good morning. coming up on "your business" the owner of an office supply company shares her secret for getting government contracts. the owner of a security company ends up changing everything in her business after a tweak in her perspective. and the world's greatest entrepreneurs share wisdom on stellar customer service. want to grow your small business? find out how next on "your business." american express open can help you take on a new job. or fill a big order. or expand your office. for those who constantly find

new ways to grow on every step of the journey, american ex press open presents "your business" on msnbc. ♪ hi, everyone. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. here's a question for you. what do carpets, oatmeal cookies and tire have in common? the federal government is the largest buyer of each. these items and thousands of products and services are part of the $500 billion in merchandise purchased by the u.s. government every year. we spent time with a small office products business in california which has gone after some of the money and succeeded in cracking the complicated code

of doing business with the government. >> the government is the world's biggest procurer of product, right? that's a huge opportunity for someone like us. >> rosemary is a rock star in government contracting. >> we were able to to business with the government within 60 days of starting the business. >> at nus 33 she's mastered the art of getting diversity certifications, bidding on government contracts and filling out piles of paperwork. >> if you know rosemary for any length of time, you come to realize she doesn't necessarily do thing it is way everyone else does. >> so many are turned off by red tape. rosemary see it is dream customer, someone reliable, who pays their bills on time and not only wants but has to buy products from a small business. >> when does the customer need the quote? >> i did the quote already.

if i can follow up on it. >> when she launched gorilla stationers three years ago in california she was bound and determined to get her small business a slice of uncle sam's pie. >> we definitely started the company knowing he we would go after government and diversity business. that was always our plan to become a diversity supplier. i think that's a niche in the market. it's not 100% fulfilled at this point. >> reporter: but it's hard to get the first contract. how did she do it? actually, for her it was just about experience. rosemary's knack for the office supply business and fearless approach to government contracting was something she learned at her first job. >> when i moved to california at 18 i went into the office products business. i have learned a lot about doing business with the government. >> reporter: with 500 billion dollars available every year for purchasing ambassador federal law requiring that 23% of the

dollars be awarded to small businesses, rosemary couldn't afford to let the opportunity as big as this pass her by. she had to go out on her own and start a business. >> hey, heather. it's rosemary, hope you're having a good week. >> reporter: working with the government can be daunting. we asked rosemary to share tips on how to approach the task of landing a government contract. her first piece of advice. if you can, get a diversity supplier certification. rosemary has six. >> a diversity supplier is a small business, a woman-owned business, a hispanic-owned business, asian business. now the gay and lesbian designation. that diverse business is a percentage of sales that the government has to spend with these designations. >> reporter: that means 23% allocated for small business is further broken down by designation. for instance women-owned

businesses get 5%. if your head is spinning rosemary recommends contacting your local small business development center to help figure it out. that's how she connect ed with linda. >> let's have you come over. >> i'm dying to meet charlie. >> reporter: people experienced in doing business with the government like linda can guide you through the process. >> number one, you need to understand who your target markets are. it's not just saying i'm going to get government contracts but who will buy the products, how they buy and understanding the process. >> reporter: understanding the government customer means understanding the unique product needs. >> the government is looking to purchase recycled products. that's a key initiative. we are able to provide recycled products like toner cartridges. >> reporter: understanding what products appeal to the government led rose disease mary to buy two smaller companies to broaden the

product line. >> our first acquisition was gizmo, a fun, hip, technology-based company. in may of 2015 we purchased a company based in van nuys called in ink for all. it just sold toner and ink. gorilla sells toner, ink, janitorial and paper products. >> reporter: michael has stayed on to better integrate his company with rosemary's. so far it's working as planned. >> she inquired about acquiring ink for all. maybe this is better for us. it turned out to be great. helping our section of the company grow. >> reporter: prior to the acquisition michael had no government customers. now the ink and toner portion of the business is a big seller at gorilla, especially for the government customer looking for special recycled products. >> there is so much opportunity

in the government sector. we are always looking for new contracts, new segments of business we can get involved with. >> reporter: another way to find out if you want to work with the government agency and if you're qualified is to go to a how-to class run by the organization. >> if you don't understand doing business with an agency they have classes. how to do business with this agency, what paperwork they require. >> reporter: there's the dreaded word -- paperwork. >> it's government. it is going to be -- it's all about the paper, unfortunately. she had experience so she knew what she was up against. she understood the system. for somebody starting out totally new it takes ale while. >> reporter: linda said all the paperwork is figured out and the first contract is snagged, getting others to follow becomes easier . >> resource-wise for a small business you have limited time and limited dollars. i think the acquisition cost is

higher. you get the first one it starts to spring board. now you've got credibility. >> reporter: she now has business at the federal, state and local level. they have turned out to be some of the best customers she has. >> they pay their bills. with the federal government in some cases it's net 10. before they pay big businesses they pay our invoice. >> the iowa caucuses are coming up. the first voting in the 2016 presidential race will be the first test for donald trump. currently the republican front-runner according to to national polls. what kind of president would he make and what impact would he have on american small businesses? one person who knows him well is bill rancic, best known for winning "the apprentice." i would imagine you were asked this quite a bit. >> everywhere i go.

>> you're a small business owner. let's take it from that perspective. what would he be like as a president for small business owners. >> he's pro small business. he's an entrepreneur, second generation entrepreneur. i think he believes in small business, understands how important they are to our country and how they employ more business than any other sector. i think he would be very good for small business. >> but that's if you just take small business and then there are inflammatory comments about immigration, muslims, women. that has an effect on small business for sure because it affects the economy, the country, et cetera. >> listen, politics are politics. my mom taught me at a very early age there are two things you don't talk about -- religion and politics unless you are at the kitchen table. it get use into a corner and you don't want to be there. i have known him for a long time. he was good to me. he changed my life. there is one thing about businesses, it's about loyalty.

he was a guy who was good to me. certainly i'm forever grateful. >> if you vote for him? >> of course, yes. >> bill, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> your perspective has so much influence on how far you can take your business f. you can't envision your company getting bigger how will it get there? this was proven to me again when i met the owner of a security guard company who told me it took her changing her attitude to provide the foundation for her company to grow. jessica johnson who grew up in the bronx new york, there was no question that when her father died she had to take over johnson security bureau. the security guard company his parents and he had run for more than 50 years. >> the bronx has one of the highest unemployment rates for the state of new york. some of the highest unemployment rates across the country. it was incumbent upon me and my brother to make a contribution back to the community that helped us.

>> reporter: her mission was clear from day one. her sights weren't set high. at the time, the company had 16 guards. she put together what she thought was an optimistic projection. 5% growth each year for five years. >> i didn't have the scope right. i think that stops a lot of small businesses or keeps a lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs where they are is they don't realize the size of the opportunity that's out there. it's all about perspective. >> reporter: her perspective was way off. today she has 150 employees. her revenue has increased more than 600 times. a far cry from the 5%. so what changed? basically, an adviser asked jessica what she would do if money weren't an issue. >> a lightbulb went off. since about 2010, we have been working on all cylinders because we have that realization that it's bigger than we think it is.

>> reporter: they started bidding on jobs they didn't think they would get. early on when you were pitching big clients and hadn't had big clients or any before were you sitting around a table thinking, what are we doing? >> we didn't have a conference table. we had a card table and folding chairs. it wasn't that complicated. we figured what did we have to lose. the worst would be they would tell us no. >> reporter: soon someone didn't say no. that was the beginning of the nonstop growth. >> they called, i believe, on a wednesday and wanted us to start the following monday. so we had to hire people, have them trained, have them certified with the site-specific training and have them ready to work for monday. >> reporter: johnson security bureau went from 16 to 36 employees overnight. they expanded services, providing both armed and unarmed guards. all the changes meant they had to look hard at the way things

were done internally. >> lots of things had to change. i have a friend who has a saying if you can't change the people, change the people. there are people who started the trip with us that are no longer on this ride because they didn't have the vision. >> reporter: jessica and the team are still out there pitching. when i asked how big the company can be she told me this -- i think this company can rival some of the largest security companies in the world. >> reporter: you are saying this can be as big as the biggest companies in the world. when you got here you said, i think there can be 5% growth. that's a big change in attitude. >> it is. i have seen big things happen in ale small amount of time. why not? >> reporter: a big part of customer service is engaging with your target audience. instagram is one social media platform that makes it easy. here are five ways to get more

instagram followers courtesy of instagram.com. >> one, add your handle. more people will check you out if the user name is visible. two, send products to instagram influencers. find the accounts your target markets follow and see if they will do a promoted post for you. it could be a great way to boost sales. three, liking pictures is nice, but when you leave comments your name gets more exposure. four, encourage sharing. post an instagram give away that requires followers to tag a friend in the comments. your audience will bring new followers who may not have heard of you yet. give people a reason to follow you. incentivize with the content you provide instead of just telling them to subscribe to posts. there are two parts to growing your customer base. the first is attracting them. second is retaining them and you will never to it if you treat

them poorly. over our ten seasons we have heard time and again from successful entrepreneurs that exceptional customer service is imperative for any business, whether it's brick and mortar, e-commerce, service or product based. here are words of wisdom from respected ceos and founders who tell us to put the customer first. >> very important. to engender trust with your customer. if you disappoint them, if you make something that falls apart, forget it. you don't get that customer back again. all i want to do is grow my customer base. be where the customer needs and wants me with good stuff, practical stuff, things that last, things that don't cost too much money. >> great companies in america

that are successful in retail whether it be home depot, walmart, target or costco and the list goes on. are companies that spend a lot of time talking to their customers and not talking at them but listening to what the customers are telling them and responding to that. >> we take feedback. we do follow up calls on every job. we ask every customer within 48 to 72 hours how did we do, what could we have done to improve. we are in this perpetual learning cycle with our business where we have to always be better and always give the customer what they want and need. >> the restaurant industry, the single most important thing you could have is customer service. making eye contact. come up with a way to connect and talk to them. once you have the dialogue going

you have connected. you have won half the battle. do those things and that's 99% of the restaurant business. it's amazing how forgiving guests may be if the food is late or maybe you get the order wrong if you made a personal connection they will be happy forever. >> we always put the customer first. you have to think of things from their point of view. make them comfortable. make them feel they have a good value for the money. a lot of times customers say, give me $50 for the scratch on the table. we know their friends and family will walk in, see the scratch and ask how the scratch got there. >> we weren't like that. we would say we are sorry. we even had a sorry package with a mug and coffee. we would pay to have anything fixed. >> making customers happy. you never meet a customer's expectations. you either exceed it or fail to meet it. our goal as ceos is to have a

higher percentage of exceeding customer expectation. caution is a thing of the past. we do one thing almost no one does. we are one of the few national companies that calls every customer two days after they have been in and ask how we did and how they cwe can improve. they like the call. we have a higher retention when we call and ask them how we did for them. >> genuine care is critical. our frequent guest program is kimpton karma. you do good things for us you get karma points. we give back the points to you. you may show up to a room and there could be a free drink at the bar or $10 off at the mini bar or a bottle of wine in your room. maybe you like teddy bears. we try to track what's important to you. then we do things that surprise and the light you.

>> be like water. it's true. flow with it. flow with your community. go with they go. if the community is on snapchat. go there, too. live streaming like periscope go where they go. maintain the dialogue and the conversation with them. >> still to come, how to connect with customers in a digital world. and advice on maintaining control over your network online by acting like a duck. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed.

our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com how do we as owners and managers connect with the customers in a virtual world leveraging opportunity there is? >> david, this is a great question. it's not getting any easier as more consumers move to the digital world. i have a few suggestions for you. the first would be figure out if there is a way every once in a while to directly take customer service calls or feedback on the website. put yourself in that position versus orr other employees. think about ways where you can proactively interact with potential customers. for example, if you have a food company doing direct demos in a

grocery store, maybe going to a trade show or sponsoring events locally and getting the one to one customer interaction. finally, most obviously, i would say solicit feedback. ask customers for feedback whether it is a part on your website where you are soliciting views or asking on social media. you would be surprised how many people have feedback ready but people don't ask for it. i would say you've got to be proactive and really create opportunities to interact with your customers. >> we now have the top two tips you need to help your small business grow. let's introduce the board of directors and get their advice. president and founder of the small business network and host of the small business advocate show and serial entrepreneur bill rancic, the winner of the first season of "the apprentice." >> thanks for having us. >> jim, your tip? >> act like a duck. everyone should have a social media strategy.

the big platforms, facebook, twitter, all those guys are in business for themselves. they are not in business to help you. if they decide to change the rules and the rules upset or make mad your community, your customer communities you have been building on the social media platforms you will wake up and all the communities are gone. so act like a duck and migrate the names, the contacts over to a parallel universe like an e mail list, for example, to make sure you don't wake up with your contacts gone because facebook or linked it is in did something they didn't like. that list becomes a backup or maybe even a plan b marketing strategy. act like a duck. migrate your contacts. >> interesting. >> the big platforms are great, but they are in business for themselves, not for you. >> all right. bill? >> business is not a sprint. it's a marathon. when approaching business you have to look at successful

marathon winners an how they win. they take the overwhelming goal, break it down. they want to get to mile five, ten and 12. they celebrate successes along the way. don't sprint out of the gate. it's a marathon. break it into smaller sections. it takes the goal and makes it manageable. >> it's hard times when running a company. you read of all the success stories and feel that should be you. >> right. >> often what you don't hear is they were an overnight success that took ten years to get there. >> at least, right. >> you never get that story. >> that's an excellent point. don't forget tole celebrate the milestone. >> mile five, right. >> stop, look around. be proud for a minute and let the people around you celle brat it. >> right. >> the employees need that. >> and your customers. the customers like it when you're successful. >> otherwise it's overwhelming. a marathon runner, 26.2 miles,

oh, i'm at mile one. when you say, okay, i'll get to five and celebrate five and ten. that's what row do in business. it's a lot more manageable. >> what do you do when you don't get to five? you've got this but it's going down. >> i have my hand up. i failed. >> yeah. >> you get up and do what we were talking about. hit the wall, get up and go again. you're all in. you have to believe in yourself. if the marketplace fails you, your capital fails you. if you don't believe in yourself, go clock in tomorrow. >> that's a great point. especially this younger generation of small business owners, they are playing defense too much. they are so afraid tole fail because of the way they were brought up. the parents today are coddling kids so much. they can't fail, can't make mistakes and they never grow. >> you have to have a relationship with failure. >> without a doubt. >> relationship. it's going to happen to all of us. >> automatically. >> things happen and you were

disappointed. great to see you. >> this week's yourbiz sellfi from sumnu marketing. you can see him being named the nevada family-owned business of the year. now, why don't you pick up your cell phone, take a pic of you and your small business and send it here to your business@msnbc.com or tweet it to @msnbc your biz and use the hashtag # your bizselfie. help may be on the way for small businesses who want a 401(k) plan for employees. the president has a proposal in the 2017 budget to help employees at small businesses save for retirement. if approved by congress the rule would reduce administrative costs and compliance issues and make it easier for small businesses in different industries to join together to split the cost of a plan for employees.

here to talk about how it impacts small businesses and the ploys is saul simon from simon financial group and a planner with lincoln financial advisers. he specializes in working with individuals and business owners to develop strategic plans to meet their objectives. good to see you. >> hi. >> that was a mouthful. >> a lot of small businesses don't do them now from my experience for two reasons. expense, complication. >> yes, yes, yes. >> i think everyone understands that we want -- employers want employees, the government wants people to save for retirement. for someone in the hot seat, right, i have my small business. i want to set up a 401(k) plan. i didn't do it before. will it be cheaper, easier. am i going to spend three weeks trying to understand it? >> number one, the costs aren't as expensive as people perceive, number one. number two, yes. there are complications. we need to do an analysis as to

what am i on the hook for as a business owner? what's the benefit? do i get a tax deduction? i have to give a contribution -- i don't have to. but it makes sense for me to give a contribution to my employees. versus do i have to take the money and pay income tax? there are positives to the system by congress approving this. the first is that the business owner would get a $500 credit for three years total there's 1500 by implementing this savings plan for the employer and benefit of the employee. >> got it. if i start this, money back in my pocket. >> fabulous. under the plan because it is government regular golden stated the contributions are after tax like a roth. so you are paying income taxes and then contributing, number one. number two, it is also going into a treasury type of an account which say is currently

paying 2%. between you and me, we know if we are saving money for the long-term we know we want to invest this money more aggressively, more growth oriented because this isn't money i'm touching for 10, 15, 20 years. >> we have to stop here but i think this is interesting. the wrd that people are starting to think about retiermt and employers. a lot of small business owners shied away from this. again, we keep looking out for this and ask employee ifs they want it. >> they should look at what's best for them. they need an adviser to determine the net costs. >> thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for joining us today. we would love to hear from you. if you have questions or comments about today's show send an e-mail to your business@msnbc.com. you can also go to our website. it's open forum.com/your business. we have posted all of the segments from today's show plus a lot more.

don't forget to connect with us on our digital and social media platforms, too. next week, the creator of the swurfer got it wrong when he thought he knew who would buy his wooden swing. >> when i came out with the product the intention was the surf, skateboard and older kids. things took off in the toy world. >> we'll tell you why sales are on the upswing now that he knows how and where to sell his product. until then, remember, we make your business our business. >> announcer: brought to you by american express open. visit open forum.com for ideas to help you grow your business. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials.

amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com >> oh my god, if you like politics, it's so exciting to be in new hampshire. new hampshire is the greatest place to be in the world this time of the year in even numbered years di invisible by four. that said, every election year is different. quite a handful. this year, here's the weird thing, in nature and in news, it is very rare that some fairly static measure of how