national small business week kicks off just as community small businesses and their trugless end their headlines. maria con temporary ra on what the government can do to help. plus the owner of six restaurants finds efficiency and another revenue stream by establishing his own supply chains. all of that 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 j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. we have seen with recent events the important role small businesses play in a community and how cities and towns can suffer economically when small businesses struggle. to help small businesses out, major events speeches and workshops will be held around the country from may 4th through the 8th as part of national small business week. this year the small business administration will hold gatherings in cities including miami, los angeles san antonio, new york and washington, d.c. to recognize the contributions of small businesses. small business administration head maria contrera sweet joins

us to talk about the plans and so much more. administrator, it's so good to see you. >> likewise. so good to see you, j.j. i'm delighted to see you lifting small businesses across the country. >> thank you. that's what we do here. before we talk about the celebration, i want to ask you what's going on in baltimore because when i see things like this, my mind always goes first to the small business owners right? and so these people who are losing business because of looting, fires curfew you know, for a big business maybe a day, a week doesn't matter if you're shut down but a small business it can be the matter of life and death of your business. what kind of safety net is there for these people? >> well, out of sba we have a very special office that we call the office of disaster assistance, and we structured the sba just for the reason you outlined. when a governor deems a state emergency, they notify me and we can go in and provide loans. we've done this across the country whenever there was a

sudden or natural disaster. we can come in and help with economic injury relief for home loss as well as business loss and so this is the only time where we actually do direct lending. it's a really important office and it's been used over and over in instances like katrina. you just described baltimore. i experienced the los angeles riots and sba is there as a really strong partner to help people get back on their feet focused on small business. >> i know in the past these loans have been a lot of red tape. people were complaining that the loans were there but it took them a long time to get them. have you been working on streamlining the process? >> i've instituted three new initiatives since i arrived a year ago. first, we had one cue. we've separated the cue so now we separate the home loans from the business loans. we have experts that just know how to process those. so we're getting them through a lot better as opposed to mixing them up and not knowing exactly what you were getting next. the next thing is we are doing more of them online.

the third is the way we mail out more pro actively and, fourth we have stations on the ground talking to people every day encouraging them to apply. so as a result we've seen so much more efficiency and effectiveness in employing those small business disaster assistance loans. >> let's switch gears and talk about the celebration. small business week. i've been amazed to see how this event has grown since we've been doing this show and how it's gotten so much more attention and you guys seem to be doing a lot more. what is small business week all about? >> j.j. first, let me just thank you because you've been there for us and you've been an emcee and thank you for what you've been doing to lift small businesses. that's right. i think this celebration has to be twofold. first, it's an important time for us to honor, to remember the role of small business. you know, as you just amtptly pointed out, everybody talks about corporations. they're important players. in terms of our global

marketplace we need corporations to thrive and succeed, but today it's the small, the small businesses creating two out of every three new jobs. we have to recognize the important role they're playing in our job creation strategy creating 61 months of consecutive job growth something we've never seen in our country before. again, driven by the small business. so that's it. first a celebration and, second we have to promise the small businesses that whether it's in a disaster situation or just every day, that we will make every effort to always shop local, shop small in our communities to make sure that we're lifting these families that risk everything to provide us something that is unique from them uniquely you know local to our community and it makes our communities more interesting for tourists. >> do you have a favorite small business that you guys are going to be honoring in one of these cities? >> oh, my goodness i have favorites in everyone. i can tell you that i enjoy doing three things. i enjoy going to see one of the growth accelerators. these are places where

millennials and encore entrepreneurs get together and they're innovating, inc. cue baiting new businesses. i stop to salute those that are just starting to grow their businesses. i also go in to visit. again, i think we forget sometimes about the importance of stopping and shopping at our local restaurants. i like to visit another craft or something like that so i've got mine all picked out across the country as i go from miami to los angeles over to new york san antonio, and washington d.c., on friday. >> i think one of the neat things when i've been to you're vents is a lot of the small businesses that get a lot of press and honored are these fast-growing tech companies, right, that everyone is sort of fascinated by how they started small and grew but really so many small businesses are the people that you know start these coffee houses or when i was there it was a woman who made blankets. so they're these small companies

that are a little bit less sexy than the fast-growing tech companies that you guys take the opportunity to honor and show what they're doing for the economy. >> yeah. i think you're spot on j.j. we have the main street businesses that i just described that we do have to honor, and i think that even when we innovate, it doesn't have to be high tech. it could be something very simple, but sba has had success in all walks of life. we've helped a woman who was a veteran come in and start a simulator training program for her fellow men and women in uniform. we have seen people come in. i just recently saw a spoon for people who tremble so that they can go in and get the peas and get them in and eat with dignity. a really beautiful technology. yet, of course you know that we helped start under armour a clothing company. we helped start several companies that are now part of the mars rover curiosity who are exploring mars. and so we have to celebrate all of them the local aestetician

to the local person who's sending things out to our eco system. >> have a good time. we will be watching to see who you're honoring. thanks for taking the time to stop by us. >> wait until you see the winners. you're going to be kpleesed with the combination we have we have a veteran, somebody in clean technology as well as somebody who creates clean technology. follow us on #dream small biz. >> thanks again. >> be safe. reno chef mark estes is a force to be reckoned with. he's not shy about sharing his past failures or recent successes. his excitement is about implementing a supply chain to vertically help his restaurant. we went to nevada to see firsthand how he's doing it. >> this is the story of how one

reno nevada chef opened six restaurants in three years and took control of his supply chain. >> sometimes a little bit of knowledge is dangerous, right? so i hear this word vertical integration. of course i look it up online pops up wikipedia, there it is. i read it. i have it posted up in my office. vertical integration, becoming one's own supply chain. >> this was mark estes a-ha moment. if he could implement the supply chain, he would be setting them up for long term success. something that eluded him in the past. >> i had a bunch of failures. what did we do wrong? i know we can create a great restaurant, great food be energetic and passionate in what we do. how do you make a great business? >> that attitude has been the driving force ever since his first restaurant moody's didn't make it. after eight years of blood, sweat, tears and rave reviews and a packed house almost every

night, the business just couldn't turn a profit. >> it was a really hard lesson to learn, but if you're not watching the cash flow bottom line, if you don't have your systems in place, you're not going to be around so long. you're so deep and under, you can't fix it sometimes. you just have to start over. >> when he did start over he decided the business side of running a restaurant was equally as important as great food and service. >> so for myself looking at rebooting, getting honest it was like okay what do i need to do? i knew i needed to pay attention to systems and numbers. >> this time around he got it right. his new found obsession with running a business by the numbers worked. estes' infection enthusiasm for reno good local food roll up your sleeves led to success starting with campo opening six restaurants in the reno lake tahoe area in rapid succession. >> let's talk about the new menu coming up for spring. >> vertical integration wasn't be a new idea. henry ford famously took control

of his supply chain by producing the components he needed for his own cars instead of buying them for a third party. >> i'm going to make electrical parts, then i'm going to make an electrical company and supply my own tires. shoot, since i'm doing that this is the part that i really love i might as well sell it off to pontiac or whoever else. so that's the idea of this white label. >> with the fate of moody's always in the back of his mind he quickly realized that his restaurant portfolio, including campo, chez loui and burger heritage could benefit. >> why don't we create reno provisions. as we do that, we'll create a store. if we do that we might as well create white labeling sell it to ourselves, all our restaurants, then we also sell to other restaurants so we have these three levels three areas that we vertically integrated all coming from that one hub of

the kitchen at reno provisions. >> it may sound simple but the move to control his supply chain was risky. not only did he have to find financing to build a facility but he also had to figure out the logistics of making things he previously purchased or make on site at each individual restaurant. >> a really big undertaking that has all these different facets to it that have come together under one roof. >> sort of like a smallish whole foods has a commercial butcher that operates. martin was so intrigued by the idea that he took a 50% pay cut as the head pastry chef at a large local casino to be part of estes' team at reno provisions. >> it's pretty neat. we do centralized production here. we have people specialized at just pastry and just bread. you have a good tight control on your quality and products. it makes business sense.

it's a lot more efficient than having individual pastry crews in each restaurant. >> we followed some of the products made at provisions and saw firsthand the supply chain in action. as the orders came in the food was prepped, and the delivery truck went out. >> our best customer highest volume customer is burger me. we're doing anywhere from 800 to 1200 pounds a week of ground beef and we're doing anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 buns. >> for core products, estes relies on a girl farm for high quality pasture meat that estes uses from nose to tail. >> the last thing i wanted to do was be a pig farmer and then i fell in love with the pig. it's an amazing experience. then you come along with a chef like mark who honors the animal and that's what he does. he doesn't just call me and say, i need 10 pork lines, he says i need a pig. >> the local pork is then delivered to reno provisions where it gets turned into several products including

their first white label food. a maple sage sausage for a new breakfast place in reno called two chicks restaurant. >> we were thinking about the concept of two chicks. he was thinking about reno provisions and we had a conversation about doing the sausage. so he makes a special maple sage sausage just for us. it's easier and it's faster and it's local with local pork and now he's doing apple cinnamon swirl bread for us that we make our toast with. >> they were our first white label. this he could call it their own homemade sausage but they chose to put the reno provisions label on it which is cool. >> with reno provisions open mark is still actively tweaking the concept and as always his healthy regard for the numbers has him a little nervous because they aren't where he'd like them to be not yet. >> everyone knows where we make it. i have everyone building towards that and slowly but surely every week we're short less we're

short less we're short less. eventually that's how we'll get our cash flow going in the proper direction. you know? john lineonline video can be a way to market your business. check out our website of the week. wystia.com is a professional video hosting site that track analytics who's watching your videos and for how long. you can see what point in the video your viewer loses interest and how many times a viewer watches the same video. this can help make sure that every video you make captures your market with every click. finding great employees to hire can sometimes feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but there are ways to keep a look out for talented new hires. here now are five ways you can make your company a top way

destination for talent. make your job listings stand out. paint a picture for the applicant, be clear and point out unique percs and benefits. two, highlight your company values. if they are a strongly defined part of your culture, be sure to include them. this can simplify the process of finding potential employees hoor like minded. three, host or sponsor a local meetup. these events shouldn't take a lot of money or time but they can be a way to engage with the community to recruit potential employees. four encourage employees to use glass door the popular jobs and career online marketplace includes reviews of companies, ceos. because the place is a safe place to talk about your business, it can be a powerful new place for potential hires. five, promote from within. this will help boost morale and can engender a stronger sense of loyalty among current employees. when we come back. how much should you share with the public when telling the

story of your business? plus, how to overcome the fear of taking definitive action and play along at home as we judge this elevator pitcher presence for his line of plant-based tableware. 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.

take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at your business msnbc.com or tweet it at msnbc. there's a lot of focus right now on companies developing sustainable products. today's elevator pitcher explains it. michael is the creator of book yourself solid marketing and selling approach. erica nicole is founder of young, fabulous self-employed magazine better known as yfs. >> hi. >> how are you? >> good. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. i'm randall satin and i'm the

founder of ethos. our table wear is made of corn based bioplastic. it has all the durability of plastic but is completely compostable when you throw it away and will decompose within two years in a landfill. i had this idea when i was working as a food and beverage manager at a hotel. i'm a bit of a design nut. i figured what better way to champion sustainable living than something we all do three times a day and that's eat. we're currently running a crowd funding campaign on kick starter.com. i'm really excited to say that we've already hit our goal but i'm seeking another $100,000 which i would like to devote to staffing and help me run the day-to-day operations of the business so i can really focus on the things that i need to branding marketing, continuing to develop the product and expand the products line. >> you know randall, that was a very good pitch. i love -- i think these are beautiful. >> thank you. >> i'm going to give these to

you guys. i want two scores from one to ten. first, the product. what do you think of the product. second, the pitch. what do you think of the pitch. so these come in both of these colors, right? is this the entire set of what you sell? >> they come in both of these colors and actually four more. we actually use organic vegetable dyes to color. >> congratulations on kick starter for already hitting your goal. you still have more time? >> still have 23 days remaining. would he hope we continue to make progress. >> michael, let's start with you. the product and then you can show it. >> 7 for the product. 7 for the pitch -- 4 for the pitch. >> that's a 4. let's go right to the pitch since i feel like you have a lot of improvements there. >> sure. so you were nervous, which makes sense. you're on tv but if you're going to be pitching you've got to get to the point where you're not nervous anymore, where you are so passionate about this that the nerves become irrelevant. they're secondary. they go away. so that's number one. number two, it is a little flat a little boring. i didn't remember much you know? it just kind of sat there.

and i don't know why i should choose you because the product is one thing, but ultimately i'm investing in you. >> okay. >> so i didn't get that. >> it's great advice too, because there's so much here right? it's such a story that that could really come out in your presentation. erica, let's go for you. >> i think you did an excellent job. i'm going to give you an 8 for the product. >> thank you. >> the reason i say that is because your green business model is huge. i think that's a really unique value proposition. on the pitch i gave you an 8 because i would love to see a little bit more numbers, traction. you did say that you met your kick starter goal which i think is fantastic, but for that $100,000 investment, what kind of equity stake were you looking at for the investors. that's important to carve that space out as well and look at the numbers and see exactly what you want to use that for. give us some additional numbers to give us traction. >> sure. >> great. thank you so much for coming on the program. >> thank you. >> again, i think your product is beautiful. >> wonderful. thank you. >> we'll work on your pitch and

get it up there. thank you for your advice. it's incredibly helpful. if any of you have a product or service and you want feedback from your elevator pitch panel, send us an e-mail. the address is your business@msnbc.com. include a short summary of what your company does how much money you're trying to raise and what you intend to do with the money. we look forward to reading your pitches and seeing some of you here on the show. it's now time to answer some of your business questions. so let's get michael and erica back in here to help us out. the first one is about sharing your story with customers. >> my question is -- has to do with marketing and when my clients are sharing about themselves and their story, what's that right balance of how much do they share with their community? >> i'm going to start with you, michael. this is what you do. you help people tell their story. >> sure. i don't want to know if you're too busy frustrated political beliefs, none of that. here's the thing that's interesting.

the two most popular posts on facebook that i've ever made one was when i shaved my head and two was when my grandmother turned 102 years old. >> oh, wow. >> she's still 102 years old. people are interested in you as long as it's not too much information. they want the personal as long as it's not too much but they don't want any complaining. they don't want to know that anything is hard. >> right. >> so important. >> and i think as you're building a business, erica, i know you as the founder of yfs magazine but you shared with us you have an automotive company. knowing something personal like that about you and your story of how you started these companies, why you started yfs, that really connects me to your businesses more. >> exactly. that resonates. the most important thing is sharing. keeping in mind, it's all about your audience right? what's in it for me? value creation. any time you're sharing something in the social space, sharing it through your online brand, always think about what's in it for me wiifm. also say, how am i creating

value by sharing this piece with my customers. >> how do you make it real and how do you make it -- i mean everyone says authentic now so i'll say how do you make it authentic, it's annoying now sort of, how do you make it so you're not just talking about yourself all the time. >> what she said is so important. i love boating. i share my boating lifestyle. if i share too much it becomes completely irrelevant for the people i serve. what we want to ask ourselves is what is the story we're trying to tell. >> right. >> how do parts of our life tell that story. and there are some parts that don't. so that's the question. you know we're always playing a role and the question is what role are we playing in front of our customers. what do we want them to know about us and that's what we share. >> put yourself in their shoes, right? how will this be received by them? >> yes. >> let's move onto the next question about getting your name out there. >> i have a small business that help the community as it relates to health insurance and what's

the best way to go out and get customers? is it -- would it be a church? would it be an event or maybe you have a different suggestion? >> something is going on in the universe right now because i have been asked this -- a version of this question a lot just within the past month. i have a great product. it's tested. i know it's good. i know there's a market. how do i get people to know about it? >> exactly. the first thing i want her to do specifically is make sure she needs to have an acquisition model in place. as we know on average it takes six to seven more times to acquire a customer versus looking at the ones you have mining that data being purposeful and looking at ways to retain and possibly use referrals. you have the customers that are locked in. continue to market to them in a smart way to build revenue. when you have enough you can build out and branch out to more customer acquisition. >> here's the problem. she said how do i sell to my community. community is not a target market. community is a whole big group of people. who is she serving?

she needs a target market for three reasons. number one so she knows where to go do her marketing. number two, so that they know she's dedicated to them not everybody. >> exactly. >> number three, so they can spread her messages for her. they already have established networks of communication. and then she can show -- she can do networking direct outreach referral strategies speaking strategies, writing strategies web strategies in the places that those people hang out. >> right. so find the person find your target person first then go find where they are, is it at church the other places? >> she can mine that data that she has to find where her current customers came from that way she knows where her ideal customer is playing. >> otherwise you're putting your business card up at the dry cleaner. no one is going to hire someone to buy health insurance. >> i have hired a guitar teacher from there. >> exactly right. >> finally, here is a question about motivating small business owners who are scared or feeling overwhelmed, which frankly is a lot of them.

>> what do you advise people to do when they are parlalyzed and not able to take effective action? >> what do you think. >> i think when it comes to paralysis analysis usually it's a lack of systems and processes. i would tell her to start to invest in productivity tools. there's great tools out there on line. a sauna, 17 hats. a lot of tools to help you wrap your head around all the different things you have to do in your business. most times when entrepreneurs are stuck it's because they don't know where they need to go next, how to prioritize. i think that's important. >> i am so with you. the money is in the systems. it's always in the systems. it's how we do business is where the money is. the other question i ask is which is stronger your fear or your desire? because until your desire is bigger stronger -- >> exactly. >> -- is more real to you than your fear you're going to be stuck in that fear place of overwhelm. we screw up all the time. you maybe don't. you probably don't.

>> i do. >> but i know i do. so the question is are you scared of screwing up or are you excited about what you can do? >> right. >> until that desire is stronger than the fear it's a tough place to be in. >> you guys thank you so much. this is a really fun conversation. great to see you both. and if any of you out there have a question for our experts, you know we answer them every single week here on the show. here's your chance to get some great advice. just send us an e-mail. the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. thanks so much for joining us today. if you want to learn more about the show head on over to our website, it's openforum.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. we are on facebook and instagram as well. next how christina v found her number one employee her

mom. >> could you have ever guessed that this would happen that you would get a job and be working for your daughter? >> never in a million years. and i think maybe that's why it works well. it just happened so naturally. >> we look at how this mother/daughter duo has turned a hobby into a growing business on a very special mother's day family business show. till then, i'm j.j. ramburg. 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. today marks 70 years since the germans surrendered in world war ii, the nazis surrendering marked the end of the war in europe. but it did not mark the end of worlgd war ii. victory in europe day after germany surrendered was may 8th 1945, but vj day in japan did not come until august of that same year after the u.s. used nuclear bombs to forced them to surrender three years after hitler killed himself. in the closing days of the war, japan