up next, "your business."

hi there, everyone, i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business growth. since he was a kid, dan roleman wanted to set a world record but he couldn't. he didn't have the longest fingernails, wasn't the tallest guy in the world. basically he couldn't win any of the world record categories. then the internet came along and it changed everything. dan is now the founder of a record-setter.com, creating the tune for him and so many others to achieve their dreams of becoming world record holders. and along the way he built a great company, too. ♪ in early april in south beach, miami, 197 people got together to form the world's longest roller skating congo line.

>> this is looking like a bran new world record! >> and this record was confirmed. not by the "guinness book of world records" but by dan rolle man, ceo of recordsetter.com. >> we'd like to congratulate all the people here who participated here today in setting a record for the longest roller skating congo line, 197 people participated. >> record setter is, as dan explains it, wyche wikipedia to the "guinness book of world records". >> with wikipedia as much of an inspiration as anything, i saw the opportunity to take this idea and document them on video and make a web company that the world could participate in. >> here's how it works. anyone could submit any record they want to the record setter site. they simply take a video of it and send it in. the team at record setter then confirms that it is indeed a record.

>> we love giving people the opportunity to dream up and create their own world records. so we try to never subjectively judge categories. we have very open rules as long as your records are quantifiable and breakable and you have media evidence, we welcome it on to our site. >> which is why they have some really out there records on the site. like one of the more competitive categories, the most times smiling while listening to the song "beat it." ♪ beat it beat it ♪ beat it >> and the tallest pizza tower jumped over. and the day i went to visit the company, two records were set in their office. shawn mcdaniel did the most bare knuckle push-ups in one minute with 100 pounds on his back. and kyle peterson created the record for the most catches while juggling three clubs hula hooping and riding a unicycle.

>> 15. >> yes. >> since it's a crowd source site, if they get something wrong, they hear it from their usersp this. >> within a day somebody left a comment that said here's a link to a youtube video that shows a larger pie fight. we reached out to the larger group and we changed our ruling. >> record setter started as simply a fun activity, not a company. something dan created at the outdoor festival burning man. >> it was totally just a fun hobby that my friends and i were doing once a year. the project was sticky. people seemed to love this open challenge that we gave them to invent their own world records. >> after a few years, dan quit his full-time job in advertising and started pouring all of the money he learned from freelance jobs into turning this hobby into a business. his partner, corey, did the same. >> as soon as we had the site launched we went out and were forced to find a couple of angel

investors who allowed us to quit our day jobs. >> the angels invested because they saw real income generating potential from the site. >> you know, my background is in advertising and i saw from the very beginning an opportunity to integrate brands into what we were building in a really unique manner. >> he was inspired by one of the early records posted to the site. >> one of the first records that we saw come up on to our website was a record for the fastest time to open a bag of skittles and sort them by color. all of a sudden people in our community founded interest in that category and were competing against one another and so my advertising line said that's really interesting. that's a very powerful way to engage people. >> so now they pay record set. r >> we came up with 200 prius

world record challenges. >> like the fastest time to do a hand there is stand around the country. they did work with stride gum. >> their campaign is about long-lasting flavor. they wanted to come up with a pile of long-lasting world record challenges. they were things like the longest time for your dog to lick your face and the longest time for two people to head butt a balloon back and forth. >> and the conga line in florida was an event for the bottled water company evian. they chose record setter over the guinness book of world records team to be part of the event. >> we decided them because they were great planners pre-event. they help us promote the event and engage the public in very many ways. >> so far there are about 13,000 records set on the site from 65 countries but every day, someone, somewhere, is doing something new and crazy that is winning them the title of the world's fastest or longest or best something.

♪ so i did not set my world record yet but i absolutely plan to. belinda emerson, is the host of small business chat. she's the publisher of succeeds aher own boss.com. great to see both of you guys. >> thanks for having us. >> i loved this story. "a," of course because it's so fun to see all those people doing world records but "b" is, i mean, there was the guinness book of world records and that was it. he had an idea to take them on. and that's amazing to me. >> you know, the world is waiting on somebody to build a better mouse trap every day. and unfortunately the guinness folks let their brand get old,

stale. there's a younger, prettier model now out. record setter is cool, it's hip and brands that want to be associated particularly targeting young people willing to do crazy things, this is a no brainer for them to be using this company. >> you know what it is? it feels modern to me, that company. >> with today's day and age, with mobile changes and social media there will be new opportunities in every industry. what they did, they looked at an old industry in a unique way from the ground. they've created a compelling model. >> his comparison struck me. right? we are the wikipedia to the guinness book of world records encyclopedia britannica. that explains it all. the other thing i thought was so cool, he has this idea, he came up with it at burning man and he immediately figured out how to monetize it. how important is that? >> it's everything. great ideas are a dime a dozen but to take an idea from making it profitable and sustainable as a long-term business, that's

what everybody hopes for, right? >> and i think everybody is looking for media or their 50 seconds of fame. i think companies, i was thinking as we were watching, how would we set a world record? we would certainly pay for media. so i think it's a very monetizable model. >> the reason i say how important is that when the obvious question should be incredibly important is because so many companies get bought for lots of money and haven't figured out how to monetize their product yet. this seems to do a little bit of both. it's a way to get people, followers and they've already found the path towards revenue, which i think is really fantastic. >> it's going to make them sellable on the market. should they go to extra strategy in a couple years to get their investors back their money. >> they boot strapped it. what's fun about their offices, this is a guy who came from madison avenue. worked for a lot of really big ad agencies, in fancy offices and now he works, you know, on a

third floor walkup in this cool retrooffices but they are really doing it. he boot strapped it for a while and then proved right away there's something here and got these angel investors and venture capital funding which he didn't exactly set out to do. how many companies that you work with find that they've got something and then go out and go out and find funding but they don't actually set out knowing that this is going to be something huge? >> i think a lot of people think their biggest challenge is getting funding. at the enof the day, the biggest challenge is getting customers. when we're at our tour events, we saw the best funder initially is your customers. they will give you money and feedback to iterate. it will be so much easier to get investors. >> i love your mission, melinda, stopping small business failure. >> i hear bad business ideas but i see poor business execution

everywhere in the streets like the plague. i want to give them helpful information to help start and sustain a successful small business. >> thank you so much for all of your advice today. great to see both of you. >> thank you. good to see you. formal business partnerships aren't the only type of relationships that will help your business grow. here now are five informal partnerships worth nurturing courtesy of ink.com. >> one, local and national associations. the people you meet can serve as a broader network. two, professional partners. you law firm, banker and real estate broker can give great advice. three, businesses with similar target markets. connecting with companies that serve your car market helps legitimize your business and build up your reputation with client base. four, customers. a lead from a loyal customer typically translates into outstanding future customers. so encourage customer referrals.

and number five, unconverted prospects. potential customers who for one reason or another, didn't officially sign on but understand what your business provides can be valuable partners down the road. this week here in new york, the edison abards were given out. now in it's 25th year, the edisons honor innovative business products and ideas. the company i founded good search was one of the winners this year. let's meet some of my fellow winners. i'll start with frazier hall, the chairman of recon instruments. as a skier, frazier, i looked at your product and immediately thought it was so cool. explain what it is. >> recon makes heads of display systems. our first commercial product is a ski goggle. it connects to your smartphone,

the list goes on. >> you can see how fast you're going, how high you jumped. >> with a glance down, it's out of the normal field of view. it's a user choice. you look down when you feel it's safe and you can be connected to the world, it's infinite. you can connect to social media, smartphone, polar heart rate monitors. there are apps being developed already. >> once you jump, depending on how high, immediately posts to facebook. >> you can set an automatic trigger, and share with the world your own achievements. >> i like the automatic trigger. >> set your thresholds high. >> the other thing, it has gps. if your whole family has them, you know where your family is all day. >> we have buddy tracking. >> so cool, so cool. let's move on now. a lightbulb. >> yes, a lightbulb. >> the name of your company is.

>> switch lighting. >> switch lighting. you have this incredible lightbulb which -- what does it do? >> it's an l.e.d. lightbulb. the lighting industry will go through a massive transition from incan descent to l.e.d.s. there's been a challenge for the industry to replace the edison lightbulb that we're most familiar with. we've uniquely created a no compromise replacement. you can use this bulb in any orientation, any fixture, because we manage the thermals with our liquid approach so much more effectively. it creates the exact lighting experience, same color, temperature, same room-filling light. >> we can see it. we have it in here. looks the same. >> exactly. in any type of light fixture you put it in you get this

experience. >> we think of lightbulbs as disposable. this one not. >> 25-year life in residential use, 25,000 hours. six to eight years even in commercial use. it will become a consumer durable. when you move you'll take it with you. >> how much time went into developing this? >> it's been about four years to bring this to market. >> that's amazing. >> it's a tremendous technical challenge. that's because the edison awards recognized us. >> you started selling this month. >> we have more deman than supply at this point. >> you like hearing that. >> right. >> the lifting buddy. >> yes. it's a mobile lifting device that saves users backs. it takes the heavy out of heavy lifting and it reduces worker injury and increases the company's bottom line by saving on workmens' compensation. >> how is that different from what's out there now? >> what's out there now has been

around for 100 years and it's a pretty static device. you load things on it, take it to where you need to go and take them off. a lot of times where they need to do isn't at floor level or you need to offload the material. this has a secondary tow, adding technology to the traditional hand truck that raises and lowers to proper ergonomic height. >> how much research went into developing this. >> about a year. about a year. to kind of work out all the bugs. >> congratulations to all of you. >> thank you. >> this is amazing. i know it's a big honor given how much work you've put into these devices. it's cool. the edison awards, you're recognized for innovation. what's more important than that? thanks, guys. >> thanks, j.j. when we come back, should he open a brook and mortar showroom? and our elevator pitcher is

looking for support for her unusual bra pocket holder. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express. ladies, are you looking for a way to carry your essentials around without dragging a bag with you? today's elevator pitcher has an idea.

>> hi. i'm marla schultz, one of the inventors of the rack trap. it's an undetectable bra pocket that holes essentials, money, cash, i.d. inside your bra pocket. it fits safely in your bra for women of all ages, all sizes. women from young girls, college age girls to moms on the run, women in uniform, absolutely love the rack trap. it is very inexpensive to make. it provides a huge return on investments. we are looking for $200,000 to do our own direct response television commercial, do all of the merchandising, hire a media buying company and all of the fulfillment. we expect a huge return on your investment because every time we appear on television, be it the "today" show, wendy williams, the doctors, the view, the phone rings off the hook and women from all over the country love

the rack trap. >> good job, marla. >> thank you. >> you can't even see it there. >> stop looking. >> all right. let's start with you. how did you think the pitch went? >> i think the pitch went well. $200,000 doesn't sound like enough money to do all of the things you were trying to do. you didn't explain what percentage of your company you're willing to give up for that type of money. >> michael? >> first i want to know when it's going to be available for men? i thought the pitch was really powerful, connected. i really think the media part is really powerful. the more you can get on tv. i wonder if you can leverage the media more rather than go direct response advertising. >> would you you take another meeting? >> i would. i think this is a great product, the catchyness, the fun in it makes it sellable as well. >> michael?

>> yes, i would. >> congratulations. good luck with everything. >> thank you. >> thank you for your advice on this. if you have a product or service and want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on of gett investors, send us an email to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. please include a short summary of what your product does, what you intend to do with the money. someone watching the show may be interested in helping you. time to answer some of your business questions. melinda and michael are here with us to help out. the first question is about investors and their involvement within your business. >> we have a lot of investors coming in. it's difficult to integrate them into the corporate culture of the business. i was wondering if anybody had ideas of how to do that pretty rapidly. >> i love that question, one of the things is do you want to integrate them, right? >> no, i don't think you do.

unless they're coming into work in your business, i don't think investors should be integrated into the culture of your business. just understand, lots of investors? it sounds like a spaghetti mess. you want to insure that your money is worth taking on that number of personalities and frankly demands. >> that's something you can limit at the time of taking the money. saying i'm taking your money, you can get a return, hopefully, but stay out of my business. >> i agree with melinda, if you don't have the right investor and they're giving you advice that doesn't jive with what you know works and what the customers work, it can get kind of hairy. >> the flip side of this, if you have a lot of investors, who are strategic, we did a story on a woman who developed dvds for kids, mom investors, because she wanted their advice. she had advisory meetings that they would come to. >> it depends on what kind of investors you get.

if your investors give you a certain amount of money, they will take financial control of the business and you won't have the option of telling them no. you have to define roles clearly up front so it doesn't become a bigger headache than your cash flow problem was. >> absolutely. >> and the nice thing about strategic investors, by them giving you money, they buy into your business. >> but you're both right, expectations up front is the most important thing. >> the next one is from mark. he writes, i have an online store, but so many new customers with inquiries about my furniture are asking if i have a showroom. would a brick-and-mortar show room with all the added expenses help sales? >> this is a tricky one. it depends on where the largest amount of his current customers come from. if they are located in a geographic area that's concentrated, sure.

but if they're scattered across the country or the world, it may not pay off. >> besides doing the analysis, i think, about if we don't know something, how can we test it as cheaply as possible. i wouldn't jump into something at least for multiple years. if i can i would do it for a short amount of time. >> do a pop-up store, to see if people are coming and if it gets them to buy anything. >> this is a an email from bruce, he writes how do i develop a focus group to get feedback and ideas on my business? >> social media, social media. if he's active on facebook, look, people are willing to do lots of things for food. he needs to get some folks together, maybe existing customers, maybe friends and family, offer some food and that's a great way to get a focus group together. >> once you get them together, it's really important to understand how you are asking the questions. you don't want to lead anyone. and so i think it's important to

do research on that. >> i know, i'm excited about it a new idea. part of you wants to confirm the idea. when i'm getting advice, i almost try to set as much as i can, set the expectation, they can give bad advice, we're not bought into this, it won't hurt our feelings and really create an environment where they're as open and as honest as possible. and at the end of the day with focus groups, i'm always aware that whatever people say, that's a huge difference between what they actually do. >> if you have any way of testing their actual actions, put the product up on the site as if it's for sale and see how many people click on this. and finally a question from maggie. she writes one of our key employees isn't getting along with everything else in the business, what should we do? this is hard it seems like it might be easy. it's one of the hardest questions we've heard today. >> there's nothing more important than your employees at the end of the day. i would take this very

seriously. even though you might want to hope it gets better. i would facility as much conversation as possible between the two people. and all the groups of people and just try to solve it or make tough decisions as soon as possible. you don't want it to be wait until you have to make a decision, because things, people going to quit. >> i would say try to coach this person that's the problem personality through it. even perhaps consider hiring a coach to coach them through it. because a lot of times it's soft skills issues. it's like, i don't like how they spoke to this person. so if you can coach them through it, great. if you can't, get rid of them, because one monkey doesn't stop the show. >> it's very hard. i think the interesting part of this is my key employee. and so you're allowing that person to get away with stuff that you would never let everyone else get away with. >> you can't ever let any one employee ever become more important than the whole business. it doesn't matter what they do, you can get someone else to do it. do not feel handicapped, because

a lot of small business owners feel like you can't get rid of this person, yes, you can, you can always find somebody else. >> i would agree. every time we made the tough decision, we get somebody ten times better. you got to create the space. >> and you're talking about the culture of your whole company. if you let one person get away with something,ed is suddenly it feels okay for everyone to get away with it. the hr issues are so incredibly tricky and yet almost black-and-white if you just have the mustard to deal with them. >> i would say it's never worth compromising, you just want the a-plus people on your team. >> thank you for your advice. very helpful. if any of you out there have a question for our experts, all you have to do go to our website, the address is open forum.com/yourbusiness, hit the ask the show link to submit a question for our panel.

openforum.com/yourbusiness or email your questions to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. melinda and michael had helpful advice about how to improve your business. now great ideas from small business owners like you. >> my advice is to other entrepreneurs is to cross-train your employees to do not just one activity, but do several activities. so when slow times come around, can you take advantage of them and keep good employees working. overall, the employees do appreciate that. >> for latino praerentrepreneur forget about your country and adjust to the environment. >> you run your own business, the first problem is, you're running your own business -- stop that. let someone else take care of the little things and push off as much as you can to someone else. not the important things and

nothing about money, you want to focus on where your money is going. hiring a graphic designer to produce professional-looking catalogs can be a pretty costly move. if you're looking to save some money, our website of the week may be able to help you. line sheet maker.com is a great tool for any business that sells a variety of products. with the range of templates to choose from, you can easily crop and edit photos and descriptions on your line sheet. you can make as many line sheets as you need and after you're done, you can share your finished product using the provided link or pdf file. >> to learn more about today's show. click on your website, it's openform.com/yourbusiness, you'll find all of today's segments, plus web-exclusive content with more information to help your business grow. you can follow us on twitter, it's @msnbcyourbiz and don't forget to become a fan of the show on facebook. next week, we go to the boardwalk to find out how employers whose staffs are

mostly part-time teenagers manage to keep up with the next-generation workforce. >> you need to make sure one, that, that you're using all the digital things. that you're texting information, that your schedules are on the internet and online. that you've got a facebook page and you've got an employee website that's open 24/7. >> learn what tricks the old dogs are learning from the young pups. until then, i'm jj ramberg, and remember, we make your business our business. you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on