we're here to find out how small business owners are dealing with serving two separate market places. one here in the united states and the other on the side of that fence. that's coming up on a special main street edition of "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy. american express open is here to help. that's why we're proud to present "your business" on msnbc. ♪

hi, everyone b. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business." today is a very exciting day for us and a real milestone for all of us here at "your business." today we kick off our tenth season of being on the air in providing advice to small business owners. one of the most interesting things we've been doing over the past nine years is going around the country to america's main streets to find out about the challenges small business owners are facing and how they're meeting them. this week we examine what it's like to do business in a border town. specifically nogales, arizona. many of the entrepreneurs we met there are bilingual and are building relationships that have impacts across the nation. but they've also had to contend with border issues that affect the way they do business.

>> nogales, arizona, is in many ways a classic american small town. early mornings here are sleepy and quiet. >> e the backbone of this town is we are a very small, friendly town. >> everybody comes in here, we say hi to each other. >> my grandparents came here in 1924 and bought the army store. >> we were in the construction business for 30 years. then i had a candy store for 11 years. >> but that's where the similarity ends. here in nogales, running through the middle of everything is a 30-foot high steel fence marking the borderline between the usa and mexico. >> it's a lot of money in mexico. a lot of money. and people come here to spend. >> billions. just billions. just the amount of trade that flows through this particular port is just huge. >> this fence and the traffic passing both ways through its

carefully guarded gates has a profound effect on almost every small business here. >> border cities are right in the middle of this huge amount of international trade. >> the borders are dynamic places to do business. >> but as we discovered, not every business is affected in the same way. >> our industry happens to be doing great. we have a good future. >> the retail, it's not doing very good. >> how much product do you move through here a week? >> we move an average of 15 to 20 truckloads through. >> francisco and his wife alba run a meat trading company called premier distribution center. where did this come from the en? >> from the united states. >> to mexico? >> yes. >> they say there is a rapidly growing demand for meat products on both sides of the border and their business is growing along with it. >> we've been growing. we have 15 trucks right now. we've been generating employment

for 15 drivers and more people in the office. >> luis fernando boquez has clients on both sides of the border. he credits long-term personal and family relationships as one of the key reasons these nogales businesses are thriving. >> families have lived here for generations where they've traversed the border. >> in the case of his own family, the relations go back a very long time. >> the borquez family has been in this area since the mid-1700s. >> we've been in business for 90 years. we've learned what we think our customers' tastes are. >> bruce bracker is one of the generational owners of bracker's. >> however the economy in mexico is doing that's how we're doing. >> physically you're in the u.s.

but economically you're in mexico? >> over 90% of our customers are mexican nationals. >> with his store located just steps away from the border crossing, bracker's has thrived by offering american products to mexican nationals. >> you have found a clientele in mexico that have money to spend and want to cross the border and buy stuff they can't get there. >> we're a destination store. >> over the past several years, federal regulation and enforcement have all drastically reduced much of that traffic. >> in 2007 we had 7.5 million people crossing the border. 99% of that was happening downtown. last year the fiscal numbers, the number was under $3 million. >> most local customers have continued supporting the business, but overall sales have slumped. and bruce worries about the future for his large staff of loyal employees. >> it makes it really challenging to maintain those people and those salaries when

your business is decreasing. >> everybody used to come in from mexico, load up their cars and trucks, take it across the border. and now that's no more. it's gone. it's stopped. >> why? what changed? >> the free trade agreement. there's no need to come across. >> villa is the second generation of villa's market. >> i started with my dad in 1968. >> like bracker's. his market also faced a huge drop in customers. but unlike bruce, he adapted by flipping the business model. >> we've got a different customer base now. >> he now offers hard to get mexican products to the hispanic-american customers living here. >> we have a lot of people coming in for this. >> and the result? today he and his sons have opened three new locations to meet the demand. melendez lopez operates a bed

and breakfast in nogales. she says being close to the border creates a niche for her. >> i'm taking care of people from mexico to have their babies here. they want their kids to be united states citizens. because in the future, it's rel -- it's an investment. >> and she says demand for her service is booming. >> sometimes i don't have enough space to really accommodate all my clients. >> good job. they look good. >> ciruli brothers was founded 70 years ago. they import and export produce. and they distribute that produce from all over the united states and canada. >> it's a business that has continued to grow for the last 40 years. >> he says this small town of 20,000 is home to well over 100 import/export distribution companies much like his. >> nogales is the largest port entry for fresh product.

there's more fresh product coming in here. so this is a hub. >> almost everything we have is spanish colonial style made over the centuries. >> sam saunders is co-owner of holler and saunders. he's been importing and selling south american and colonial antiques for 35 years. he operates the business out of this century-old ranchito which sits literally at the base of the border fence. >> started out as a hobby of collecting beautiful things from mexico. then the hobby became a business. we started traveling to south america. and following the colonials around. >> his business mirrors that of the frud traders who distribute to buyers across the united states. >> we sell a lot on the internet. especially if people have been here before and know the quality of the pieces. so that really has become about half the business now. >> how much does something like this sell for?

>> this boot here would roughly sell for about $1200 to $1500 depending on if the pipe on it was carried all the way through. >> gorgeous. >> alex bledsoe is also part of a generational business. her grandfather paul bond founded this custom-made boot factory in the '40s. because he was a well-known rodeo star, they were celebrity taught after by nashville country western stars. >> where are most of your customers? >> all over the world. all over the u.s. we work with people in japan, europe. >> do you deal with mexico at all? we're so close to mexico here. >> no. not really at all. >> the fact you are a border town is almost incidental? >> yeah. i would say so. >> unlike most of the other businesses in town, paul bond boots pays almost no attention to the border. nevertheless, alex says she does share something with many of them. something very special. >> are there a lot of people like you here in nogales? >> you know, i wouldn't be

surprised if there were. because i think there's a lot of great family companies. it's hard and it's sad to let it go. you don't want to it to slip into the wrong hands. sop younger generations will step up saying i'm going to continue to grow what my family started. one of the most rewarding segments we do on this show is the "your business" makeover. i'm not exaggerating when i tell you i've left quite a few of them with tears in my eyes watching our experts really take in the time and effort to help struggling business owners get back on track. it has been truly amazing to be part of this. as we start our tenth season, we thought we'd check back with some of the folks we helped to see how their businesses are doing. we're happy to tell you that many are back on their feet and attracting customers. >> when hurricane sandy hit rockaway beach, new york, in 2012, tim keenan and scott saw their store all but washed away.

the two new york firefighters turned entrepreneurs didn't think they could afford to rebuild their beloved bagel shop given that rockaway residents were hit hard by the storm. our "your business" makeover team wanted to help these two heroes. we partnered with front street to rebuild the business from the ground up. hoping to capitalize on that area's beach season. we are happy to report that surfside bagels has sprung back to life. tim and scott put many recommendations into practice. including a customer loyalty program, honor code coffee box, cutting back on menu items, and a tv screen that tells waiting customers when a city bus is approaching the stop outside the store. tim and scott are finalizing for a line of frozen bagels and added a new menu item. bagel chips. they also partnered with grubhub

so people can order on the go increasing the delivery orders. in 2011, evelyn anderson wrote us about just for fun playgrounds. a north carolina-based company she and her husband jerry hayek were run pg. the company was known for their high-end custom designed playgrounds. but by 2009, the recession had eroded two-thirds of their business. forcing them to let all of their employees go. jerry and evelyn had cut back so far that they were living behind the showroom in a motor home to make ends meet. our makeover team advised them to rebrand the company. which they did. renaming it asheville playgrounds. a corner stone of the makeover was building a new website showcasing their unique custom work. evelyn credits most of their new business to that improved site. in fact, business has been very good for asheville playgrounds.

they've taken on some of their biggest projects to date. designing and building large playgrounds for county parks, museums, and new residential developments. the business has also downsized. moving into a smaller location, reducing their overhead, and increasing their profit. they also made the decision to raise prices to be more in line with the amount of time and effort the design and build process requires. evelyn says that even though money is still sometimes tight, the practical changes we recommended for their business have had a lasting and positive impact. they're now building a little nest egg. and if purchased, a half acre of property outside the asheville city limits on a creek where they're designing a custom house and garden for themselves. when we first met jane carroll in 2011, she was trying to rebuild her high-end floral business hit hard by the recession. to prop up the flower business and increase her cash flow in a down economy, she opened jane on

main. a cafe that served simple fresh food in the same space where she did her flowers. we helped her make over the business emphasizing her fresh flowers and food by rebuilding her website, logo, and menu. although jane still does flowers, that part of her business didn't rebound the way she had hoped. so she pivoted and started focusing more on the cafe business and the food and sweets she served there. she moved into a new bigger space in town and rebranded herself and the cafe jane. she also created jane bakes. app line of all natural cookies low in sodium, sugar, carbs, and calories that she makes in small batches that she sells online and in the store. last year we travelled to monterey, california's famous

fisherman wharf. their son wrote to us concerned that they were too busy running the stores to have developed a solid retirement financial plan. our makeover team headed by chris meyers helped joe and mary create a plan to double their company's valuation. the team recommended joe and mary consolidate their four stores into one and name it monterey bay jewelry company. they took our advice and had a grand opening of the new store this march. they cleaned out the other three store fronts and will be leasing them to other businesses. premier store fixtures provided new display cases. and with our help, they are setting up processes to track sales and focus on increasing turnover. joe and mary expressed gratitude for the guidance and feel they're in better shape now for when the day comes that they do want to retire. heading into our tenth season, i want to take a moment to just reiterate something we say all of the time here on the

show. running a business can be fulfilling and interesting and exciting. but it is also hard. so if you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone. we've done a segment called learning from the pros where we talk to some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs to hear what they've learned along the way. and what they've said is though it may look easy from the outside, it's simply not most of the time. we've been lucky to get the chance to learn from their journeys. so we put together a montage of some of the best pieces of advice we've received from them. ♪ >> i have a slogan which is screw it just do it. the best way of learning to run a business is just to try it. and by getting out there and trying things, you will just through struggling and trying become an entrepreneur. i think that applies to most people. and if they fall flat on their

face, they'll try again and the next time around i suspect they'll be successful. ♪ >> money doesn't wake you up. the passion for your business is what wakes you up. the consumer is looking to see if you are passionate about speaking about what you're trying to sell them, what you're trying to get them to buy. and so if you're not passionate about it, how can your workers be passionate about it? how can the customer and the consumer be passionate about coming in to spend their hard-earned money to support your business? ♪ >> when you develop your business plan, don't be afraid to write everything down. everything that comes into your mind. because ultimately if you have a good business plan, well thought out, well designed, carried out for a year or two or three, doesn't always work. it doesn't always work. it doesn't always turn out the way you think it's going to turn out.

you might stumble or trip or fall in a gully. but if you have the plan, you can get up and continue on your path. ♪ >> i think you have to realize that a brand is very much alive. and it's almost like a child. you have to nurture it and you have to protect it. you have to continually ask yourself what the next step is. what the next material is. what the next color is. so for us to stay a step ahead of our customers, it is the very best idea. if you're a step behind, you fall off the cliff. if you're way too far ahead, they don't get it. and you're in trouble. ♪ >> the marketing of ben & jerry's was simply communicating in an honest and authentic way what the company was. we're trying to bring about a certain kind of world. if you happen to believe in that

kind of world, and you happen to like the ice cream, partner with us. we're not selling you a product. we want to partner with people to work on the issues together. ♪ >> quality really starts in your own commitment to the product that you're making and the experience that you're giving your consumers. and if you're really passionate about that and stay focused on it, you ought to be able to continually improve the quality of what you're doing for your consumers. ♪ >> i learned from one project i did that i should do only whatever i know how to do. about 15, 20 years ago we opened up a brewery with a restaurant.

so i went into business with partners who could not do their job right. they had maybe a vision, but they could not execute. a lot of people have great visions and think we can do this or that but they're amateurs. i said let's stay with the core business we know really well and i think since that date, i do that exactly. before i thought if i open a shoe store, a jewelry store, whatever it is, it would work out for sure. now i know, i stay in the restaurant and food business. >> one of the things i've learned in both as an avocado grower and as a sock writer and as a touring artist that it is as important to ask for or take the advice of those who have been in the business longer than you. i couldn't be who i am if i didn't look up to others. if they didn't give me a template and a map to follow and what i want to create for my business, to are my businesses is the possibility for others to

watch, to follow, and be a part of mine or to create their own based on what they've seen. ♪ >> never be the first one to do anything. you'll be the poorest guy in the room. don't be the first ground breaker. it won't happen. let somebody else do market research and create a marketplace for you, and then just walk in and do it. in business it doesn't matter if it's expected or unexpected. this idea that something should be surprise! it's original! who cares? either it works or it doesn't, whether it's expected or unexpected, there's just success and failure, and everything else is just smoke and mirrors. >> in the old days it was very difficult. we had a long list, and i had thousands of elves trying to keep track of all these children. now social media, we can find out what people are doing, i have the twitter account, they write what they want and same

thing facebook, the adults do it through linkedin. through social media is a wonderful way to stay in contact and keep in touch with the people that i serve. ♪ >> stick around, as we mark the kickoff of our tenth season with what we love to do most, answer your small business questions. we'll be talking about investor involvement and planning and exit strategies. we thought we'd be ready. but demand for our cocktail bitters was huge. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding. fast. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. you can't predict it, but you can be ready. another step on the journey.

will you be ready when growth presents itself. realize your buying power at open.com. this week's your biz selfie comes from mark jones in syracuse, new york, who owns the company fan hands. this business looks like they make gloves, special gloves that sports fans can wear to help their clapping get louder. is that a good thing or bad thing? if you're a sports fan i guess it's a good thing. thank you for sending that in and we would love you to send in a selfie of you and your business so please send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com or tweet it to us@msnbcyourbiz. it's time to answer some of your business questions so let's get our board of directors in here to help us out. kimberly weisel, editor at large

and columnist for inc. magazine and ink.com. good to see both of you guys. >> great to be here. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> such a huge milestone. >> it's exciting. hopefully you'll be around for the next ten years for us also. >> that would be great. >> the first question is taking on investors. >> we're doing extremely well. we have wonderful cash flow. the business is growing at 100% plus every year. at what time do we involve other investors in order to take to us the next level? >> it's a good question and a lucky place to be in, right? he's got cash flow. what thing should he think about? >> my gut reaction when i first hear that if your cash flow is that strong you don't want investors yet. there will come a point if his growth continues that he's going to outstrip it so i think he needs to think about, one, you want to approach investors when you don't "need them" where you

still have a choice, so on that case i think he wants to be a little bit early coupled with the more progress you make without them, the better bargaining position you're going to be in. >> and i would add you should think about investors when you want to stop having full control of decisions because that's a really big part of it, too, which is you're used to doing your business the way, making decisions you way you make decisions. the minute you bring in the outside party it's not your baby anymore. there's growth capital you can get. you can get all sorts of different options with debt that can help you get to where you want to go, you know, pay for your accounts receivables, pay to grow your business so maybe never. >> he's in a good position unlike many other companies he's in good position where he's got the cash. finally we have one more question about getting out of your business. >> how do i go about planning an exit strategy that will really

be a win/win for us and an opportunity for someone else? >> where does she begin, monica? >> with an exit strategy that works for everyone i think one of the big things to consider is just time. are you allowing enough time for an orderly transition? i think the folks, the employees, that's definitely a consideration. the employees that work for you are they going to have enough upside when there's new management, when there's going to be a new buyer in the business, so a lot of business owners -- >> what do you mean by upside, are they going to participate in some of the sale or will they keep their jobs? >> i think all of the above. are they going to be around and feel motivated to continue to th their jobs. people stick around for other reasons than money, they have a relationship, they feel a level of stability, like the culture. how can you make that transition more orderly and the big emphasis is time. >> there are probably if she thinks about it a couple of likely buyers already.

there are probably a couple companies in her industry that are known as acquirers and i'm assuming that's the kind of exit she wants. she probably has an idea of who those are, and so she should be getting to know them at trade shows. she should know who those companies are, how they operate so as the time comes, she'll have a better chance of finding a good partner. i think it sounds like she's thinking about this well in advance and as monica said, time is so important. during that time, i think she really needs to think about how, two things, like one how can the business essentially run without her because it sounds like her role will not be the same going forward and two, how can she take risk out of her business so the buyer is comfortable with it. >> would you hire a business broker? >> it can help you manage bids and buyers. >> right. >> much better. i don't know that she's really ready for that. >> a broker can also help you be far more realistic with what you can get with your business.

your books need to be clean for starters. you may see "x" amount of profit but that's how you pay your taxes and manage your accounting. if you want to sell you may need to get into the process a couple of years in advance, you may need to get an accountant that can then verify that your books are as you say they are so the broker can help you think through all of those types of issues. >> all right, well great, good to see both of you. thank you for your advice. >> my pleasure. if any of you out there have a question for our experts, we answer them every single week here on the show. so just send us an e-mail, the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. thank you so much for being with us here today. i cannot express what an honor it is to be kicking off our tenth season. as an entrepreneur myself i have been in the trenches just like all of you and look forward to another season together tackling all of the issues that we face so we can all keep growing our companies. if you missed anything from today's show, head on over to

our website openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll not only find today's segments but lots of other material that can help you out and follow us on twitter twitter, @msnbcyourbiz and we're on facebook and instagram as well. next week we meet a store owner in illinois who wants help getting visitors to stay and shop. how her store is transformed so her foot traffic turns into buying traffic. until then, remember we make your business our business. selling 18 homes? easy. building them all in four and a half months? now that was a leap. i was calling in every favor i could, to track down enough lumber to get the job done. and i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials.

there are always going to be unknowns. you just have to be ready for them. another step on the journey... will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com passing the test, hillary clinton stares down republicans on benghazi. >> i'm sorry that it doesn't fit your narrative, congressman. >> with joe biden on the sidelines. was this the turning point for her campaign? also, house cleaning. can a speaker ryan really tame the far right in the gop? >> we need to move from an opposition party to being a proposition party. plus president obama gets personal on criminal justice. >> there have been times where i've been stopped and it wasn't clear why. and fact checking "star wars" neil degrasse tyson talks about science fiction and fact. from rockefeller center in new york city,