. Right . Starbucks started skwr. It happened to have started here. So shopping local can lead to huge and its not about just help out a little guy over here. Danis business is not very huge. It is very local. Im from here. I am local. My family is from here, who also have businesses here. When dani talks about her local roots shes not kidding. This store might be only a few years old, but its ancestry goes way back. Its based off my great grandfathers Grocery Store that was here in seattle about 100 years ago. Just like her great grandfather, who built his business to serve his neighbors, danis Flagship Store is located just a block and a half from her home. And, less than half a block from her first business, a coffee shop she still owns and operates called fuel. And her customers get it. I think it brings us back to kind of that vintage feeling of going to the soda shop, or you know just knowing the store really well and feeling comfortable in it. With a coffee bar, pastries, sandwich station, fresh produce, clever gifts, candies and a wine bar, danis mix of products and services stretches from breakfast to way past dinner, and the model seems to be working. Were taking that model, and bringing it in to today for the modern consumer. I live in an apartment upstairs around the corner. So i actually come here quite frequently to pick up a couple things on my way home from work or if i need anything to dinner. Coming to get my wife a birthday candle and card and see people here having a pint of beer in a Nice Community area. Its a nice place, real quiet, not too well i think of like a little tiny Grocery Store, but with other accessories. Yeah, theres tons of stuff here. A great variety. For this reason dani sees her store as an updated version of 7eleven. Our sales per square foot are in the same range as 7eleven. We believe that this model is like i was saying kind of the 7eleven for the modern consumer with an eye to more quality, specialty, and local. What makes her shop local Business Model work . Dani says its her commitment to the community. This isnt a new and innovative idea. This is what my great grandfather was doing 100 years ago when he came to this country and was seeking community. This is the kind of store he created. And thats what was created there in community. Thats what were creating, is that place. Small Business Owners are going to be doing all they can to get customers to shop local this Small Business saturday. So what are some things you can do to maximize your sales on this kickoff to the Holiday Shopping season . Receivea lesonsky is the founder of grow biz media, and barry moltz is a Small Business consultant. You can find him online at barry moltz. Com. Together rieva and barry are author of the upcoming new book Small Business hacks, 100 short cuts to success. So good to see you both. Great to see you. Small business saturday, this is our day, right . This is our christmas. We wait all year for. Exactly. Okay. So lets talk about what owners can be doing now and one of the things you say rieva is think about that online listing. Yes you have to claim your local listings. And claim them in all the Search Engines. So you claim it in google, bing, you claim it in yahoo whatever there is. But also think about what your business is, and you might want to claim it in yelp. You might want to claim it in tripadvisor. How do i claim it . You go online, and they all have forms you can fill out. Or you can a company will do it for you the forms are free. Googles not going to charge you to do this. But you have to be painstakingly correct. So you cant like list your address as street and spell it out in one and st abbreviated in another because you have bots who are making the connection and they dont connect. And the reason to blame this, you might be thinking oh, people are just coming to me anyhow but i know that when i look for something online i look at those hours. Right. Especially during the Holiday Season. So the stats are actually 82 of smartphone users who are looking to shop somewhere locally go to a Search Engine to do it and 72 of those end up in a store within five miles of where that person lives. Got it. So thats why you have to do it. Okay. Barry, lets talk to you about prospects. When we think about prospects not responding to us generally i think of a b2b business. You say think of your big ticket item customers as prospects. A lot of people go to a place where theyre going to buy a car or a couch or a piece of art and you get the contacts name and reach out to them and they never respond to you. So we have a hq in the back its hack number 51, how to get these prospects to respond when they wont. Its called the abc method. You send an email, quick favor, please reply a, b or c. A im still interested. B, im still interested but could be tact me in a week. And c, im no longer interested. Youd be surprised 95 of the people actually get back to you with a, b or c and then at least you have an answer and you can move on to someone who really wants to buy from you. This is a good thing to do now before absolutely. Get them thinking maybe the actual purchase will be made on that saturday. This gets also to the point of Loyalty Program because its all about reaching out with your customers. It really is. Youre in a competitive environment today. Why should somebody shop with you small when they can go to a department store, maybe get more done at once. So its about creating loyal customers and the way to do that is create Customer Loyalty pr t programs. And were not talking about buy 12 sand witches get the 13th one free. A lot of companies, belly does it where you can join up and theyll create this program for you. But its about getting information on your customers. Sometimes its about oh, you bought this, maybe come in and do this. Its about telling them, oh, Small Business saturday, you have their name. You want to market to them. Look what we have in the store just for you. Oh, youre a loyal customer, were going to give you an extra discount if you come shop with us that day. But if you dont have a formal program you have no method or process in which to reach out to your customers. And should businesses actual i i know the answer, be teaming up with other businesses in the area. Of course. In what ways . I think if you have any kind of joint promotion that really helps because then youre going to a larger audience, so you have mohr of a chance of attracting a customer that may be interested in this retail store and youre right next door. Theyll come to you, as well. And the real issue is Small Business saturday is the kickoff. Right. And so make an event of it. Get people in your door right. And then if they dont buy anything then you still have the whole Holiday Season. This one we have an extra shopping saturday. I just wrote about this oh, thats great. So theres an extra day of shopping so you want to establish that, and when you get them in on Small Business saturday make sure you say hey, come back in two weeks, were going to have this really special thing. And again, incentivize them to do that so they come back to you and not go somewhere else. And the good part about the Holiday Season is people are already predisposed to buy now. Yep. So you have them right where you want them. Yes. I was at the store the other day. You should have seen my shopping cart. Im not even a real consumer. But still piling stuff for the holidays. Its not even thanksgiving yet. So good to see you both. Congratulations on the book. Thank you. Thank you so much. Have a great Small Business saturday. You, too. Employee health care is one of the highest costs that businesses pay every year. Here are five ways to use Wellness Programs to save on health care. One, educate your employees. Engage and empower your team with information that they can use to improve their overall health, and wellbeing on their own. Two focus on disease management. Programs that remind people to take their medication, schedule checkups, and otherwise stabilize their Current Conditions can help keep your employees out of the emergency room. Three, find a partner. Work with hospitals or Health Professionals to create the best short and longterm Wellness Programs. Four, invest in lifestyle management programs. Initiatives like fitness competitions, and Smoking Cessation programs can cut costs in the longterm by preventing atrisk employees from developing costly illnesses. And five measure your programs success. Wellness programs can be a great resource, but if no one uses them or theyre not working, they are a waste of time and money. So, pick the metrics and keep track of them to see if your Program Needs to pivot. 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 an office building. For many returning service people, the process can be overwhelming. And thats where this veteran entrepreneur saw his opportunity to make a difference. Were dust off aviators. We flew medical evacuation. We picked up the wounded. You dont know if youre going to get shot at. You dont know if youre going to be able to land. You fly into this hot l. Z. And sometimes youre throwing people on board and trying to treat them as best as you can en route. Anthony garcia jr. Is a veteran of the second iraq war. He and his team repeatedly flew into the line of fire to rescue wounded soldiers. The army trained him to do the best you can. There was definitely things that you cant get out of your head. Things that you wish you could unsee. Amanda willett 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 the United States of america used the veterans. Most of us dont have ptsd. Its just were getting used to having our freedoms back. Today, anthony is the cofounder of an Oakland California based tech startup guideon. Hes making it his business to change those civilian perceptions. They have always viewed a veteran as somebody whos 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 his mouth 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 i 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 and part of isap as part of oef. Tell that to a hiring manager and theyll probably give you a blank stare. But tony garcia sr. Knows what that means. So you were the third team leader of a particular department that worked in a regional area that was in some cases in very dangerous territory. And so guideon takes that military speak and translates it into something civilians can understand. So these are the top skills. They have a long list of skills, were only showing the top nine here. Tony garcia sr. Is cio of guideon. Hes a retired lieutenant colonel, a behavioral science p. H. D. And hes also anthonys father. What i do is i take a look at all the military assignments and positions, we examine each one of those positions, translating the duty titles into performance statements. Tonys translations have now been converted to dropdown menus. If i wanted to edit this i could actually go in and get some resume writing tips. These allow vets to upload military records, choose civilian equivalents which can be fitted into a civilian resume template. An e5 sergeant, or e6 Staff Sergeant in the United States army, theyre very well suited to be a line manager, or a line operator in manufacturing. And running and loading 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 i think anybody whos been over there and seen those things, i dont know how it could not affect you. Amanda says that when she returned guideon not only helped her get into business school, but also helped her cope. Youre just used to this up tem tempo, going, going, going over there, very high intensity, and so its like once you get back home and everything is quiet and then you can kind of 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 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. When we come back, more great advice for business decision makers, including how to grow your company in new ways without alienating your existing customers. And the inspiring bonnie st. John on how Business Leaders can remain focused and upbeat in the face of adversity. Every day, on every street, in every town, across america. Small businesses show their love to you. With some friendly advice, a genuine smile and a warm welcome they make your town. Well, your town. Thats why