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>> hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business" the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. we love the thing we want to sell, whether that's a product or service and we start our companies and we realize so little of our time is actually spent on that thing. we're too busy handling payments and accounting and doing all the administrative work. sound familiar? that was the case for one new york native who decided to start a hip-hop bus tour while her heart was with creating the trips that riders would love she found herself stuck handling all the day-to-day tasks that were no fun for her so she enlisted some help and hasn't looked back since. ♪ beat boys graffiti dj

grandmaster cats at the front of the bus. >> it was to have hip-hop celebrated in new york the way nashville celebrates country music. >> deborah harris is the owner of hush tours, a company which takes people on what i quickly experienced was an interactive experience teaching people about the roots of the movement. ♪ the company is 13 years old and a well-oiled machine, but the beginning was typical of so many starups. deborah pretty much did it all. >> oh my goodness me i gave out flyers. i did surveys. did every bus tour. i had truckloads and bags of speakers and portable speakers and cds. oh it was a mess. it was a mess. >> reporter: she knew that the

way she was operating was not sustainable. while she was talented at creating trips customers loved, everything surrounding that experience was starting to fall apart. >> i would be in front of the building taking money, you know i'm short, i'm 5'4" on fifth avenue and 31st street. people, you know showing up and i'm trying to count cash. i need to make change. i'm like this is insane. >> a partner, a company she happened upon one day called zerv. she jokes meeting the founder was like having a religious experience. >> it was like an orchestra a sem phone symphony together. >> it handled reservations cancellations, payments and customer service. >> it is a trust issue. in any business you have to

understand that you have to delegate and let go of some things so once i had that comfort level with zerv and scott himself, it was a no-brainer for me. >> scott newman is the founder of zerve. he works with businesses like debra's which provide thousands of experiences around the country. he suggests they go through a quick question. >> you have to ask yourself what am i not good at? what am i probably not going to be good at or what am i not interested in being good at. we got to have that kfgs. >> for debra that answer was clear, passing off some of the nuts and the bolts of the business, zerve changed her ability to grow the company. >> freed up space for me so i could concentrate more on the experience and other parts of the operation. >> reporter: both scott and debra acknowledged that choosing the right partner to outsource could be tricky and a lot to evaluate. >> the number one thing is whose values are lined with mine

whose philosophy is aligned with them. who thinks about their customers the way i think about my customers? who has shown that you know who doesn't say it but who shows it. >> reporter: recently debra decided to leave zerve and go with another service provider who had what she thought some of the other services she needed. >> it was a disaster when i left zerve to go to another company and had the bells and whistles and promised that and the main thing i needed they weren't able to provide. >> it's all about communication. once you find someone you trust and like working with, keep an open line if there are issues. if you need something new maybe they can provide it for you.. scott and debra suggested use your partners for everything they can offer. if they have a big client base they likely also have a lot of industry knowledge beyond what you're paying for. >> they are in the loop more so than i am. >> what we allow them to do is build a network and have other

people they can tap into either because sometimes we make the connections like you know what? you should really talk to you know out in california. other times we already know on this one you shouldn't do this. we've seen eight companies do it and it never works. >> reporter: debra works with a marketing company to target international travel groups and plans to outsource more of the company's functions as she grows and it makes sense because when it comes down to it it's not computers and reservations and marketing plans, it's showing the world the birthplace of hip-hop. in 2007 michelle fong was a college student with a passion for beauty she wanted to share with the world. she uploaded makeup tutorials to youtube. today she's the second most prescribed female on the site

has her own makeup line. we sat down with her in los angeles to talk about what it took to disrupt the world of beauty and how she continues to innovate as her empire grows. >> i was really at the early stages of youtube at its infancy. with my laptop i started to film all the beauty tutorials showing people who were interested how to take care of your skin how to do the natural makeup look and within a few months i started garnering a lot of views and subscribers. there was no road map. i was going with my intuition. i needed to fail to know where i needed to go so i've done a lot of things. i've had product lines that were too expensive, way overpriced and it was partially my fault because i didn't vocalize what it should have been. i was too scared and i are he lied too much on other people to make the decision when i should have taken ownership in it because it was my brand. influencers who are very often,

they have their own following and now that they have an influence, if they promote a product that they really enjoy and love people will really listen to them because they feel like this is a friend this is an influencer that i look up to. you can have a niche market ten years ago if you wanted to focus on eyebrow tutorials f you didn't have the internet you wouldn't reach out to a lot of people. because it's called the worldwide web and global reach where you can share your story to anyone. the market is bigger. for me to maintain my relevance it still has a lot to do with maintaining that relationship with my followers. i still talk and comment to my followers on youtube, on twitter, on instagram, what bruce lee said be like water. it's true be like water. flow with it. flow with your community. go where they go. if your community goes on snapchat, go with that too. if they go with merecat or periscope, go where they go and maintain the conversation.

that's the true form of having longevity in this business growing with your community. i'm not going to be number one forever so i knew that if i want to maintain influence and relevance and have more of a longevity in this industry i have to build a sustainable business. everyone from different parts of the world who have different specific needs they were asking for advice and tips on product recommendations. i couldn't answer to everyone because i'm only one person right, and also i have a limited band width, and so if you go on ipsy you sign up for the beauty file we ask what is your favorite lipstick, learn about what you like in butte yu and send you a personalized beauty discovery bag every month. we've grown with little to no money honestly, no traditional advertising, all word of mouth. we have an interesting operating system called ipsy os any beauty creator can use the state-of-the-art cameras,

lighting equipment, supplies. we give them apps that they can use and tools, digital tools where they can help grow their numbers, these are things we include for free no strings attached. i want to build the next generation of more any sholmichelle fong fongs around the world. the fact we work with the coolest influencers pushing the boundaries of the beauty industry puts ipsy innovating along with them. it's important for me to keep an eye out on the horizon and bring ipsy along with what is new and upcoming. if you are already a certain age any lelmillenials may be a complete mystery to you. lindsay pollack is a millenial

workforce expert and author of the book "becoming the boss: new rules for the next generation of leaders." great to see you. >> thank you. >> i'm so happy for you to kind of explain this generation to our viewers, many of whom don't quite know what to do with millenials. >> what do you need to do? being in a good place requires all generations but millenials are bolder about asking for the perks other people tend to want too. first and foremost is the desire for training and development. how will the job not just do well for the company but make me better. >> you hire someone who is a millenial, they're in an entry level position stuff needs to get done so you give someone training and you have this nice environment but suddenly six months of training they say i want a raise and be promoted to the next position. how do you deal with that? i hear that from a lot of people. >> i do too.

lot of millenials feel the world moves faster we're on internet but soft skills talking face to face negotiating, winning over a client building long-term relationships and companies need to realize that training doesn't just mean here is how to do the job. it's all of those other things how to answer a phone, how to leave a professional voice mail how to write a professional e-mail, these are things that companies can offer at low cost. there's so much training online ted talks on various topics can be valuable. millenials have to step up and educate themselves and employers need to be better saying here are the exact skills that you need to build more of. it's not just time it's maturity. >> i think that's the point of saying it's not just time. this is not the old way of doing things, stay here for three years, you get promoted three more, you get promoted. this is the skill set you need to get to the next level. i want to help you get there but you're not going to be promoted or get a raise until you get there. >> more of an apprenticeship

model. it's not just about the time but this is what happened to me and the mistakes i made. >> coaching and mentoring. we also talk about leadership experience. for people at all levels give them a place where they can shine. >> in our leadership survey we asked do you feel like a leader already? 80% said they felt like a leader. millenials have a high level of confidence and in high school and college today there are clubs, extracurricular, sports leading an online community where you can get that experience. we need to remind millenials that leadership experience with be an individual contributor role but it's about saying what more can i do. it doesn't always mean leading other people right away. >> you talk about customize where possible. >> customize everything you possibly can. i call this the build-a-bear generation. college has gotten that way designing your own major or having double and triple majors.

i talked to one small business opener who said i can't offer a rotational problem but i had a mini rotation. all of my people switched them around. i don't make every day feel the same. it also means customizing the benefits that you offer. lot of young people think if i join a small company i won't get access to all the variety of benefits i would at a bigger company. disability insurance, life insurance, health insurance but also could you strike a deal with the local gym, could you take people on field trips often? could you have a masseuse come in once a month. the little perks can go a long way to making millenials feel you care about them. >> the marketing department is open we're having a brown bag lunch and talk to you about what we do and the i.t. department is doing something. you feel like you are not just siloed in your one area. >> absolutely. >> i'm happy to see you and meet you. >> thank you so much. we were just talking about

how to hire millenials. now what about how to market to millenials? what makes them tick when it comes to buying products or services. what makes them attracted to one brand over another? here are five ways you can get your message to this generation. one, go mobile. 85% of people ages 15 to 35 own smartphones and are online all day, every day. so make sure your mobile experience is optimized, has fast load times and includes a clear call to action. two, support immersion. millenials want to share experiences with others. ask consumers to add their own stories or pictures to your small business. three, be transparent. this generation loves companies that present a mission and stick to it. interact with your audience through social media so they can see how your company and their use of your product is making a positive impact. four find your target.

millenials are more attached to experiences than products. promote the lifestyle your business supports on online channels to market to an audience. and five create brand evangelists. find your biggest fans on social media or blogosphere and engage them on a personal level. when we come back we answer your small business questions including how to get a line of credit before you become profitable. you can look but better not touch. we're talking about poison ivy and today's elevator pitcher knows how to remove it. 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 weeks's your biz selfie scott of sudbury, makes apps that track business mileage and expenses. could be useful for some of you out there. we want to see yours. take a selfie of you and your business and send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com or tweet it to @msnbc@msnbcyourbiz. time to answer some of your business questions. let's get our board of directors in here to help us out. brad harrison is founder and

managing partner of scout ventures and heather thompson founder of the fashion brand yummy by heather thompson. if she looks familiar because she's one of the "real housewives of new york city." thanks for being here. >> thanks j.j. >> the first question is about credit. >> if you're preprofitable what is the best route to get lines of credit for your business. >> brad you are steeped in funding. >> we were talking how hard it is to get credit in today's market and for most businesses especially one that has inventory or purchase orders a lot of times the way to do that is from some level of factoring, where you actually go you show what your sales are going to be and go out there and do that. i think there's the factoring and also looking at the streams of money coming in even if you're not profitable in going back to those and saying hey, can you float me 0 to 9060 to 90 days. >> there are all ways shouldn't just be think being the bank.

>> the situation may involve a personal grarntuaranty. it's important to keep your credit source good so having a savings account on your own doesn't mean you want to use that for your business but you can leverage it for a bank lone. it could be a line of credit or a bank lone and there's a subtle difference between the two. one has a fixed rate whereas a line of credit has a variable rate. you should look at those as well. >> the sba provides government loans also requiring a guarantee, but you can use your personal assets as heather said to boost what amount of money they give you. >> the next question about the possibility of competition. >> how do you get a step ahead of competitors that are entering the marketplace? >> i think this is an interesting question right, because you want to be aware of what's going on around you but you don't want to be so focused on it that you're so scared that you're making bad decisions.

>> you have to remember why you got into your business in the first place and stay true to that. you have to offer a point of difference from the competition always. you know, what makes you better? so if she's asking about people coming into a market, she's already in i would say remember why you started your business. what was your reason for being. stick to that. because they can only follow you know what i mean? remember that your ideas are individual and you're going to be the best one to execute them. >> right. >> i also think that innovation is a process. so stay ahead of your competitors, you have to innovate and that requires two things. can you need to have a vision for where you see your business independent of competitors in the process. talk about what you have done well and haven't done well and where you are alone, the life cycle of achieving your vision.

watch the social trends and decide what's right for you. >> the next question from an owner of a company that makes crackers. >> we have limited resources, we only have ten people. >> so i actually think the two things you always have to do. if you don't avery sales, it it doesn't matter how much product you're producing. but on the other hand you have to make sure that you have quality production always because your customer experience and customer satisfaction is what makes you a real business. >> it's not a choice. you have to do both. >> right. >> you have to do both. again without sales you can't feed your production line but without production what are your salespeople selling? so that question in particular

is a divided question. you have to invest in both. it's supply and demand. >> i think that you have got to make sure your product is great, right? >> well -- >> because if you have a subpar product your sales team will sell it and no one will ever come back again. >> 100%. everybody is getting smarter and smarter and smarter and the consumer is really, really knowledge krabl andable and has a lot of choices in a lot of different directions. you have to ship a quality product you're proud of. >> with social media, viral distribution and word of mouth to take off, if you have an amazing product and you believe in that product and you can consistently deliver it it will get out there. >> build it and it will come. >> this is silicon valley's thing, spend less money on marketing, build a great product and people will start talking about it. then once you get to a certain point, spend more money to blow it out. >> exactly.

>> we need you in the elevator in a little bit so stick around. >> thanks jj. >> if you have a question for our experts we answer them every single week here on our show. send them in. openforum.com/yourbusiness. go to the ask the show link once there to submit a question or you can send us an e-mail. the address is yourbusiness @msnbc.com. as a small business owner you are probably inundated with information on the latest apps and websites that are supposed to increase your productivity and marketing efforts. which ones are actually worth your time? we asked viewers which tools are their favorites so you can focus on the ones that will actually deliver. >> so one app that i really like and that i use a lot is called readability score. and what it does is after you've written some copy you copy and paste that into this app. it will tell you what level

people are who are reading this. it really helps me as a copywriter, get across a plain and simple message and what i like to call the homer simpson test. if homer can understand it it's probably pretty good. >> i recommend to almost all my clients that they use helpscout. you can add notes internally back and forth from your team members and customers never see it. so your main customer support person can always be the one answering them but they're getting the accurate information that that person needs. it saves with e-mail because you're not having to forward e-mails back and forth. it's all within this one tool. >> pong is an online curation system. it allows you to add rss feeds and track the different websites and blogs i read about.

i can cureate the content. freedkamp, and it's totally save mied business as far as communicating. anyone who has dealt with poison ivy knows how hards it to get rid of. today's pitcher has a poison ivy removal business and is hoping our spanl itching to get in on it. >> hi. >> hi. >> i'm tim greenspan. i'm looking to fran kaz my business out. we've been in business 45 years safely removing poison ivy without using toxic chemicals, selectively manually remove the plant by itself. our results are immediate, 100% safe and it's guaranteed against

future regrowth. >> how much money are you looking for? >> half a million, $750,000. >> to? >> build out the franchise. >> -- get that away from me. okay. two numbers. first one is the product. and the second one is the pitch. as someone who has been covered in poison oak, west coast -- scale of one to ten, i hope everyone hires you. the product and then the pitch. >> didn't put them down yet. okay. brad let's start with you. >> i didn't put them down yet either. >> what are you guys doing over there? >> okay. >> go ahead. >> i gave you a ten for the product. i have been stung by poison ivy and it's awful. i love that it's environmentally safe. i think that's important. i gave you a seven on the pitch because i believe in the brand and i looked into it a little bit more but i didn't hear enough from you on what really you were looking for, what you

needed. jj had to ask you. if you round that out, i know your product is amazing. just polish up that pitch. >> thank you. >> brad? >> i gave you a nine for the product. i also looked you up. and i think everybody has had poison ivy that i know. so we understand what a needs it. it was unclear about some of the other products that you've talked about. and then i gave you a five for the pitch because i don't think you may the one big point which is what do you need from us? how much money and what are you looking for? so i gave you a five for the pitch. >> thank you. >> i would also say put more oomph into that pitch. you're dressed up. you've got that. you're successful. tell us why you're successful and why someone wants to be part of this. >> the biggest thing in evaluating entrepreneurs is you're evaluating the person and their passion. and i think your passion didn't come through as much as we know -- >> we know you have and products that are supplement to it. definitely look this guy up. he's the real deal and very passionate. >> so brag a little.

brag a little. thank you so much. thank you for saving us and many people's backyards. thank you, you guys for your evaluation of it. >> of course. >> if you have a product or service and want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chance of getting interest. we look forward to reading all those pitches and seeing some of you here on the show. thank you so much for joining us today. to learn more about this show head on over to our digital platform, openforum.com/your business. you'll find all of today's segments, plus exclusive content with a whole lot more information to help your business grow. you can also follow us on twitter. it's @msnbcyourbiz. we'll learn next week why

subscribe er subscribers can actually be better than customers. >> subscribers are the ideal customer because subscribers buy from you on a regular case. whereas customers in a transactional model are really one and done. right? we'll take a closer look at the success of the subscription phenomenon and why it can enhance the value of your business. until then i'm j.j. ramberg. 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. i am proud to be the first american president to come to kenya and, of course i'm the first kenyan-american to be president of the united states. good morning. thanks for getting up with this sunday morning. president obama's big kenyan speech. we'll take you to nairobi and what he said. plus what hillary clinton has to say about her new e-mail