these moms turned down professional money and got fellow parents to invest in their small business instead. we look to getting funding close to home and overseas. . and meet the super entrepreneurs of comic con. that and more coming up next on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy. and american express open is

here to help. that's why we are proud to present your business on msnbc. hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business", where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. can you imagine turn needing millions of dollars for your start up, not once, not twice, but three times. that's what founders of the mother company did. today we start the show with a where's the money that shows us that sometimes smart money is better more money. ♪ >> i have two kids. 4 and 2. >> two kids, mia will be 6 on

saturday and jake is 3. >> todd speckor. i have two kids, 5 and 2. >> while at first glance this may sound like a parenting support group, it's not. this is a meeting of investors who all have at least $10,000 on the line in a new venture called the mother company. >> thank you guys for coming. i'm going to talk you through a brief investor presentation. >> the mother company is run by abbey shiler and samantha counter. >> we're developing a whole line of products based on social and emotional learning for young kids. the backbone of that line is our ruby's studio series. >> hi, everyone. welcome to my studio. i'm ruby. >> and then from that, we're making plush dolls based on characters from the show. >> abbey came up with the idea in 2008. she had the vision, she had the drive. what she didn't have was the money to make it all happen. >> i remember sell things on craig's list to pay for people. >> so like any ambitious

entrepreneur, she set out to find funding and despite doing this in the worst economy this country has seen in decades, she got a fantastic response. >> i reached out to three different professional investors all three of them offered me more than double what i was asking for. >> money in the bank, right? not in this case. abbey turned them all down. >> i had to trust my gut and realize if this wasn't a good partnership it wasn't ever going to be a good partnership. three times from offers of millions of dollars. >> her gut was telling her that these offers were from people who didn't get her concept. in exchange for the cash they wanted a lot of control. so with sam on board, they changed gears and started reaching out to people who did get the concept. >> we spoke to them at school, at play dates, on playgrounds. we would open the laptop on the floor of my daughter's ballet class. we pitched them at birthday parties.

>> the mother company started talking to, well, mothers. >> to me it seemed like a no brainer. it was a product that i would use. >> jewel he met sam through a social group they both belong to. she became one of their investors. kim knew abbey through an online moms group. when she heard she was looking for money, her reaction? >> how much. i loved what she was doing. it's a piece that seemed to be missing in everything that surrounds children. >> todd learned of the investment opportunity through his wife. >> she'd open her emails at 6:00 in december, it was dark. she said you've got to see this, you're not going to believe this. it was this unbelievable 90 second blurb. >> the trick was a combination of things. first, abbey and sam had passion. >> i was always told by my father about investing it's not necessarily the product, it's the person. it's not the business, it's the person.

because there can be a 1,000 different businesses out there. if you don't believe in the person running the business, it may or may not work. >> second, they knew what they were talking about. >> abbey and sam's presentation was terrific. it really -- they really were able to convey very quickly what they were trying to accomplish and what these lofty goals that they had were. >> third, they were creating a community. >> it was great. it felt like we were all friends and family and we were getting in on something special on the ground floor and it was a nice way for us to all kind of connect. >> we've reached out to people that we thought would work well together. it was like putting together a dinner party. you know, not everybody is right for that particular dinner party. >> in chunks of at least $10,000 abbey and sam ended up raising nearly half a million dollars. and as important as the money, they recruited an advisory board, most of whom are available when typical advisors aren't, on play dates.

>> the experience of seeing it through stories, of seeing the animated segments that you have -- >> and at the park. >> his biggest issue is sitting still. >> and who seven as a constant focus group. >> our investor advisory board meetings are really productive. there are parents who are going through exactly the things that we want to address on our shows. >> all of the investors have been clear. they've come on board because as parents they truly believe in doing something positive for the next jn ration. but sam and abbey say while they appreciate the moral support, they know that in the end this was also an investment decision and they are aware every single day that there are a lot of people the mother company hopes to pay back. >> failure is not an option. we will be writing them a big check and i will say mother company! we did it. >> while ern might not be in a

group of people where they have $1,000 to spare, there's something to be learned from this piece about going to people who understand your business. let's turn to this week's board of directors. we have the founder, president and ceo of count me in for women's economic independence. and larry chang is a managing partner at va ligs capital. >> great to be here. >> it's an interesting piece because both of you deal a lot with funding small companies. what i loved this woman turned down millions of dollars she was selling stuff on craig's list and turning down money at the same time. it turned tout be a great idea. >> love the fact she followed her i think stingts and said the professional investors are not for me. i'm going to find advocates for my company. >> a lot of people do this in maybe not organized a way as she has, it is angel funding it's friends and funding she had to look around for more friends and family. she was so business like about it. what do you think somebody needs

to -- do you have to be to that level prepare this whole nice presentation. they had coffees and invite friends and friend of people does it have to be that formal? >> it's a good idea to explain to your potential informsors what you're trying to do. i like the way she did it. present a professional presentation on your company and make it crystal clear. >> are you afraid at all that they're going to get too involved? >> i think if you organize it properly and make the roles very clear that you can avoid that. i think you have to make the roles clear and what you expect from them, what you're going to do and what they're going to do. i think then you avoid that and not walking around particularly in the mommy company talking about that you have too much to do and those kinds of things and inviting people into situations that you may not want them in. you've got to be very clear about what they do and what you're doing to do. >> what about the idea of

valuing the company? you've got a bunch of people who are coming in, giving you money. what's your opinion on how to value the company at that point and figure out what percentage to give them? >> you look at comps. if there are other companies that you know of, they can serve as a bunch mark. if there aren't any comp it's what the market declares. you talk to your investors and talk about what kind of ownership they're looking for and what you're trying to give up and find some common ground. >> it seems they were in a lucky position not everyone is in a position where they can turn people down, but do you? do do you say i'm crossing my fingers. this person doesn't seem to fit in. do i need it right now is this. >> taking money from an outside investor is like a marriage. if you don't feel good about it, do not get involved. i love the fact that she turned them down. her gut instinct said it's not right. this is a long-term relationship. absolutely it was a good call. >> thanks for your advice on

this. >> thanks. conferences can be intimidating, but they're also a great way to make important contacts for your company. here now are five ways you can maximize your conference networking. plan your day, attend the events that relate to your business. if you're interested in the topic or speakers there's a good chance you'll meet people with common interests there, too. practice your introduction. come prepared with a quick introwith all the important facts about yourself, your company and your interest. show i'm early and stay late. arriving before a session gives you an opportunity to start conversations with people at the session as well as the speaker. prearrange meetings. if there were people you'd like to meet, send emails to those contacts before hand to make sure you'll get a chance to see them at the conference. and finally, follow up immediately after the event. send a follow up email while you're still fresh in people's

minds. if you're out looking for funding, you don't have to confine yourself to the united states. there are plenty of international investors looking to put capital into growing businesses. jennifer hill san attorney who focuses on international startups and investors and is here to tell us how to do it. great to see you, jen. >> great to be here, thank you. >> so the united states one area, but then you're doing some work in chile is it right now? >> all over latin america, argentina and brazil. there is a lot of money going down there and money coming up for u.s. businesses as well. >> how do you reach them? it's hard enough to get a meeting here in the united states, how do you get one in south america? >> develop relationships with the local startup community. with social networking that is so much easier than before. i wouldn't randomly target places. if you know your business is going to grow in a a particular area or you want to develop

suppliers or customer base put it in your profile, look for meetups both here and locally. >> that's interesting. it's not necessarily your business has to be based over there. if you're going to be working, suppliers over there then some interesting investing. are these companies also interested in investing into startups or businesses that are purely u.s.-based, have mog to do with overseas? >> they are. one interesting program is called start up chile. it's sponsored by the chilean government. they want entrepreneurs to start up here even if you go back to your home country. they have funded dozens of entrepreneurs bichb them $40,000 a piece as a stipend and a one-year visa to work with their local recess sources to develop online businesses. the hope the they'll stay or if they go back they'll employ people locally and it would be a wonderful trade relationship. >> the next thing to do is seek

investors who funded similar businesses. >> a few things to look for are investors that have funded that particular industry. there's been a lot of success in copy cat businesses. so if you've had a business model or seen a business model that's worked really well in the u.s. and the idea is to start it locally or add a different language to it, look for investors that are attracted to that kind of business. you might be able to reach out to them all around the world and see if they're interested in funding you. you don't always have to be there, but they're interested in putting their money in business models that are proven. >> what about a business model that's been successful in that country that you want to bring to the united states. >> that's a great thing to do. >> government stipends, how do you research these things? >> the best thing to do is look for an economic development agencies. a lot of countries have that. the uk has a trade and investment arm that operates in dust and looking for some businesses that want a foothold

in the uk. ireland has enterprise, the canadian government does. believe it or not lots of economic development agencies around the world that are right here in the u.s. that are looking to help you grow your business. >> i guess if you're looking to start, and you can get money from an investor overseas it might be cheaper for you to start there, too. >> absolutely it can be. they're wonderful cost savings. we've soon that through outsourcing, the future is smart sourcing. so for example call centers in colombia are much, much better. wonderful spanish skills, great english skills, familiarity with western culture. low cost of business and favorable time zones. there's a lot of great software developers in chile and argentina. there are broader resources online where you can find developers in yeern europe and across the world. who knows you might find that they become critical parts of your business. >> there are resources like you

and you're a company where you guys do this. when it comes time to make a deal or getting introductions that are places that can help you. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much, jen. when we come back, we'll have more on getting funding for your business. we'll talk about how to get people who have backed your competitors to invest in you. and thousands of small businesses find customers and fans as they head to comic con. this is my band from the 80's, looker. hair and mascara, a lethal combo. i'm jon haber of alto music. my business is all about getting music into people's hands. and the plum card from american express open helps me do that. you name it, i can buy it. and the savings that we get from the early pay discount has given us money to reinvest back

into our business and help quadruple our floor space. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is putting more music in more people's hands. the nation's biggest gathering of geekdom, comic con is underway in san diego this week. thousands of sci-fi, comic and graphic novel fans are flocking to the event to check out products of fantasy worlds. we visited comic con last year and spoke with a few entrepreneurs who learned that carving out a niche can bring superheroed size profits. if you think you're looking at a giant halloween party, you'd be

wrong. but it's an easy mistake to make because this is comic con. adam hughes. who's known for his dramatic d.c. comic cover illustrations is one of the nearly 1,000 entrepreneur artists vendors who attend this once a year comic book convention held in san diego, california. >> you get the most exposure. i'd have to do ten other large shows to equal what i do in san diego. >> to the outsider, the con may look like nothing more than a big dress up party. for those entrepreneurs who understand it, it's a booming niche market. stewart is a los angeles-based entrepreneur whose niche is self-published sketch books and books by hard to find comic book illustrators, people like adam hughes. books that other animation pros

are eager tonight and buy. >> the animation industry and the comic industry he is a really valuable resource. everybody i know buys their books from stewart because he has all the best stuff. >> i've already gone through and gotten rid of all the chaff. and here's the good stuff. >> in general it's hard to find these books especially this one. >> he curates his collection not available through big chains. >> i developed a philosophy of not competing with them. so if it's available on amazon, i'm very unlikely to carry it. >> he's one of the guys you go to when you are looking for obscure tracks on art and painting and just wonderful graphic sensiblities that you can't find at your regular bookstores. >> as a result stewart and its online component has established

a growing and loyal customer base. >> we'll have the number one in about two weeks. >> customers not only buy his books but also sends their friends to buy books, too. and in turn, many of them offer him exclusive rights to distribute their own self-published books. this relationship has paid off, despite the crippled economy, his business has grown 25% over the last six months. here at comic con sales has netted him close to 20% of his annual revenue. >> i like this style a lot. i think the character haves a lot of charm. >> his focus at this convention doesn't stop at the cash register. he says running a niche business means also acting as something of a talent scout. he keeps his eyes out for hot, new talent to showcase in his store. the kind of creative inspiration that keeps his customers coming back for more. >> i'm wondering about the art catalog, are you wholesaling that. can you send us some? >> for you, great. >> we always see a bump after

comic conch we have the rv knews from the convention itself. if we buy well, we come out through august and september we're selling books like crazy through the mail order. it's time now to answer some of your business questions. nel and larry are with us once again. the first one is about managing your company's expansion. >> well, i've jurs parted with the dwad reed stores in new york. we'll be going into 30 to 50 stores. wal greens has acquired them so they're going national. how do i handle this growth. >> >> right. be careful what you ask for. congratulations to her. that's fantastic news. if she's worried about it now, she'd better get on it. >> i think she's great she's worrying about it. it's a double edge sword.

you can be wildly successful or wreck your business. you immediate to know your numbers. understand what you've got, how much you have to invest to make your orders. partner with someone, find someone who has already had a relationship with this company and talk to the company. talk to the company about you really want to make this an excellent relationship so what guidance and is there someone there that i can work with to make sure. i think the other thing is can she get a a handle on how many stores she's going to go in. can she start to have some role in what the roll out is so it isn't all over the country right away unless she's ready for that and often people aren't ready for that. if you can roll it out more slow lrk uh-huh you can understand what kind of money you need to invest and where the pitfalls are. >> i love this idea of talking to the company. a lot of people want to pretend that they know everything. sometimes you don't know what you don't know. you don't know the questions to

ask. >> think about it. you've got people that you're dealing with who are dealing with 100 companies. who've had some of these issues. ask them. >> you must deal with this a lot because you invest in growth companies. >> absolutely. the number one thing a small consumer tip of retail business needs to understand is know your unit economics. when you sell a product how much money do you really make after you factor in how much walgreens takes. transportation, returns, packaging, labor. if you net $4 on a $10 product and you have to cover all your costs with that $4 it had better not cost you $5 to make sha product. it would kill your business. >> don't be bliepded by the big names. the next one, this is about locating potential investors. >> how can i get in contact with is same investor as some other boutique owner or clothing company would have on the east coast or west coast?

which site can i go to in order to contact these individuals? >> it's smart of her to try and target who she's talking to. get investors who are interested in your space, how do you find them? >> there's a couple of sites that are good. there's a great private company information site. if you'ring look for angel investors, angel list is a great site. you can list your business and have angel investors inquire about investing in t. there really is no perfect place on the web to understand sort of private company ownership across the board. that's pretty tough. >> so the there any other avenue that's not as organized as this. >> people invest in people. she needs to start meeting people. i'm concerned that she's looking for investors who invest in companies like this often if they're in another company are they going to take on the same kind of company. i would say she needs to really appreciate that it's her that

they're going to invest in and she needs to meet people. i would not discount friends and family or attorneys or accountants to start that conversation. because the personal relationships here i think are very important. yes, she can get an idea on the website, they need to know you. and you need to know them. >> my friend who is one of the most networked guys i have ever met told me he goes for two coffees a week with somebody he doesn't know. if those run dry he goes on linked in. that's where you can find investors also. let's move on to the last question, this is about a lack of funding. >> i've been in business for 32 years. and my big question is why can't small businesses get any capitalization? banks are just not lending. i've never seen it like this in my entire business career. >> mary's not the only one saying she's having a hard time getting a loan from a bank. maybe it's a point you don't go to a bank.

where else can people go? we've talked about friends and family a lot on this show. >> we need to think about sales. how does she increase her sales? sales increasing your sales are the best ways. if you're charging enough for your product, over the years i often think this question has to do with i want to ask them how much they're charging for their product, they're not making enough profit to keep the business going in the way that she wants. i would look at sales. obviously all the other thins that we talked about. look at how you could up your sales. >> do you find it with your companies that are trying to get loans they're having a hard time, too. >> banks aren't a great source for small businesses. small businesses are risky. there are options out there. a site called prosper.com where you can list a loan request. you can have other individuals fund it. >> crowd funding. >> there are great events reich tech stars in boston and some events that nel points on. these are other good option.

if it's been 32 years chasing a bank is probably not the best option. >> thank you guys so much for all this advice. this was helpful and we appreciate it. if any of you out there have a question for our experts go to our website. nell and larry had some helpful advice about how to improve your business. now let's get some advice from small business owners like you. >> my great idea for business entrepreneurs is take your business seriously, but not so seriously to where you get caught up. you don't want to make the small mistakes by taking your business so seriously that you wipe everything out.

it's just like anything else. take it, provide it, prepare it, partner with someone early. if it doesn't work, scrap it and do something else. >> my great idea for entrepreneurs especially those are within the first five years of their business is to make sure that they do have a team of interns. what you want to do is have a awe session plan. you want to have a team of interns to grow into employees. >> start young. if you know what your passion is kwhen you're 19, herbed start when you're 19. it doesn't make sense to wait until you're 30 and that's about 20 years that you could have dedicated and be into your passion in life. >> do you want to market your small business on facebook but don't know how to start? you might check out our website of the week. it helps you create custom facebook pages for your business. no coding skills required.

you can choose from 18 customized templates linked to your social media accounts and embed video. one custom page with unlimited fans is free. premium accounts start at around $6 a month. to learn more about today's show just click on our website. you'll find all of today's segments plus web exclusive content with more information to help your business grow. and don't forget to become a fan of the show on facebook. we love getting your feed back. you can follow us on twitter. next week, some entrepreneurs make their mark by creating new products while others make their mark by inventing new ways to distribute existing ones. >> it's a box with my whole bathroom in it. >> sometimes it takes someone from outside the industry to reinvent the industry and we found that in spades here in the bathroom remodelling industry. >> how thinking outside of the box resulted in a bathroom in a

box. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg and remember we make your business our business. this is my band from the 80's, looker. hair and mascara, a lethal combo. i'm jon haber of alto music. i've been around music my entire life. this is the first alto music i opened when i was 24. my business is all about getting music into people's hands. letting someone discover how great music is, is just an awesome thing. and the plum card from american express open helps me do that. i use it for as much inventory as i possibly can. from picks...to maracas... to drums... to dj equipment... you name it, i can buy it. and the savings that we get from the early pay discount on those purchases has given us money to reinvest back into our business and help quadruple