a dirty job but someone has to do it. how this woman created a successful business cleaning up crime scenes. and these inmates at the women's prison are turning their lives around by learning entrepreneurship and starting small businesses. 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're proud to

present "your business" on msnbc. hi everyone. i'm j.j. ramburg. if you have a business that addresses the issue that is hard to talk about, it can be really tricky to spread the word. if you work in an industry that is associated with horrible events, for example, crime scene, how can you put a positive spin on what you're doing. we went to tampa to meet one founder who had to figure out a way to market her company that cleans up after some horrific situations. in shows like csi and breaking bad, crime scenes and meth labs are the pivotal setting. in real life though when all the police tape is cleared,

there's often chaos and debris left behind that no one wants to clean up. that. is no one but former law enforcement laura spalding. after being on the scene for terrible crime in 2015 she saw an opportunity. >> it was a double decidehomicide and it was on christmas. i was helping the people that had no means to pay for it but their homeowners insurance covered the clean up. after i was done i thought this is it for me. this is somewhat i want to do. >> laura started a company that specializes in crime scene clean up. she soon sfoundfound she had little competition. the work wasn't steady at first. >> it's death-related and we added hording in 2006 and meth

lab clean up. those circumstance tashl. she has to hit the street and go door to door. >> it is an awareness thing. i'm going to multiple hotels i'm going to apartment complexes, insurance companies because when they get that call they don't know where to turn. you would initially get the same reactions. we'll never need the service. and two weeks later they're saying i can't believe i'm calling you but we had a suicide or something of that nature. so you don't think about it when you don't need it but when you need it they knew where to pick up the card. >> that's what happened for kohler who met laura through a mutual insurance and never thought she would need her services. >> my son was killed january 4th of this year. he was murdered by a young man that he was ride to work with that morning. the police came and had -- and

when they let me baseball in they told me there would be, you know a lot to clean up and it was bio medical waste it would get better to get someone. >> a quick call to someone she never imagine she would have to call. the workers took care of the job she was thankful she didn't have to do herself. >> it is tumultuous when you lose a child, especially like that in your own home. it made things easier. if i had to clean it up, if my son had to clean it up i think it would have made it so much harder harder. i was glad i met laura before. a lot of people don't realize there's somebody that can take care of that. >> rather are a realizes that's one fact she needs to change. >> this is not your typical service. this is not a typical coupon or

find a buy one get one free. obviously that's not going to apply. you have to be strategic about how you advertise. and some of the advertising has been billboards with outlines of dead bodies and that will get your attention and i know they're going for an awareness type thing. maybe it worked for them but that type of approach doesn't work for us. >> instead discreet professional probrochures that addresses each service individually. make sure that each customer base is catered to separately. >> i designed the brochure to talk them. the horders don't want to know you do a crime scene and you're associating them with crime scenes because then they feel worse about themselves. >> the sensitivity to what her customer needs spills over into how her team delivers on each and every job. >> for hording we're sensitive

about the way we speak to them. we teach the employee that you have to be empathetic. i'm going help you started. you have to be sensitive in these type of situations. i spend more time on that because i think not everyone is from the same background. not everyone grieves the same way or understands the way people grieve. >> knowing her employees well ensures even on the job she's not taking care of herself, height level of service her business is known for continues on. >> i can tell what their strengths and weaknesses are. when i put them on a crew, say, for example, deals with a hording job, i can assign who i want to be the lead and the contact for the customer. >> her ability to speak to the needs of her customers, and market what many see as an insavory business tastefully means the future is briegtd for spaulding decon. she's franchising and has inquiries pouring in. >> we do the services that no

one else wants to think about and provide peace of mind. >> i think the growth of this business is unbelievable. it's a recession-proof business. the need is never going to go away. the awareness is only growing. getting past horrible events and life-changing mistakes can a b a challenge. that's where entrepreneurism can often be a positive force. that's exactly what we discovered when we visited a woman's from is in oregon. where learning to own a small business is helping inmates turn their lives around. at the coffee creek correction facility in oregon once a week you'll hear a conversation like this. >> whether you're busy or not. is she a goods or expense? >> expense. >> okay. welcome to life or lifelong information for entrepreneurs. it's a 32-session course teaching female inmates a the.

my mum security campus how to start and run their own company. >> in fact the communication involves active listening to understand what others are saying. >> en though some of these women have been convicted of crimes like attempted murder assault, and manslaughter nobody cares what about the students did to get into prison. the focus is on what these women will do when they get out. >> i've always liked to run things. and i would loveable to the owner of a business. you know, rather than the employee. i would love to employ people. >> this is a student of the life class. throughout the term, she and her fellow classmates are learning everything you need to know to launch a company from the ground up. >> we cover the pnl, we cover the balance sheet, we cover soft skills like communication, effect iive listening, working. the class is built around being able to build business.

doug cooper is the director of mercycorps. northwest in oregon. she's been with the program since it started. >> people that were incarcerated, obviously, coming into an environment where having a felony conviction is going to make it difficult to find a job. being able to start your own business or be self-employed seemed like a viable option. >> after having a conviction of manslaughter i didn't think anybody would want to hire me. the idea of starting my own business and being able to make a living was appealing to me. >> so far about 100 inmates have completed the course. 5 to 10% have started the businesses. michelle will soon join the ranks. she's just about to start her company. just about a year and a half after getting out of prison. she came up with the idea while enrolled in the life class. >> prison mail is a huge issue, and a lot of people are really

disappointed when they adopt get a birthday card. it seemed like it would be a good thing to do if you could mail out cards for people and they wouldn't have to worry about it. >> after raising $1,000 herself and getting a $3,000 grant she was ready to go. >> it was pretty exciting to actually, you know, sit down and write something up and figure out what the feasibility and the idea is and really pick it apart. >> actually starting a business out of prison isn't the goal. creating the confidence so someone could start one is. >> we want them to be more economically secure. by that have that as a means to rebuild their lives and to be successful. the name of the institution is correctional facility. if the implication is that you are learning to do something better, that requires education. >> tanya was one of the first students to ever take the classes while serving an eight

and a half year sentence. >> i know when i started the life program, i started to have that glimmer of hope that i don't have to be that person. in in the four years since we reported on mercycorps. the life program has expanded to the washington correctional center for women. the program just graduated the 11th class and doug cooper said the program has reduced the re resit victim rate by more than 30%. >> i refuse to come in and leave the same way i came in. that was my thing. because i knew underneath everything else, there was a bigger person than what i portrayed myself to be. >> i think i've been most impressed by the women's desire to change and start a new life. subsequently it feels we're doing a service by trying to get them -- >> this is real.

this is real. you know,. investing in customer service can pay off. fortunately there are plenty of creative ways to delight your users without a big budget. here are five ways you can wow clients. one, free extras and upgrades. complimentary perks like express shipping and sample products generally won't hurt your margin but can increase revenue. two, invite them to hang out. give your best clients behind the scenes experience to learn who you and your team are. three, offer a giveaway. bundle a bunch of your products together and create a sweep stakes your customers can enter. coupon codes when customers lease expect it. four, break the rules. when interacting with customers it is easy to read from a

script. five, tell their story. your customers are real people with powerful stories. authenticity can go a long way to engaging existing users and previous to buyers. what you need to do to make sure your business is profitable five years from now. and more of our viewers favorite online tools and apps. 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. this week's your biz selfie is from michael connelly of springfield, massachusetts who runs a unique diaper baby gift company called stinky cakes. stinky or not, we like to see your selfie too. i love this company, by the way. if you would like to see your picture up here on your business. send us your selfie or use twitter. do not forget to use the the the the #yourbizselfie. it is time to answer some of your business questions. let's get our board of directors in here to help. amos is the founder and ceo

of -- and mike is the president and ceo of forbes media. good to see you. >> you too. >> let's get to the first question. it is about small business survival. >> what is the biggest challenge that most businesses have that prevent them from making it five years from the day they start? >> that's a good question, i think. >> yeah. you cover a lot of businesses. >> we do. and you know my background i was in venture capital for a long time. to me, there are a lot of things but it's all about people. if you make the right choices, if you make the wrong choices about people five years is very difficult. make the right choices about people even though it is hard takes a little bit longer have to be more selective. i think that's the factor. >> what is so tricky about the first five years, presumably hopefully you're growing a lot. you need people who are flexible. >> right. >> and thauns the job they have

on day one probably isn't going to be the job they're going to have at year three. >> exactly. >> very true. >> i would say rigidness. being a very rigid in your idea of what your business should be and could be. and under capitalzation. next up a question about contracts from the owner of a marketing company. >> one of our main challenges is to get people to honor the contracts that they signed. so what we would like to know is how to maintain the relationship with the customer so they can fulfill the contract and actually see the results produced in their life and their business that they actually paid for. >> you know what is tricky is that people expect immediate results. in marketing and pr sometimes you need to wait.

if he's done a six month contract and a month in they're saying i'm not seeing anyone and throw it out the window. >> if i had a chance to talk to them the question i would ask is what is it that is disappointing your client? he might say they're not getting results quickly enough. i think this is an example of where you just need to spell out what you do how you do it what people's expectations should be and what time frame. we see this question a lot. we have an entrepreneurship channel on forbes.com. and these kinds of questions come up particularly around softer businesses where it's not black and white. what is going to happen in the near term. >> right. i think your point about expectations might be the most important. >> and communications. throughout the period of you working with that particular client, you should always be in communication with them talking to them having an open dialogue on what is working, how can we tweak it and change it?

like mike said manage the expectations. it is a six month run. it is something that you have to be in for the long haul. if you're charging $60,000 for the work you have to let them know it. you may not see results but they'll be there. >> particularly because you'll probably get more customers from satisfied customers. the last thing you want is someone unsatisfied who gave up a few months in and had a experiencebad experience. >> exactly. it's not just a bad situation for the customer who is not interested in paying because they didn't they they got a value. it is a bad situation for the marketing company because that's word of mouth. particularly in the marketing world. >> exactly. >> and no one will back out of a contract and run around the world -- >> okay. the last e-mail is from karen.

>> wow. that's a great question. >> i don't think you should necessarily have to rebrand. i think you are who you are. most companies their branding relies on the presence of the ceo of the business and the executive of that business. so regardless if you're moving from regularkairegular. >> and doesn't seem like it's so out of left field. >> yeah. it's umbrella. it's not like sudden i'm a baseball coach. >> absolutely right. to move to nutrition and yoga and structure integration and all the things you can do connected with akaichiropractorive

them and probably isn't much of a leap. but she should. specifically start to write about it talk about it. engage with social media. try to connect with her clients and their bigger universe of people. maybe hook in with care givers who come from one of the other tent posts of -- >> it will happen itself. you might be overthinking it. >> it's a built-in market. >> i feel better already. >> you can be the first client on this. >> thank you for stopping by. >> thanks for having us.

>> if any of you have a question for our experts like we had here today, head over to your website. we answer them every single week. once you get there you will see a button and click on that. the website is openforum.com/yourbusiness. if it's easier just send us an e-mail. in today's world there seems to be an app or a website that helps you can everything from falling asleep quicker. but which ones will actually deliver in making your entrepreneurial life easier? we will give you some of the small biz tools our viewers swear by. >> a big part of our business is shipping products and we use endicia to quickly and

efficiency. efficiency. it imports your orders and shipping information. we have been using it for almost ten years and for us it's by far the best situation. >> i use moldiv. it helps me put together pictures and i use it pretty much every day. >> one of my favorite apps is to doist. it works on phone, it works on e-mail. it's something that helps keep me on track with my to do list. >> this is an amazing app and tool for e-mail management. one thing that my clients struggle with most is e-mail. it will automatically sort. it has a label called sane use letters.

and then it will have people you e-mail frequently. i save about four hours a week. it keeps you focused on important e-mails and puts the others in folders. >> one of the apps i love is podio. it is a project management system. it has the ability to be recon figured and built for your specific purposes. any work spaces. rather than what is pre-boxed. >> do you lead your business from the top down. management systems that used to work in the past don't

necessarily work any more. today effective leadership is being done with more of a side by side leadership. ken blanchard is here with us and is the author of the new one minute manager. >> how are you doing today? >> it must have been quiet interesting for you to go back and revisit this book that was such a success. let's start with one minute goals. what does that mean? >> that's so important for entrepreneurs. if you want your people to do something they have got to be clear oon what you are asking them to do. it's much more collaborative. he sets the goals together.

you don't want a lot of goals. you want three to five at most. you want the ones that could be the biggest impact. then you want to make sure that people are looking at them continually. but the major management style, you know in the past was some manager would tell people to do something and then they would disappear until you made a mistake and then there would be sea gull managers come in make a lot of noise, dump on everybody and then fly out. it wasn't very good. you want them to be able to catch themselves doing something right. this is what i have observed didn't seem to be the direction that you were faulking about. >> how do you think people you

employ should be praised? >> as soon as possible. you don't want to wait for an annual performance review. if you see something going on well, go to them and say gee, let me tell you what i have observed and this is how i feel about it. congratulations. keep up the good work. that's why some people said how can you say this is a one minute manager? it doesn't take very long to recognize somebody and acknowledge them for good performance. >> how often? you may have somebody who is doing a great job all the time. you don't want to constantly be praising them. it may lose its value. er r. >> you're not doing it as much. you hope to catch them doing something right and cheering themselves on.

>> you don't reprimand, you re redirect. what's the difference? >> the reprimand was the form of a punishment. redirection is really both of you taking a look and saying here's what i'm seeing. this doesn't come in the drx we want. what you don't want to do is let people get off the wrong way and not do anything. you don't want to do that. you want to be on top of things. >> it is all about collaboration and getting your ep employees as engaged as possible. >> absolutely.

>> and then they're going be excited about you and become part of your sales force and that takes care of the ownership and profit and all of those things. that's the direction. >> congratulations on taking a new look on this old very successful book. we appreciate you talking by on us. >> entrepreneurship is the backbone of this country. >> it is indeed. >> to learn more about today's show, click on our website. you will find all of today's segments with a lot more information to help your business grow you can also

follow us on twitter. >> next week while some business owners hope for less regulation regulation, one is lobbying for more. >> taken action in washington. we have been meeting with senators introducing them to beauty counter to a company that is pro commerce and pro regulation. >> how this woman is on a journey to change the rules around which beauty products are made. 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 wait is over. >> all right. good morning. thanks for getting up with us this sunday morning. america has its first triple crown winner in 37 years with american far row. a wire to wire victory in the belmont stakes yesterday. a moment many thought would never come again but here it is. also ahead, two convicted murderers tunnel their way out of a