we traveled here to the famous fisherman's wharf because of a let are we got from one of our viewers, he wrote he was roried his father's business needed a makeover. we assembled our experts to swoop in and shake things up. that's coming up next on a special edition of "your business."

hi everyone. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business." today we have a really special story for you. it started with a writer's plea to help his parent who is own several jewelry stores. we got our team together and headed out to the california coast. i'm here in california with the "your business" makeover team to answer a call from one of our viewers. his family has been in the jewelry business on the famous monterey fisherman's wharf for more than 15 years, now he says they need our help. >> let's go give this business a makeover. you must be joe. >> oh, hey. >> i'm jj ramberg. it's so nice to meet you and get

to finally see your store. joe's family business, monterey basil ver. >> we've been here 15 years. >> is one of four independent jewelry stores next to each other he and his wife mary own and operate. >> i'm mary. >> it's so nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> we are thrilled to be here today. >> i'm thrilled to have you. >> so i saw this silver store. what's the name of this one? >> this is morning star pearl. >> targeting older women and a silver shop targeting younger ones. >> this is called splash. >> splash is less about an age group and more about fun. and then there's the most recent store called everything must go. filled with various leftovers at close-out prices appealing to bargain hunters of all ages. >> how did this happen? how you have one, then another and another one? is it just that space kept opening up? >> i don't know. it sort of progressed that way. i didn't -- i never plan too much. >> the reason we're here is

because your son wrote us a letter. my parents gave everything to give to us so that we would have a leg up in this world and have never asked for something in return. they are both now 64 and 65 years old without a retirement nest egg to rely on. it sounds like you guys, your whole life, your married life and business life flown by the seat of your pants. >> true. it's true. of course. is that how you see it? >> absolutely. >> you are making a nice living. something happened tomorrow, right, you don't have anything put away yet. >> yeah. i think it's time to think about that. >> planning for the future has never been joe and mary's style. but with retirement on the horizon, they now suddenly need a strategy. and we came in to give them one. >> on behalf of your children then, i am excited to get this team in here. i know you have been talking to them, and have them tell what you they thought through for your business so that at some point you guys can retire. >> oh, my god. >> now it's time to get to work.

and transform this free flowing business into a rock solid retirement nest egg. >> joe, the s.w.a.t. team is here. >> how you doing. >> they got me caught up on your business. they have lots of great stuff for you today and so i'm going to leave them to it and i can't wait to see what happens from all of this. >> wonderful. >> our first expert was chris meyers. he's the denver-based founder of bode tree financial software. >> what we did was sync up your accounting system, quick books, with bode tree u our product, will will give you a broad overview. >> chris ran joe's numbers and they are good but he found that with just a few small tweaks the valuation could increase exponenti exponentially. >> a few small adjustments that are pretty easy to do, we'll see that you can create quite a bit more value in the business.

we can go from in the 700s all the way up to potentially 1.2 million just by making a small change. >> with chris's analysis of joe's financials, together they created a road map to boost the value of the business. >> what we need to do? >> well, that's what helen is here for. she's going to help take this road map and translate it into something tangible. >> that's helen bowlwick. a partner at san francisco-based newport group where she advises ceos at top retail chains. >> as i looked at your overall business t silver business is doing almost half of your total sales. >> true. >> okay so. your silver business has about 70% of the inventory. you need all of those? you need them all? >> the way i've done it is -- overdue it in terms of certain items but i like to be -- somebody want as chain i got them all. >> like many entrepreneurs joe has always believed that more

selection means more sales. but that's not how helen sees it. >> i've been a buyer for the largest retailer in the world, and that's macy's and everything that we did there and everything that i learned was about reducing your assortment, not expanding them. >> as they examine all of the shops it became clear that each one has large amounts of unsold inventory. >> to make it easier for the customer to buy is to just narrow up some of this. narrow it up. >> helen's first recommendation, get rid of the slow selling merchandise. even at discount prices. and then use the cash to focus on what's hot and profitable. the problem was, how do accomplish that. >> i would love to get it this way where yeah, i can have 10 of those chains and get down to three i order again. because it pops up on the screen. that would be -- then i don't need this much inventory. >> of course. >> without accurate inventory tracking, joe worries he won't know when he is out of the good

stuff and left with just the clunkers. >> hey, and here comes dawn. dawn roland. >> hi. >> that's where our next expert cpa dawn roland comes in. >> my goodness. you have a full-blown point of sale system. >> you're kidding. >> you have a touch screen monitor which is nice and easy. you have a full key board cash register, computer, the software is installed all set to go. >> thanks to a generous donation by the intuit reseller program dawn got joe and mary fast tracked on the latest inventory control system. >> my gosh. that is so cool. dreaming of this for a long time. never stepped into it. i just was -- stepped away actually. >> no more excuses. you're going to know everything that sells, every minute of the day. >> and you'll be able to share those numbers with suppliers. >> exactly. >> they can help keep you in stock on the goods that sell.

>> so excited and surprised and i don't know who do i hug first? who do i write? can i make them lasagna. >> mary might be making more than one when she and joe see what the interior designers have drawn up for their business. joe can hardly wait to see what's coming next. >> well, i'm excited for you to see what we have in store for you. and then i'm excited to see what you do with it. >> we'll find out. i'm very excited to find out. >> we're not finished helping yet. we've got big surprises in store for them. stay tuned to see what they are. >> more and more businesses are turning to instagram to reach younger demographics. five ways to get the most out of your presence on the site courtesy of small biz trends.com. one, take a better picture. sites like pop photo.com and

cio.com offer great tips on how to use your smart phone's camera to take viral worthy shots. two, check out stains gram statistics. the site stat 0 gram will show on everything from the number of likes each of your photos get to the growth of your follower base. three, use relevant hash tags. before posting your image, search around for similar content to see which hash tags are likely to lead to the most awareness and engagement. four, give a behind the scenes look. candid shots help to personalize your brand. and five, post at peak times. pay attention to the times during the day when your images receive the most likes and comments yooxt the trends to be sure you are posting when you are most likely to reach members of your audience. stick around. when we come back we return to monterey, california for the "your business" makeover. we bring in architectural experts to show how to consolidate their four stores.

we also have more big surprises for them. 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. >> entrepreneurship people who like to start new things, they

are not necessarily good day-to-day managers. >> as we saw earlier, joe and mary have been so business we the day-to-day of running their business that they haven't had a chance to do any long term planning. now, as they prepare for their retirement, they need help changing the direction of their company. our makeover team has given them some advice. that was just the beginning. we have a lot more in store for these small business owners. >> the "your business" makeover team has arrived in monterey, california. they are here to help these jewelry store owners open ta miz their business so it can support them. looking through books and walking through the store chris, helen and dawn have already made a lot of suggestions. >> the fact is jj, it's a great business. i mean they are doing a million

dollars in 1,000 square feet which is about $800 a square foot. most retailers would kill for that level of sales per square foot. >> the challenge i think is just joe's where he's at in his life right now f. he was 35 it would be a slam dunk. no issue. but in his early '60s he's looking to retire, and that's where it gets difficult. >> are they in a position right now where they can count on these stores to take care of them for the rest of their lives? >> no, i don't think so. he's going to have to find a way to get these businesses optimized so he can step away, spend time with grand kids and still see the revenue. >> one way to boost that occurred to helen when she first talked to joe and mary. they get an extra discount on the high end pearls because they buy them loose and string them by hand in the back of the shop. >> you're not buying the pearls strung? >> no. >> does customer know that you are stringing the pearls?

that's a big selling feature. >> if they ask, you know. sometimes you can give customer too much information. >> that makes you highly specialized. right. that's a real key selling point and something you can become known for. who is doing the pearl string? if you're doing all of this, can we meet francis? >> sure. >> let's go find francis. >> come on. >> francis, we need to get you out in front of the customer in the front of the store so that they can see you stringing these pearls. they are going to love that. can you do that? >> i think i can. >> okay. >> we're going to work that out in some of our planning here. it's a pleasure. you are an artist, my friend. >> and the next step. >> four shops, probably not the best thing. can we actually turn this into one store? with all of the brands inside of

a single location, if we're able to do that, joe, it will reduce the overall payroll by two thirds. >> unbelievable. that's huge. that would be great. >> according to our team f these guys are going to up the value of their business, then they are going to need to optimize it by consolidating all four locations into a single store. >> mary and joe, you know, we have talked about how important it is to kind of bring this all under one roof. and so think we've got a real surprise for you here. have a seat. >> interior designers of the san francisco-based firm genzler usually work on plans for large corporate clients. after looking over joe and mary's space and talking with them, the designers are ready to present their ideas. >> what we're proposing is that we condense those three spaces into one to give you

efficiencies that we don't think you're having today. you're going to walk into the silver department, you're going to then go past fashion and we created a shop and shop which is your pearl area. and in the very back of the store we created an everything must go, very condensed but very efficient. we've given joe an office. >> fantastic. that looks wonderful. >> off to a good start. i think the first thing you're going to notice we changed the name of the store, surprise, so what we have chosen is name the new store monterey jewelry company. we think it cap turs everything that you're all about. >> that would work. makes a lot of sense. >> gentlemen jumped that. >> that's a good name. >> so mary and joe, we're going to start on this board which is the view that a customer sees when they first walk in your new store. as you walk into the store the first thing you're going to see is an employee and this is actually going to be francis,

stringing pearls. we believe in what we have referred to as retailtainment. in retail there is this idea of theater. and entertaining your customers. >> beautiful. >> on the roof there. >> these are light fixtures. i see that puzzled brow. they don't cost a lot of money. we have a source that creates them and has them brought up to code so that you are complying with all of the local requirements. >> i like them. >> and again, great. >> i think they look neat. >> they supplement the track light fixture on the ceiling. we looked at the packaging this is a great opportunity for you. so we created a packaging system for you that we think is going to be wonderful and your customers are going to love. you can see in the actual shopping bag we took the gusset, this is a photograph of the monterey bay, and we applied it.

shopping bags become a walking advertisement or bill board. they are going to walk around with monterey jewelry company. >> thank you. >> as michael and amy were wrapping up, helen stepped up to yet one more surprise up her sleeve. >> joe and mary, one of the things i know you're thinking about the expense of also doing this. coincidentally i sit on the board of directors of one of the largest fixture manufacturers in the country premier store fixtures and premier would very much like to create those fixtures for you. so that's one expense you're not going to have to worry about. >> thank you so much. >> so what do you think? >> i think it's awesome. i can't believe it. i'm overdone. >> you are the best.

>> so happy. >> it's a whole different direction. my theory was buy more sell more. it's not that way in terms of focusing the sale and putting the three stores together will save so many headaches in terms of overhead. totally a different direction but it changed our lives. i'm almost -- like a major life changer. absolutely. i feel like inspired and ready to roll again. feel like i'm 21. >> yeah. it's something we've been dreaming about, talking about, and now you brought it to fulfillment. it's really hard to just say a simple thank you. >> joe and mary are with us now from california. it is so nice to see you guys. >> it's so nice to see you too, jj. >> i would love a progress report. so tell me where you are. i'll list a few things. the name change, monterey

jewelry company. is it going to happen? >> it's in the works. yeah. i would say everything is in the works and progressing well. there's a lot of different fronts from the p.o.s. system and yeah, i think -- i think it will hopefully we'll have the run at summer here to test all of the theories. >> did you start knocking down walls yet? >> yes, we did. everything is actually in progress in terms of the remodel right now. >> basically, everything that from the -- everything must go store is almost completely gone. >> so are you getting rid of all of these clunkers then and making more room for the stuff that sells? >> exactly. and it's been really fun and great because i haven't had to buy inventory. it's kind of like a great experiment. all of the people are just fantastic. >> it was a fantastic piece. joe, this point of sale system

must change everything for you because you were sort of buying in the dark before. now you have real data. >> exactly. >> yes. it's an ongoing experience because we're still loading it. in this business i've got there are so many items which makes it even more valuable because it's so hard to track. it's not like maybe another store. in the silver business there's lots of items. >> especially that we can eliminate so much inventory. and we love the ideas, and chris, helen, amy, michael, they were so helpful. >> what has it been like for you to step back and get this group in there and say okay, you need to do this, this, and this and then you can retire. it's really a change of attitude. >> yes. i've been a little hard headed. >> no. you? hard headed? >> so kind of like going yeah,

but you know, i always say when something's a truth, you can't deny it and i think that like all of the theories are solid and i hope, this is so different than what i've done like the overloading the inventory, trying to carry everything. and just focusing on the good sellers. yeah. it makes sense. >> you know, i know your kids were worried about you guys, they are so grateful for everything and they want to make sure that you guys have a nice time in your retirement whenever that happens and so good luck with continuing and finishing all of the changes and we look forward to checking in with you again in a few months. >> we're so excited for it all to come together. that's our main focus every day. >> thank you so much. >> your small business's reputation online and offline is crucial to future success. if you want a way to improve what shows up when you are googled check out our website of

the week. brand yourself.com is a do-it-yourself platform that allows you to quickly and simply manage your business's presence online. users submit the profiles they want people to find when they are googled. the site then walks you through ways to make those links appear higher in search results. your progress is monitored and alerts are sent when your results change. time now to answer some of your business questions. let's get our board of directors in to help. larry change is a managing partner at a company that invests in high growth boot strap companies. and colleen is the director of media at the story exchange a nonprofit media group that provides stories about entrepreneurial team with partners like "the new york times." so great to see both of you. >> great to be here. >> let's start with the first question. the first about employee benefits. >> the whole arena of benefits for employees and my people is changing a lot. and it's very confusing because

of the costs involved. so the easiest way out for a small company is not to do anything. is this the right approach at this point in time? >> good question. you know, it's confusing but i've got to say it's always been complicated. benefits so. if you are inclination is to give benefits i don't think you should cop out by not giving them. where does he start? >> i think the fact that it's complicated is not a good reason not to offer them. ultimately your business is as valuable as the people that are inside of it so the best people are going to require benefits so there is a small window in a young company's life you don't have to offer benefits but that ends quickly. >> so where can he turn to uncomplicate it? >> i think one of the simplest things that any business owner can do is to encourage employees to maybe go out and find their own individual policies, say we're talking about health care, they can now buy policies on the exchanges, the state or the federal exchange or maybe go to an individual provider, and then offer to reimburse, at least a portion of that. you know, that way you're giving

something to your employees without going through the massive setting up a plan, you know, you're not inkurg all of the administrative costs but doing something. so at the very least, i would encourage him to do something like that. and then maybe if things go well from there and maybe things are going well with the company, he can then put a formal benefits program in place. that's a good place to start. >> and there are also a bunch of companies that you can outsource this to, your pay roll and benefits. there is a fee to your point but at least it gets the headache out. >> you can outsource but i encourage him to look at nontraditional benefits. you can spend 20% of time on personal projects, not having a true vacation policy so more flexible hours and so forth. those are non-financial things you can do. >> it's a great idea. >> move on to the next about how to best invest money in your

business. >> i'm building my business based on the amount of clients that i'm getting per month. so my question to you is should i seek additional funding now to help really jump start and grow my business in a big way or should i continue to use my profit and put it back in? >> i'm going to start with you, larry. these are the companies you look at. boot strap high growth companies. do you say we are interested in putting money in you? >> so despite the fact i'm an investor i think the default response is to use your profits to invest in the growth of your business. there are two criteria i think you should qualify in order to look for outside capital. which is your market has to be big enough that it could support an investor and the capital you raise and secondly you have to know how you are going to spend it. that you can acquire customers efficiently, you know which channels and so forth. if you're not sure it might be early to raise capital. >> i think that's a great point. >> yeah. she was asking should i go out and seek funding. she can try but whether she's

going to get funding might be a different story. judging from the looks of her company i see it's named after herself so it's possibly like a consulting service, probably not the type of high growth firm that someone like you would invest in. if she still needs early stages it's going to be hard to get a bank loan. you sauls say with a bank, the one time you can get money is when you don't need money. that's when you qualify for a bank loan. if she really, though, is looking for funding one option is maybe crowd funding, a lot of people do kick starter campaigns, maybe there is a specific project that she can kind of put her toe in and you know, figure out if she can raise money that way. and kick starter, whatever platform. >> or to the lending -- >> yeah. any of those. it's also a good way to get the word out about your business. usually have to put a video and a profile up. it's a nice way to spread. >> market it as well. the next one, a question about contacting people on social media. >> how do prospects and business

owners feel about financial services professional asking for connection on linked in to stay connected and perhaps building relationship for future business together? >> i think it's a good idea. that's what linked in is for. >> no. >> okay. >> let's be clear. >> that's my gut response because i get queries like this on linked in. i think linked in, any social media but linked in i think works best when it's supplements an existing relationship. you don't start the relationship on linked in. i think especially for financial services professional who you know, wants to manage someone's money and is an intimate thing, you've got to get to know that person the old way, in person or through a referral. and then you can act on linked in. >> i think you have to have one meaning basically offline interaction before you start to consider it so i would agree, having a face-to-face meeting, even a really substantive phone call is at least a baseline to consider friending someone or connecting with someone on

linked in. >> before we leave you have a really neat thing going on now on your site. >> it's awesome. we always cover female entrepreneurs but we put out a call to look for young women to watch, young female entrepreneurs and came up with our ten young women. these are amazing young women who are doing everything from invented removable wall paper, having rodeos for special needs kid, they are doing techie stuff like online scheduling tools, really amazing women. >> but maybe there is someone you want to invest in, larry. check it out. so great to see both of you. thank you for stopping by. >> thanks. >> my pleasure. thank you so much for joining us today. if you want to see any of the segments again they are posted on our website. open forum.com/your business. we put exclusive pieces up there as well. you can find us on twitter, it's @msnbc your biz and facebook and instagram too. next week, the owner of a

security guard company realizes her company's growth was limited only by her imagination. >> i didn't have the scope right. and i think that's what stop as lot of small businesses or at least keep as lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs where they are is they don't realize the size of the opportunity that's out there. >> how a shift in attitude can change everything. till then i'm jj 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. good evening, thanks for being with us. let me say up front that this is not a story about north korea and that that's kind of the point. but on october 9, 2006, at around 10:30 a.m. local time the ground started to shake pea nooet a small village in northeast corner of north korea. halfway around the world, back here in the u.s., seismologists recorded what looked to be a 4.3-magnitude earthquake. but what happened in north korea that morning was not an earthquake. it was a nuclear explosion. >> kim jong-il denies the u.s. and the world and claims to have set off an atomic weapon. >> that day in 2006, the secretive, repressive north korean regime showed the world that they had built and tested a