maythey may be competitors but they learned both can succeed by helping each other out, and a coffee maker, a brewer and a chocolatier join forces. how collaboration can lead to profits. 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 everyone. i'm jj. welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to helping your small business grow why. the word competition doesn't always conjure up a warm and fuzzy feeling. usually it's someone you want to beat or a company you want to be more successful than. that's not the case for everyone. we introduce you to one entrepreneur who believes collaborating is actually better than competing. he started edworking with his competition when he noticed they had products and customers in common. common. >> even when talk to brands or family about it they're like you

work together with your competitor? i think the answer is yes. >> to behe has no problem collaborating with his competition. the owner of the educational supply store all about education in downtown lexington, north carolina knows that some people just don't get what he's doing. >> i'm not sure what they would think, you know, maybe we're crazy. or maybe that we're brilliant. >> morgan and her parents ronnie and bonnie who run education express are the competition in question. but frankly, you would never know it. >> i don't like saying they're competitors because they're our friends. >> the majority of our customers that are repeat customers know we have a relationship together. when they pull out their discount card from either store we like to say, gosh, you're not shopping there are you? he does the same with us. >> they have three stores. two close to toby's business. the winston-salem location is to the north.

another is to the south in concord. both are involved. if you look a a map, you might think there's no overlap. you would be wrong. >> we have customers that come in every day a lot of times, that are telling us i've been to the winston-salem store. >> our customers are talking about the business. they're at our counter talking about all about education. >> they know the clients they share are willing to go to the distance to find the workbook ss, brain games, and school supplies for the students in their lives. >> there's not a lot of stores like ours left. they have to drive for any store. >> i think they see us as a community of stores who are in it for the educators. >> the products they're selling aren't that different. >> 90% of what we sell is direct competition. >> it doesn't stop the pair from collaborating. they are sent to each other's businesses all the time. >> the customer is our number one priority. if our customers are satisfied then we have a successful business. whether it's all about education or education expression. >>st there's been equal amount

of times we've sent people to them they sent people to us. inventory swaps happen on a regular basis. >> we have a meeting spot on the highway, and, i mean, there are times go to their store or they come to my store when we have something we need. >> if there's a way to get items to teachers and parents faster it's worth it. >> it helps me to have three stores to pull from. it gives them an additional store to pull from. >> if the margins are not there and we're not getting free shipping why not get it from him when it's on the shelf. >> speed isn't the only factor. so is cost. customers don't have to pay more. >> the price is the same. it's exactly the same whether they buy it for me or them. >> the better news is exchanging inventory can save customers money. there are no extra fees and the companies say that leads to loyalty. >> it's customer service to work with our competitor to get the item quicker.

the customers is who benefits. >> the companies place orders together to get free shipping from their suppliers. >> if we can't get our order where it needs to be why not clat rate together so we can get the best for us. >> they coordinate visits with the sales reps. they want to make it easier for people to come to town. >> for us to schedule the appointments together so when they come here they then go to toby or vice versus and make sure they get touched and seen by the sales reps. >> conversations about what products may sell best are constant. >> we're making each other's store better. >> toby said the educational supply industry is different from others out there. it's just not as competitive. >> most all of the education stores are very friendly very willing to help you with new items or, you know just ideas of things to do.

>> while they chat about a lot of things certain topics are off limits. >> i don't know their bottom -- you know what they do in a year's time. i don't think they know what we do in a year's time. >> as far as numbers at the end of the day, that's an area we don't have to share. and don't need to share. there's no added benefit for sharing our sales goals. >> and while you might think the relationship could lead to a merger neither side is interested. >> i just really enjoy being in a small town. i think the people are the biggest part of it. >> we're separate entities. i think he got into it for one reason. we got into it for another. he's growing his community and he has the presence there. we have a different marketing strategy as far as being in a maul setting. >> so the collaboration will continue. they agree their partnership has been worth it. and would encourage others to consider it, too. >> by working together we're helping the end user which is potentially a child. i mean, the adults are the ones in here shopping but most of the time the end user is a child.

so we're working together for the children i guess. >> what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. and working together. collaborating with a competitor may not be usual. but working with other companies that are targeting your same customers is. it can work to boost your sales. we saw this happen when the separate owners of businesses selling coffee chocolate, and beer joined up to sell their products together. three small businesses with very different products have a lot more in common than you might think. >> patrick chocolate makes craft chocolates. >> they each embraced the concept of cobranding. >> we're combining two brands together to build stronger presence. >> josh ferguson the owner of this coffee shop in st. louis

made cobranding part of the business strategy. he believes companies can help create opportunities for each other. >> we have a way of cobranding with and on we like it to be successful. we like to promote it in our stores. >> the company collaborated on a half duchblz products. one of the most prominent is beer. >> we decided to combine two products we care about. coffee and beer and created the coffee stout beer. >> they have worked in conjunction with local craft brewer on coffee stout since 1994. >> the first brew of the day should be coffee for many brewers to blend that with beer seems like a natural merit. >> the partnership is in the packaging. >> we wanted to make sure it was very obvious it was cobranded. >> both companies have made it very clear that the coffee plus a local beer equals a quality product. the relationship has been so successful that the seasonal brew consistently sells out.

>> we get people to come in all the time that are so excited to hear that they are brewing their next round of coffee stout. so that makes us excited, too. i think it helps, i think it benefits both of us. >> allen, the owner of patrick chocolate about 125 miles away in columbia missouri basement one of the partners after going to a coffee tasting. he suggested cobranding. >> i thought what if i did a white chocolate and put coffee in it. the result was two chocolate bars each made with the beans. >> it was just the first bar. we began working on a mocha which is a character chocolate bar. >> it was a bit different. the packaging incorporate's elements of both companies. >> everything we collaborated with it has a strong presence of both. >> when we sell them to our

customers, we mention kalvdi on the back. >> in addition to the patrick mocha that sold exallen said the deal has done wonders to up the company's profile. >> being able to get our chocolate in their stores and have their customers taste it and become repeat customers. >> the models are relatively straightforward. >> the investment has never been a leading part discussion president of it has come late in the game. >> here is how it works with the clock late. patrick buy the coffee beans and the sales belong to patrick. on the other hand the money from the bars sold belongs to them. they pay for the labels. >> they wanted for their stores specific packaging. >> they sell their bean for the

stout and there's trade involved. are if the companies agreeing to cobrand was as simple as a handshake. it's not always as easy as that. >> if you get into a cobranding situation, make sure it's something you know you can trust. >> getting the product launch tooked months of research and development. the entrepreneurs say they believed in their partners and the products right from the start. >> you have to be able to say, you know, even if we weren't working together i would buy this product. >> the benefit and the pitfalls of cobranding are you knock to each arrangement. and these entrepreneurs say cobranding is a risk worth taking. funds can get tight when you have a small business as we all know. there are several simple things you ku do to cut your costs. here are five ways you can save your company time and money courtesy of entrepreneur.com. one, get cash for ink cartridge

cartridges. sites like this offer around $20 for empty ones. two, use free forms of software. you can find some online. three, use connected apps. many new services work effectively when used together. leverage linked providers with possible in order to save time. four build your business credit. you'll be able to access more financing at better rates when you build your credit through your business' name instead of your personal account. a free service makes it easy to understand, bill and protect your business' credit. and five refinance for better rates. you may be paying high interest because you had poor credit when you initially borrowed money. so renegotiate your existing financing. as an entrepreneur multitasking is a necessary

skill and this week's app of the week will help you be even more productive when you're on the road. tip bit is a free mobile app that pulls everything you need to work effectively on the go to one single interface. you can round up your e-mails and get the latest scoop on linked in facebook and twitter. you can connect relevant documents to the e-mail so you have the necessary information on hand. big news in the world of search engine opt myzation this week. google changed their algorithm so it takes into consideration whether your site is mobile friendly. if it is not, you'll be pushed down the list on the search pages. people were referring to the change as mobile get it. what does it mean? lance is a chief correspondent and editor at large and he's here with helpful tips to boost your search ranking when people are searching for you on their mobile devices. so good to see you.

>> thank you for having me. >> it doesn't seem to have happened, but i don't think we can ignore it. i haven't read tons of stories who people who dropped down in seo. >> nor have i. i think this is case maybe it doesn't have the biggest impact. it's something people have been talking about behind the scenes. google is making it public. think mobile first. we certainly are. and if your site if your business is not ready online for mobile devices, well we don't want to offer a bad experience. because how do people find things? they go to google and type in pizza, dry cleaning, you know carpet cleaning, and up pop the sites. if your site isn't built for a vertical scroll of mobile device, you're going to be lower. but everybody knows -- how do we search every day? how do we view the web now? even if we're not outside our homes. we'll be sitting at our desk tops and laptops?

no. with our ipads, our mobile devices, we're scrolling through them. that's the mobile experience. everyone understands that's what people look first. >> right. okay. that's basically what google is telling us as well. right you're saying this is what we're concentrating on. it's a good reminder for us take a look at the site and see how it looks on mobile. give us some ideas about how to -- for some people only paying attention on their big screen what things can we do to make us look good. >> image optimization you want to make sure the size of the image, how big the files are. run it through. set a limit. very important. don't use flash. >> right. >> just stop. you know, it may mark the final death of the lash. design for vertical. so don't make people skolcroll to the right or left. imagine it's a phone, you know,

a galaxy or an iphone and they're doing this. if you put your information in a vertical scroll you're going to help yourself immensely. there's something called responsive to design. it's smart enough to know how to resize depending on the device you're looking at. so it has beens to be this site where you can look at it on the desk top or look at it on something as small as the iphone. it's the same side but automatically resizes itself and makes sense. most developers understand that. >> to me that's the only answer. when you're designing for mobile. then you're not designing two separate experiences. you're taking your site. but it's tricky because -- and i know this because we have gone through it with my own company. you get something that is beautiful on the screen and then you put it on your phone and it just doesn't work. >> so it means a lot of fore thought. it means -- first of all, your

site should be smart enough to recognize the device it is on. >> yep. >> it has to sniff that information and resize it. when you're designing you have to think about. you have the panels that show full width, half width, one column. you know, when we were designing our site that's what we went through. it seemed very complex. once you do it then it kind of lays the groundwork and becomes easier. if you're concerned -- if you don't know you have your own website and you have no idea is it ready? google set up a site and will run the test for you. >> that's great. it's great to see you, lance. maybe it wasn't what people were predicting. its a good reminder to everybody out there that look think mobile. you're crazy in you're not. >> your in your customer's hands whenever you are. still to come getting insurance for your new small business. how to get the attention of potential partners. and today eels elevatore erore erore

erore eror -- created by women entrepreneurs. american express for travel and entertainment worldwide. just show them this - the american express card. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace plane tickets, traveler's cheques, a lost card. really? that worked? american express' timeless safety and security are now available on apple pay. the next evolution of membership is here.

jack it is a platform with women can find out about upand coming premier products and learn more about the women who created them. best of all, women receive amazing deals on these products. when i give them their exclusive discount code to use on the entrepreneur's website. i carried the best of the best. so women don't have to pore through should understand thousands of product. i showcase the products and tell more about the women's stories. i'm asking for $250,000 so i can build brand awareness, build more traffic to our website, and source more products. please visit jackiedeals.com. >> you are well rehearsed. good job! i'll give you this and those two. so one to ten two scores. what do you think of the concept. how do you believe the pitch

went? i'm guessing these are two of the things you feature on the site. >> yes. these are examples of products. >> okay. in is a purse and this is a candle. once it becomes warm you can use it as a body butter. >> i gave her an eight for the pitch. she's confident and passionate. i feel the one thing i would love to know what differentiates this from all the many deal sites out there. more importantly, when you look for the $250,000 for marketing, what are you going to be focussed on? what specific channels do you want to reach? and the video content is create but the similarities are there for a lot of other products or

technology out there. >> all right. >> all right. i've got an eight for the pitch and seven for the product. jackie, you were fantastic. you give a lot of confidence. your pitch was strong. it looks like you believe in women entrepreneurs. it looks like you believe in what you are doing. i did a seven for the product because i think you have a lot of competition. one, and two, you need a stronger differentuater. i wouldn't be surprised to see you start here and warps into something more. it's great you're building the entrepreneurs. the meat is right there but the other things might need a little more fitnessing. >> it's about the cure ration and people telling their friends and et. cetera. we're excited to see where your company goes. thank you so much for pitching in on the show. >> thank you for your feedback on this. if any of you have a product or

service and you want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chances of getting interested investors. all you have to do is send us an e-mail. include a summary of what your company does how much money you are going to raise, and what you're going to do with the money. you never know somebody might be interested in helping you. it is time to answer some of your business questions. what are the kinds of insurances a small business owner should think about when they're opening their business. >> age lot of people forget about this. what did you think about when you started your business. >> there's so many different insurance pieces you have to think about. i encourage all entrepreneurs to consider business operators insurance. it's an umbrella almost like personal umbrella insurance that makes sure you have all things

considered. professional liability. workers compensation. there's business interruption insurance you need should something should happen. i group in two camps. what is required and what is recommended. it helps especially if you're looking at a budget thinking what kind of insurance should i. look at things like disability insurance, workers erscompensation. every state is different. you want to check with every state you do business in.

mentioning looking at new business liability. what are some things i can do to protect myself >> i find my biggest successes come when i reach out to my clients individually. but i only have so many out to clients individually but i only have so many hours in the day so how do i find a way to balance my automation and my personal outreach. >> one is i think being creative in how you outreach. you want to be keking and making sure what you're reaching out with is relevant. people will want to have repeat dialogues with you whether you're using social media or direct connection through phone or appearances that you do getting involved in the community. it's really about having something that is relevant.

delivering things of value to them. things that they can use in their lives and business. >> but when you're talking about social media this is you to many. what she is talking about you to you, you know? one to one. is it important? cost benefit. is it important to go out there and talk to one customer? >> sure. it is. i think the challenge is scale and that's what she is referring to. what are people looking for? what's your audience looking for? it is content. they want something that is rel relevant and useful to them. e-mail marketing even though you're reaching out one to many can still be very personalized in that way. how uch can you scale as a small

business. >> i spent a lot of time on linked in and other mens trying to reach partners for my company. do you have any shortcuts or best practices or insider tricks to try to get by some of the gate keepers. >> go directly to the top. i think with linked in you don't have to go through gate keepers. it's totally okay to directly connect. there is really two keys. one you want to be persistent. it does take a few tries to be able to connect with the person. you want to be personalized about it. it's really important to say what's in it for them and why reach out to them in that first place. if you're going to take the time to do it definitely do it right. >> do your home work.

i think being able to reach out in a way that really explains why you need to make this connection and why it's valuable to you. the other thing that's a creative idea is that we have organized events and things in the community where we invite somebody to speak and we reach out to that person and say we would love for you to speak and engage them that way about that area of expertise and then you can have a dialogue which delivers value to them and it opens that door. >> that's a great idea. thank you so much. this was really great advice. loved seeing you both. >> and if any of you have a question and you would like to get them answered here we answer them every week. just send us an e-mail. >> thanks everyone so much for joining us. to learn more just click on our website, open forum.com/your

biz. you can also follow us on twitter and we are on facebook and instagram as well. next week a chef with multiple restaurants figured out a way to improve efficiency of his business. >> it's a really big undertaking that has all of these different facets to it that have come together under one roof. >> how to vertically integrate your business by taking control of your supply chain. remember we make your business our business. american express for travel and entertainment worldwide. just show them this - the american express card. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace plane tickets, traveler's cheques, a lost card. really? that worked?

american express' timeless safety and security are now available on apple pay. the next evolution of membership is here. the race to replace last night's keynote stoker. -- speaker. all right. good morning to you. thanks for getting up with us this sunday morning. we are live in our nation's capital in washington d.c. as we come on the air this hour there are new details emerging in yesterday's massive earthquake in nepal. we will be checking in with relief workers on