>> the owner of a socially conscious cosmetics country lobbies lil. and smart business lessons from the head master of the school of rock, paul green. we have that and so much more coming up next on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on

msnbc. hi everyone. welcome to "your business" where we will spend the next half hour exploring the world of small business. over the years we've heard our fair share of business owners complain about too much government regulation but one entrepreneur is doing the exact opposite. she's spent time in washington lobbying for more rules around her industry deeply concerned about the toxins she says we're using in our everyday prokts products. she started her own cosmetics and skin caroline and wants others to copy the way she's doing things. >> as women when we lock arms or we decide to do something, we move mountains.

>> that is exactly what she's doing with her skin care and cosmetics line beauty counter. >> i started beauty counter because i had empassioned with the environmental health movement. >> after watching the documentary "an inconvenient truth" she became concerned about what she perceived as everyday dangers in our environment. >> i had learned that we were being exposed to toxic chemicals through our personal care and cosmetic products and i was trying to find safer solutions for my family. >> while hoping to elevate the standard of safety in her home the mother of three discovered some startling facts about the skin care and cosmetics industry. >> we have not passed a federal law regulating this industry since 1938. companies are allowed to pretty much do what they want. we have introduced over 85,000 chemicals into commerce since world war ii of which almost 80% or some will say between 80% and 90% have never been tested for safety in human health. >> these realities soon evolved into the inspiration for beauty

counter. greg thought her vision was simple. create a line that was 100% safe with high performing results. >> the first phone call i gave was to christy cullman, a celebrity fashion makeup artist who was the first leading point of ours to clean up her kit and try to use safer products on her clients. >> i've absolutely wanted to prove as an industry expert this could be done. >> she also brought on mia davis, the former operating director of the campaign for safe cosmetics. >> the idea was to really have those two equally represented on our platform. i started meeting with a number of consultants and labs. we took a list of almost 1,500 ingredients and said we can't use those ingredients, but the products have to perform. people thought we were crazy. they said we couldn't do it. >> the trio finally stumbled on a few peopleotology give it a shot. >> what i love about greg is she's extremely passionate and unstoppable. >> years

raising capital and racing between our tiny two offices trying to screen hundreds of chemicals and ingredients. >> the highest level of transparency and unparalleled standards and safety. >> we strict screening process. one of the most protective processes in the country. if not in the world. >> greg's customers became believers. so much so that she's recruited nearly 8,000 of them to make up a robust network of passionate consultants. >> they're sharing the story of beauty counter and of safe ingreed yepts and helping communities and families make better choices. >> products where r also sold on the beauty counter's website and strategic partnerships of graham's like j. crew have played a big part. >> we just passed the $1 million mark. >> i'm really proud of where we are today. we grew over 50 year. we have grown almost 350% this year. >> greg's mission grows beyond

just growing her company. with the company's success under her belt, she set her sights last year higher, on capitol hill determined to be a voice for change. >> we have taken action in washington. meeting with everyone in washington introducing them to beauty counter, to the company that is boast pro-commerce and pro-regulation. >> she wants power politicians to acknowledge awaerns in hopes of inspire soming significant legislation reform. >> weapon >> we want the fda to be able to take action to screen for harmful ingredients. the e.u. has banned 1,400 from all personal care products which the united states has banned 11 to daet. >> beauty counter employees celebrated their second anniversary by staging a major stunt in hopes of getting lawmakers to take action. >> we hosted beauty counter socials across this country. we had well more than 1,000, and during those socials we encourage our consultants and their guests to call their senators and to tell them that

they want more health detecting laws. they call us back. they say they heard us loud and clear. i think it's safe to say we're not even creating movement we are already a movement. >> beauty counter is a perfect example of how one idea passion, and a real commitment to yourself and to the world that you believe in is -- it's absolutely possible to make anything happen. >> we always say beauty counter is a once in a lifetime opportunity right now to build a really great company that's financially rewarding, solid and sound while simultaneously having significant social impact. i mean it's the greatest job in the world. >> while greg is trying to get laws changed on capitol hill a recent legal decision by the supreme court is having a major impact on small businesses. known as the abercrombie & fitch case, the court ruled that companies can be sued for discrimination when hiring if it liefs governing clothing or time off into consideration.

the case highlights the need for small businesses to be careful about the accommodating religious practices. nancy cooper is the labor and employment attorney at the law firm of barbie shumpert and bare. she's a former business owner. >> nice to be here. >> let's first talk about this addition. as a small business owner, when i am interviewing someone, be specific for me what i need to be careful about? >> you want to make sure you don't go anywhere near the protective classes. finding out about their race, about their religion, about their family status about the need for parental need or ada disability. those topics are not job related. they become swrob related like they did in the abercrombie & fitch when you make assumptions. when you see somebody who apparently has a physical disability and you make the assumption they can't do the job. what you need to do is if there is something obvious like in this case the woman had a burka

on and they said she's never going to meet the dress code therefore, we can't have her, you need to talk brsh that's what this case was keying on. you need to have the interactive process or dialogue. you just need to talk about the situation. is there any reason they can't do the job? >> if i'm understanding you correctly, don't bring up any issues that could be controversial. if there is something that is obvious bring it up so that you can make sure you are all clear on will this affect your job performance or not? >> right. but bring it up in the job-related way. >> right. okay. sorry. go ahead. >> is this going to get in the way of your performing the job duties? >> if the answer is no then have you to go ahead with the assumption that it will not. >> exactly. >> so you cannot then -- if their answer is no and you think yes, that's not fair. >> that's not fair. you never want to make assumptions. if you make assumptions about

anything based on appearance, anything, number one, you are doing your company a disservice. you are putting your company at risk. >> you may beos great candidate. >> there might be someone really great out there, and you are making assumptions and cutting them out of the process unnecessarily. >> exactly. >> you are talking about religion. some small businesses the conversations are often enformal whenbusinesses. it's because it's informal. are you suggest hag in the interview process you need to be a bit more formal? >> i think you can still be informal, but you need to be strategic. >> okay. >> what you want to do is you don't want to have just a conversation because you don't learn how they're going to do the job, what their skill set is. you learn if you want to have lunch with them but you don't learn can they actually do what you want to do? you want to be more strategic in the questions you ask. >> okay. tell me where i can go. i am an hr department which is in a small business is also the

founder. where can i go to just educate myself to know what kind of things you can bring up and what kind of things i shouldn't bring up? >> well the department of labor, www.dol.gov, has a great wib site in terms of giving businesses. there is a section aimed towards small businesses. giving them general information on protected classes, on some of the laws they need to be anticipating to follow. just an overview. then each state has oftentimes their labor employment department, whatever it's called, because that varies state to state. also have web sites that tell you about the state laws. >> i think it's really important to understand these because you want to be fair to the people that you are interviewing and you don't want to put your company in a precarious situation. >> exactly. i mean one mistake can do a small business in. either because the person is just toxic or because they sue

and a suit will take a small business down. >> right. okay. >> you want to be very careful. >> you want to be -- we're not talking here about once you bring someone on. we're talking about how to correctly evaluate whether you should bring somebody on. >> exactly. that's part of the key because these discrimination lawsuits happen and can happen over the interview. >> again, you don't want to just make assumptions and not hire someone because of a false assumptions and you want to protect your company as well. >> right. but then you also think about if you are talking about assumptions, if you are making assumptions about somebody for the sake who took a different path to get there who has a different life experience, you may be hurting your business because they may have a lot of value to bring and the assumptions aren't just protected class assumptions. >> exactly. you should think about that in your questions in general. have an open mind. right? >> right. >> well nancy, thank you so much for coming on and talking to us about this. i think it's really important for every small business owner

to really understand these laws. >> thank you. we've told you in the past about sites like task rabbit and mechanical turf where you can hire thing done for your company. think of that same concept but where you have access to people with business degrees from places like harvard or horton's. you are connected to thousands of the top business minds giving you the chance to think through your business challenges from the help of an mba or someone from a fortune 500 company. you explain your need, and you are matched to an expert that can best help you. >>. developing smart money habits early on is important to the future growth of your business. here now are some tip that is lead to good financial management, courtesy of ink.com. one, don't pay yourself too much. keep many mind the difference between revenue and profit when figuring out your salary.

two, defer hiring admin.s until later on. at the beginning you need to stay lean and agile. plus, when you do have the ability to bring people on in these roles later on, you'll have a clear understanding of their job. use software for tasks you can automate. this can help you put more time back into your business. you can find programs for things like e-mails and team functions. four, hire a tax professional with early stage start-up experience. it is crucial to understand your tax obligations, so this is one place you do not want to skip. and, five get right with budget alignment and allocation. make sure you're directing resources to the places you'll need in order to get each of your growth milestones. and you'll want to redo this often. paul green founded a music school in philadelphia to teach school children to play rock 'n' roll. informally he called it the school of rock. the business grew and he opened franchises across the country.

in 2009 he sold the business. now he operates a single school called the paul green academy of rock, and he is about to open a rock music college in wood stock, new york. we caught up with him in between classes in this week's learning from the pros. ♪ >> the original model of school of rock was saving live music one lass at a time. i started school of rock because i love live music, and i like kids. you know what i'm saying? but i love rock music. that said i would never sell a franchise again. i want to be the boss. i like having control of the business. you can write a contract and that contract can be 600 pages, but you don't have the kind of control at the granule ar level that i only discovered later was

really important to me. take time and think about what really makes you happy. small businesses have such an urge to expand, and sometimes only is that -- i would say don't franchise it. just, you know grow more slowly and i have learned it's the music friends. it's about friends. it's about connections.

that kid will talk to that mom, and one thing i tell entrepreneurs if possible have a movie made about you or close enough that you can claim that it was. at first i was pretty mad because they said they had never heard of me and my website at the tape was schoolofrock dovm and "the new york times" called and i got the front page of the entertainment section and then it turned out there was a 90-minute advertisement for me and my product.

dad, they made you a movie about you. >> when we return we have your business questions about whether or not to take out a loan on a product launch and we how question can manage. 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's your biz selfie is from meg ragland of new york city. he owns plumb print, the company that makes books out of your children's art. meg, you have a new customer because i was just thinking i need to find a new company like yours. thank you for send that in. now we want to see your selfias, too. send us a selfie of you and your business to your yourbusiness @msnbc.com and do not forget to use the #yourbizselfie. today's elevator picture designed clothe that she says is versatile, fashionable, and makes it easier for kids with autism and other special needs to get dress it. the apparel also offering a tracking device. let's see how our panelists grade her pitch. larry change is a managing partner and rhonda abrams is a small business calling for "usa

today." >> hey, nice dress. oh, pink looks really great on you. hi. my name is lauren ter are i. i run independent stay tact and wearable clothing. i would like you to know these are completely reversible and we filling a huge void in the tech and apparel industry in terms of clothing for the 54 million americans with disabilities. so independence day clothing is seeking 200 k in return for 10% equity. i'm a former financial tv news anchor. more importantly, i'm a mother of a child with autism. like it or not autism is a growth industry. so we've designed these clothes with our mantra no tags no zippers, no button no worry, we're gps enabled. 48% of the autism population is at risk for wandering every single day. be with our hidden gps embedded into the clothing in 16 seconds i can track your lost child or even your lost grandma with alzheimer's alzheimer's. this is a market that has huge major mainstream crossover

implications and yet the major designers and retailers have not stepped up. independence day has stepped up and we're hoping you will too. >> lauren thank you so much for sharing this with us. >> thank you. >> okay. i'm going to take the clothes and give you guys this. two numbers for us. first, what did you think of the product and, second what did you think of the pitch? so this is for kids and adults? >> we are expanding now. we're into our second line of production. we've had the cryout for more mature fabrics for the alzheimer's. also doing for kiddie fabrics. in july coming out with 14 new looks. completely reversible. if you spill anything or can't get this on or don't know which is front from back that's okay because the front is the back the back is the front and it's completely reversible. with the shirt you have the front is again, equally immediated neck and body, the front is the back the back is the front. no scratchy tags to ruin your day. our secret hidden gps compartment. >> let's hear what they have to say. rhonda? >> i gave you a nine on the product and seven on the pitch. i love the product.

i think there's probably a huge market for it. there are other kinds of specialized products coming along like untucked which is an untucked shirts for men who don't want to tuck in their shirts. i love niche markets because i think there are riches in niches. >> seven on the pitch. >> seven on the pitch. i didn't know the idaho oh the size of the dressable market. you used a large market. and i didn't get a clear sense of how you were going to use the money and it felt like a very high valuation to me on the money as well. and so i think that it could have been a little tightener on some of that. overall really a great job. >> all right. larry, i don't think since we started evaluating the product pitch we've ever gotten a ten. >> i thought she did a great job explaining the problem. i love the fact she's experienced the problem which is always the way great companies start. you felt it, you know the problem, you want to solve it. that's where great founding teams come from. it was clear how you're helping to solve the problem with reversible clothing. >> you like the pitch, too. >> i like the pitch.

a nine. >> my only comment on the pitch is i'm sure you have proof points on why the business is scale and doing well. you didn't share that with us. i think if you did that would lend kree dense to the thesis. >> put traction in your pitch right away. lauren thank you for coming in and sharing that with us. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. if any of you out there have a product or a service and you want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chances of getting interested investor just send us an e-mail. the address is yourbusiness @msnbc.com. in that e-mail include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you try to raise and what you intend to do with those funds. we look forward to reading your submissions and seeing some of you here in the elevator. it's time now to answer some of your business questions. larry and rhonda are back with us once again. the first one is about clients who need cash. >> if a client has limited funds to spend on a product launch or something new they're doing in their business what advice

would you give them on taking a small loan going into debt? what would be the best option if you know it's going to provide a return in the long term? >> how do you decide larry, if somebody should take on debt if they're in a good position to? >> two options. you can take on debt which is borrowing money from someone else or sell equity, selling a stake in your company. most common form today is converse i believecon convertible note. that's how a lot of young companies raise capital, especially from friends and family. so i don't think it's a bad idea as long as it's structured the right way. >> what do you think ron that? >> i think the best way to raise money for your business is through sales. i think before you look at debt or equity the -- putting the time and energy to see if you can go in and do presailles of your product or prototype so you can start getting some cash that way. then you're not giving up either and it depends on what it is. they might be able to do a crowd

funding program which could be the equivalent of making early sales to raise money. there are also a bunch of new alternative financing going after small business and i would be wary of them. often 40%, 50% annual rates and they're exploding right now so one should be cautious about those. >> read the fine print? >> if there's any way to avoid debt, i would do that first. >> let's move on to the next question about working at home. >> one of the things i'm wondering is what advice tips or tricks you have about managing productivity while being home officed? >> all right. rhonda, let's start with you. i do work from home. i have throughout the years. you have to be at least i found i had to be very diligent about it. >> so i started my business from home and i worked from home for over a decade and i had employees at home. i loved working at home. i think there's a lot of great things about it. there are a couple of things you do have to do. one is you have to be disciplined. set regular hours and really stick to them.

and also watch about child care or spouse care because both of those can really depend -- drain your time. and they can be -- have an impact on it. don't expect that you're going to watch your kids at the same time you're running a business that you're trying to grow from home. and finally, fight isolation. build a team of people who are your virtual team that you can go to for advice spark ideas off. use co-working space occasionally to work with others. even going to the coffee shop and get out of there. >> very great point because i remember when i started my company from my apartment i would wake up at 6:00 in the morning, roll out in my pajamas start working and it would be midnight and i would still be in my pajamas working. i started to once in a while make a lunch plan just to get me out of the apartment for a second see the broad world, and just have some interaction with people. >> yeah, i think you should try and replicate a work space that you had in the office when you're productive. i find when i work from home if it's a different screen set-up different keyboard different

phone system different desk all the little things can make you less productive. replicate what you're accustomed to in the office that can help. >> move on the last question about managing your business as it grows. >> the biggest question i have is how to take the business up to the next step. it's reales easy to run a business doing $100,000 $500,000, but how do you run a $100 million company? >> optimistic question. there's a big discrepancy between those two numbers. but if we step back the question is how do you manage growth, right? you don't want to grow too quickly and have everything go into chaos. so you invest in companies that are fast growing. >> all of our companies are growing from the $5 million to $100 million to it works well. you have to bring pattern recognition into the company. bring in people who have seen a company scale from $10 million to $100 million. that can be at the management team level. it can be at the board level. it can also be at the investor level. if you bring in folks with

pattern recognition you will avoid the common mistakes you would make doing it your first time. >> what kind of common mistakes? >> let's not overlook how hard it is to get to a million dollars. >> right. >> small businesses in the united states, a business in the united states, fewer than 2% of women own businesses and 7% of male-owned businesses have made $100 million in revenue. let's gnat dismiss how hard that can be. a lot of people who are watching would be thrilled to maybe $500,000 a year in revenue. let's not dismiss that. the second thing larry, if you want to grow a large business you need partners who know how to grow large businesses. very few businesses scale organically to that kind of size. it's the rare exception. you really have to have partners who, from day one, are sitting there and saying how do we make this a really venture that's going to be you know, a billion dollar business $100 million business and you need people like larry. >> and also what i found personally is that you have to put processes in place as your

company grows that you didn't need when it was small. and if you don't put those in place it's all going to fall apart. >> all right. >> thank you so much larry and rhonda. so good to see you guys. thank you for your advice. >> thank you. >> thanks. if any of you out there have a question for our experts all you have to do is send us an e-mail because we answer them every week here on the show. the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. thanks for joining us today. the lessons don't end here. we have lot more on ur website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you will find today's segments and videos to help your business grow. follow us at twitternd we are on facebook and instagram, too. next week we roll up our sleeves for a special show where we help a viewer with a pledgeling handbag business targeted towards people with diabetes. see how our makeover team solves big problems week lowering the cost of manufacturing so this small business has a chance of turning a profit. >> here's our bag.

>> oh, very nice. >> and the total cost? >> the total cost -- >> to put it to the. >> -- to put it together would be around $47. >> wow. >> and the material should cost no more than about $7 or $8. >> total? >> yes. >> everything? >> yes. >> oh, i could love him. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg. 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.

we have truly gripping video. it's about the victim, it's about the gunman in charleston south carolina. it's incredibly moving and it's coming up in just a few moments. but before we get to that quoting from the aft affidavit, the defendant did enter the church at approximately 6:08 p.m. with a fanny pack. he met with parishioners conducting bible study for the evening. after approximately an hour of studying the defendant stood up and with malice and aforethought pulled out a handgun and began shooting at the parishioners inside the hall. striking nine victims. all victims were hit multiple times. all victims died as a result of