a bridal search engine with an internship program that's propelling its growth. and we sit down with jack dorsey, founder of twitter and square as he visits small businesses in harlem. 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 and welcome to "your business." whatever size your company is, interns can be an amazing source of affordable health. but, if it's not a good match, we all know that those extra hands can be much more trouble than they're worth. loverly is a bridal search engine that's developed a winning formula for finding interns who are perfect fits for their brands. with a little help from their friends and an all hands on deck mentality, the interns at this company aren't on the sidelines, they're front and center. it's the middle of the day in new york city, and alexia connelly has made a coffee date

with a friend of one of her colleagues. but this isn't just a fun, chatty time-out from work. for alexia, this is work. >> tell us about what inspires you? >> alexia is in charge of finding the next crop of interns for her company, lover.ly. a website geared towards today's brides. founder kellee khalil started the site in 2012 with just herself and a web developer. the team quickly grew to six full-time employees, but it didn't take long for them to realize 12 hands was not enough. >> we realized we were getting more content than we could handle and we had more retail partners reaching out to us. we couldn't onboard fast enough and we needed low-cost help. but we needed smart help. >> the solution? interns. but from the beginning, kellee knew that it wasn't just about filling seats. and it certainly wasn't about exploiting talent. she created a well-organized, paid internship program. >> we want them to feel valued. and so i think it's important to compensate their interns for the work that they're doing. and their contribution to the company. >> today the contribution has been pretty significant. the company hires about 20

interns throughout the year. and they use them to do social media, design, and editorial work. and they serve as a readymade focus group. >> our interns are the demographic that we're building our product for. they are the future prize. they're the ones that are super tech savvy. they're up on social. and so we heavily rely on them for their insights. >> lover.ly's first group of interns were found the way many companies find their student help, through listings on john boards. >> there were a few standout all-star interns that we just fell in love with that we wanted to bring back for the next semester. and when we were thinking about recruiting our next batch of interns, the thing that came to mind was, how do we get more people like you? and i went to that intern and i said, do you have friends that are like you, interested in fashion, interested in weddings, that want to learn? and she said, yeah, i have a bunch of friends. >> that's how lover.ly's referral based internship program was born. >> organically she brought in

four or five of her friends to a group interview. we realized the model works. those four interns turned out to be fantastic. >> today everyone comes through a referral. here's how it works, after taking inventory of what departments need interns, current students are sent out to recruit on their college campuses. >> our internship questionnaire is basically just a list of everything that we would want to see in an intern. some of them are skill based and some of them are personality based questions. you want to make sure that their aesthetic and interests really mesh with our company as a whole. >> if the person seems like a good fit they're given homework. the assignment can be anything from creating bundles on the lover.ly site to putting to the inspiration boards to show their creative side and what they're interested in. >> anybody really can create a great resume. but we really want to know that this potential intern could do more for us. we want to know that they really, truly, enjoy our product, and that they have shared interests with us. and that's not something that you could necessarily get from a resume or a cover letter. >> next, candidates are invited

to a group interview with kelly at lover.ly headquarters. >> i tell them a little bit about the company and what they're trying to accomplish and get them excited about the opportunity. >> kellee says a big reason the internship program has been so successful is that they take hiring personally. the process helps them really figure out what makes each candidate tick. >> our interns actually sit right across from me. getting to know your interns is key because you know what their interests are and their skill sets lie and also what they're studying in school. >> and that personal touch is also the draw for the interns who apply. it's not just a paid position to them. it's a rare chance to wear many hats and really get their hands dirty. >> we give our interns opportunity to try their hand at all the different departments. and they can really figure out what they like. and that's something that is really hard to find. it's hard to go in to an internship environment and feel like you have the opportunity to say, hey, i like to do that. let me try it. >> while this all may seem like a lot of work for a group of

interns, after all these are temporary employees. in the end, for lover.ly it has paid off long after the internships end. alexia herself started out as an intern. and, turns out this program has become the best recruiting tool lover.ly has. >> they're already invested in the company. they understand the culture. they're baked into our mission and our vision. >> for lover.ly, smart and pro-active interns are one way they recruit and keep good talent. if you're a business that provides services it can be difficult to find that. our website of the week may be one way you can access a bigger pool of qualified candidates. shiftgig.com is a service industry network that connects talented bartenders, waiters and other service providers with the employers who need to fill those positions. small businesses can post available openings, and with over 700,000 registered members,

choose from people with experience and references. the site also provides industry related content so that you're always on top of the latest news and in touch with the greater service providing community. jack dorsey is a billionaire entrepreneur who's revolutionized the way we communicate with twitter and the way we do business with his latest company, square. his companies are far from small businesses anymore. but it turns out his passion still lies with small companies. i tagged along with him recently in new york city where he was meeting with some entrepreneurs in harlem. jack dorsey seems to have a knack for starting companies that make things easier. the unassuming 36-year-old tech titan is one of the co-founders of twitter, and more recently, square, a device a lot of small business owners know, use, and love, because it allows them to take a mobile credit card payment almost anywhere with a

phone or tablet. passionate about small business, dorsey is crisscrossing the country, talking to entrepreneurs about how things are going in their local community. his latest stop was harlem, new york. where square hosted their tenth let's talk event at the apollo theater, bringing to the local business owners, neighbors, and government officials, for a candid discussion about small business. >> one of the trends that we're seeing is a real focus on local businesses, so we're hoping that this night, the biggest takeaway is not just one conversation, but many conversations over the course of the next few years to really build up the neighborhood. >> small businesses is really what people came to this country, thinking that they could succeed in. >> i started my business because i was in transition in my own personal life. and you know, i lost a job. so i found this place and i said i'm going to go in and produce a product line. so i had no idea that i was going to end up brick and mortar.

so now i have a skin clinic instead of a product line. >> i moved to harlem last year and six days later, i saw this beautiful corner, i'm like, we need to make coffee shop here. >> i sat down with jack at manny pena's astor row cafe to talk some more about small business and what he's learned from the entrepreneurs he's met during his tour. you are in the heart of innovation, right? i mean you are very much the heart of innovation yourself. you started to -- two of these companies that have changed the way people do things. do you feel that same kind of excitement, that same innovation as you're going around the country talking to small business owners? >> absolutely. i mean there's an electricity in the air and it's one of the reasons we chose harlem for this event. is because you can feel it. innovation is, you know, one of those big abstract words that becomes meaningless because we tend to use it so much. but, but what it means is, you know, rethinking old ways of doing things.

and, you know, recognizing new intersections. and what we're seeing is that there's a trend back to a local and crafted and neighborhood experience. people want this experience more and more and more. so, we see this massive growth and all those local businesses springing up around the neighborhood, but also a desire for them to sell nationally. and sell internationally. >> we spent the last year going around to main streets around the united states and we saw that the ones that really work are the ones that think of themselves as a community. so how do you get people to step back and say, this isn't just about me, this is about everyone. we all rise together. >> we have to make time not just to build a business in isolation but to build a community. to build the neighborhood up. and you know, if we're focused on the neighborhood, every business in that neighborhood rises. every residence in that neighborhood rises. >> what do you find? what are people are saying is the hardest part of owning a small business? >> there's no simple interfaces to tell one, this is exactly what you need to do, here's the checklist of things that you need to open up a business in a neighborhood.

here's what you need to -- here's the permits you need to get. here's who you need to talk to. we're finding a lot of people are undervaluing the data around the business. the analytics around the business. so, you know, simple things, answering simple questions like, you know, what is my most popular item. what's my busiest day? what happens when it snows? you know, what's the trend of selling macchiatos over a month? so these are tools that we want to provide all of our merchants so they can look at that data and look at those analytics and make quick decisions about how to grow their business. >> do you run your business differently because of all the data you receive than you would have if you opened it ten years ago? >> having access to this information, it's part of like running a modern business. like when we open we didn't have time to go through the data. it was available. when you kind of like settle in and i was able to see, oh, sundays the busiest day between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. so i need to actually get more staff.

>> you feel a sense of optimism out there or a sense of, what do you feel? >> i mean there's definitely a sense of optimism out there. there's a "new york times" article not too long ago about the number of independent coffee houses outnumber dunkin' donuts and starbucks combined in new york city. and that shows -- >> there you go, manny. >> that shows a real trend. that shows a trend doors the local crafted, independent experience. people are thirsting more it. they want to see more of it. they expect more of it. and more people are able to get in. and actually have an impact there, as well. so, people feel it. whether it's st. louis, detroit, stockton, san francisco, and right here in harlem. each year because of technology, things are getting faster and better and at the same time, cheaper. so, how can you keep up?

when companies keep coming into your industry and turning it on its head. in other words they keep disruptding your industry, how do you make sure that you're not left out in the cold? paul nunes is the co-author of the book "big bang disruption" and he's the managing director of research at the center institute for high performance. great to see you. >> it's great to be here. >> so i think this is a real big issue, particularly for small companies. i mean there are the small companies that are disrupters, right? and we could talk about how they get the word out. but for the ones who aren't. who've been doing things the way they've always been doing them, how do you know what's going on in the world so you know what you need to change? you talk about finding truth tellers. >> yeah, truth tellers are a special concept that we borrowed from soap operas on television, actually. these are the people that help you see where the story's going. they do the revelation, oh, she has a twin sister kind of thing. in your business who is the person who tells you the truth about where it's going? and sometimes it can be a steve jobs or somebody like that, oftentimes small businesses will think the ceo has all the answers.

but oftentimes you can find your truth tellers, even in employees who go to different companies, for example in pinball, a lot of those designers went to computer -- to video game companies because they saw it as the future. >> interesting. so the people involved in pinball they just stopped to think, okay where is everyone leaving me to go? >> exactly. >> that's the future and i need to be thinking about that. >> exactly. >> you also talk about current employees can be truth tellers, too, because they're in the weeds, right? >> yeah, exactly. oftentimes the folks that have really the best handle on where the industry is going, what the latest technology is, are the people who are right in front and center and on the line. so those that are actually pulling different parts from different places to make your product, they know what's available. they know when things are getting stronger, better, cheaper, and they can often see the way the winds are blowing, just like the pinball folks. >> right. so it might be worth just once

every little while taking a stop. have a meeting and say okay, what are you guys seeing? >> one of the people we interviewed told us he looks to people who are interviewing with his company. says what do you think we're going to be doing in the next ten years? why are you coming -- >> he's writing notes. >> that i should be that kind of company. >> okay. now let's take the flip side. okay you're a disrupter, right? >> sure. >> and there are other companies all around you. i guess this is not the flip side yet but if you see a disrupter in your industry, right, if these bookstores had seen amazon, which they did, but had the foresight to do something about it, what do you do, how do you change yourself to get ready for the disruption that's happening? >> well, there's a couple things companies can do. one of the ones we talk about is creating what we call bullet time. for those who have seen the movie the matrix, it's about slowing down time so that you can actually manage what's going on. and so how can companies do that? sometimes it's about regulation in the industry. sometimes it's making sure that there are practices and that everybody's playing by the rules. sometimes -- >> small businesses don't have the power to influence regulation or fair practice. >> not always true.

you think about lift and some of these new taxi cab services, their software on top of the industry, they're actually using customers. what small business can do is get customers, because of social media, they filled courtrooms with average -- >> okay so that is if you are -- so you're taking the time, if you are a disrupter, here's how you can -- >> leverage your consumers, leverage your buyers, and their lover of your product. >> right. >> because today, big bang disruption means lots of folks, when you're better and cheaper, everybody wants you. >> right. >> so you take off very quickly. and it's that social media thing but you have to use your customers. small businesses don't have the money to advertise, push their product. they need to leverage their customers, as advocates, as even investors. >> the truth is disruption is happening in every industry. so, you cannot ignore it. all right, thank you so much for coming on. congratulations on the book. appreciate you sharing it with us. when we come back, we'll answer some of your small business questions.

including one about monetizing apps. and we're looking for trouble. trouble the dog, that is. the creators of this plush toy have their pitch graded by our experts for gps, growth, passion, and strategy. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line 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 it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

innovation can come from anywhere within the organization, and the challenge for an organization is to create hurdles high enough that you don't pursue everything. but low enough that good ideas are not crushed. the i-robot roomba vacuum cleaning robot is actually an employee idea. >> when you need some help, but don't have the resources to hire someone full time, using a freelancer can shave hours from your work week. here now are five ways you can use a virtual assistant to improve your business from entrepreneur magazine. one, bookkeeping. a trustworthy virtual assistant can take a huge load off of you by following up on tasks like outstanding invoices or unpaid bills. two, online research. need to vet business contacts or find information on corporate

websites? some outside help with these web searches will free you to do work that's higher on the priority list. three, data presentations. you can focus on getting the meetings, and outsource the job of putting the actual powerpoint together. four, managing e-mail. a virtual assistant can help you filter your most important e-mails and respond to the rest on your behalf. and five, scheduling. having someone to deal with meeting invitations, plan meetings, and arrange meet-ups with clients can be a huge time saver and help you keep organized. time now to answer some of your business questions. gene marks is the head of the marks group and a columnist for "the new york times" and the author of the book "the manufacturer's book of lists" and angela lee is the founder of 37 angels, an angel network and angel education program. great to see both of you guys. and the founder of three other businesses, right? so you are truly a serial

entrepreneur. and you are a serial guest on this show. all right. let's go -- >> and i like cereal. >> the first question, this is about people who are willing to work for free. >> there's a lot of great talent out there thaz willing to work for really cheap, if not free most of the time. we're kind of conflicted internally because we do have some funding to pay them. but at the same time they're still willing to work for free. should we continue to go about this with them? >> it seems like these people should not be offering to work for free right now. let's not take the internship part of it. let's take people who are giving services who -- older, more experienced, but are willing to do it for free. >> well, first of all, i spend my money on two things. my barber, that hasn't worked out very well. and my people. i've always been a guy that overpays the people that work for me. i don't want people working for free. i want to make sure they're doing the work they should be doing. even if somebody's working for free i want to make sure. --

>> obviously there are legal implications so if someone is giving you a service with the idea that maybe they'll get more later on? >> i'm going to disagree a little bit and say i'm completely comfortable with it. set up expectations up front. if someone does a good job, you can always pay them later. but i think that if there is -- they want media exposure or have you as a client, whatever the case may be, so long as it's a win-win for both parties it doesn't have to be monetary compensation. and somebody who is boot strapped, you know, i think it's completely fine. >> i think angela's point is really she deals with start-ups all the time. so she's trying to save money as much as possible. i'm an existing business. i'm not looking to get a deal on a person. i want to pay or overpay somebody if they're doing the kind of job i want.

>> i want to distinguish this from hiring somebody. you have to pay. we have this from zoli. we create great educational software, how do we protect our patents from major corporations with deep pockets without spending thousands of dollars on patent lawyers. >> my answer is you can't. if somebody wants to steal your idea, they have longer timelines than you and deeper pockets. i wouldn't come at it from that angle. >> i can't argue with a single thing you said. >> this begs the question, should you get a patent in the first place? if you don't have enough money to defend it, should you? >> probably not.

you have to have lawyers to defend it, make sure it's constructed the right way. >> is it worth something later on when you are ready to exit and sell to a bigger company? >> i don't think people buy patents. that's not the value of your company. the only exception is pharma. >> okay. let's move on. we have one from eytan, he asks with a mobile consumer services app, at what point should you start focusing on monetization? >> i just wrote about this in "entrepreneur magazine." i'm a believer you make money -- earliest possible point, you can monetize is when you monetize. i think start-ups biggest asset

is customers. sooner rather than later. >> maybe you give something for free, then charge for something more. >> completely agree in terms of focus, you want to immediately know how you'll make money and test it. that being said, if you know, for example, that retailers are only going to pay for the subscription model once you have 50,000 users, you can wait to execute monetization, but testing if people will pay. >> thank you for the advice today. and if any of you have a question for the show, all you have to do is submit it to us. go to openforum/yourbusiness, once your there, go to ask the show link, if it's easier send us an e-mail at yourbusiness@msnbc.com.

a few weeks back in our holiday gifts segment we introduced you to trouble the dog. today the creators of this toy are ready to pitch their effort to find a business partner. >> my name is sheila, this is donna this is trouble the dog. she is an american made brand, design designed by my niece after cancer losses in our family. i looked at his iconic face. i said it was like being divinely inspired. i drew up a business plan, wrote a book, commissioned a scientific research study that trouble does elicit hope, joy, comfort in children. if you read our testimonials u you will see this is not your every-day plush animal. kids totally get the concept of trouble. >> currently you can get trouble online. he's also available in select

bookstores and boutiques. we need a partner with strategic marketing and background development to get trouble out in front of as many people as possible. think hello kitty. we're willing to offer percentage ownership. >> all right. your time is up. thank you for creating such a beautiful product. and good luck to you going forward. let's think of this as a business now. so let's go. gene, i will start with you. we'll grade. g.p.s., growth, passion, strategy. let's start with growth. in the pitch did they express how the company has grown and its traction? >> yeah, we saw at the beginning -- i have to lie a little bit. we did speak a little bit beforehand as well. >> one through ten, a number? >> i have to say growth plans are a seven. >> okay. passion. how passionate were they? >> an absolute ten. this is a wonderful idea and i think it would help so many kids. and the passion came through. >> and the strategy, did you understand the strategy?

>> i did, but i will give it less of a grade, i will give it around a five for strategy because you're going to rely on everything with a strategic partner. not a bad idea, but it really depends on what the strategic partner plans to do with this product. that's why i'm up in the air. >> okay, angela, growth, one to ten. >> i would have loved to have heard about the overall market. how big is this market? what would it go to? i would give growth possibly a 6 out of 10. i love the story, passion is a ten. it comes through in every word that you guys say. and then in terms of strategy, i would have wanted to see more focus in terms of what's the anchor. is it the movie? is it the plush toy? i would give strategy a six as well. >> and the totals are, gene, 22 -- >> i wasn't keeping track of the numbers. >> you were trying to add it up. >> and i'm an accountant. >> angela was 22, also. two 22s out of 30. good luck. thank you so much for creating such an important product are

for the world and good luck with your business. >> thank you for having us. >> and thank you, too, for helping evaluate their business plan. >> love trouble. >> thank you. >> and if any of you out there have a product or service and want feedback from our elevator pitch on your chances of getting interested investors send us an e-mail, your business@msnbc.com. please include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise and what you intend to do with that money. you never know, somebody out there watching the show may be interested in helping you. thanks so much for joining us today. to learn more about today's show, just click on our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. web exclusive content with more information to help your business grow. you can also follow us on twitter. it's @msnbcyourbiz. please do not forget to become a fan of the show on facebook. next week one entrepreneur sources his supply stateside instead of taking production

overseas. think about what's in your backyard. find out what people do, what are the industries in your area, and how to tie into it. >> we'll tell you how he managed to find all of his suppliers within about a two-hour drive from his office. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg and, remember, we make your business our business. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line 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 it's open for everyone.

there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. there are a lot of different styles and shapes of taser stun guns. what i'm about to explain here will not be exactly true for every taser in the world. to get a general sense of it, this is helpful. this is a side view of a taser stungun. you see this one has a regular pistol grip and has the trigger there like a normal gun. you look down the barrel at whatever it is you're going to shoot it at. interestingly, this is a picture of a taser when it's loaded. now, look at this other picture. this is the picture of a taser when it is unloaded. you see the difference? there's a whole piece on the front that's missing when it's unloaded. that's because the way you, quote, load, at least this kind of taser, is by atta