you don't see that every day. introducing wifi pro, wifi that helps grow your business. comcast business. built for business. good morning. coming up on muss nbc's "your business," how the government is helping small businesses in flint, michigan, affected by that city's water crisis. a tampa clothing store attracts new customers by opening a second business, a coffee bar. and some of the most brilliant entrepreneurial geniuses on what they've learned along the way. plus, a guest who says you should stalk your competitor. find out what he means, coming up 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 express open proudly presents "your business" on msnbc. hi, everyone, i'm jj ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. the serious water crisis is not only proving a hardship on residents but it is also having a devastating impact on that city's small businesses. local, state, and federal officials are dealing with the city's contaminated water supply. small businesses are still feeling the ramifications of the crisis. michigan governor rick schneider requested several low interest disaster loans to help those businesses get back on their feet.

small business administrator maria contreras sweet visited flint last week to get a firsthand account of how they're dealing with it. great to be here. >> so you were in flint, give our audience a sense of what the ramifications are. what businesses are being affected by this. >> you know, i felt it was urgent for us to get out there. president obama has been committed. he has already sent the department of commerce, he has sent the eda, the economic development agency. i was there as part of the small business administration. first and foremost, to tell those small businesses that have been economically affected by the residents leaving the community, and it slows down the business for small businesses. so we want to say to them, the spa has an office of disaster assistance that provides below-market rate loans for them

to be able to sustain the cash flow they need to keep their business going. i was there to talk to them about that but also to say to everybody else, it's so important, if we want to support the wonderful people in flint, it is important to know it is open for business. >> the sba has been there to offer these disaster loans but what we've heard in the past, they're there but i don't know how to get them. the red tape has got so mired i can't get the loan fast enough to help my business. what has the sba done about that? >> we are the direct lender in that instance. we're getting loans approved in two to three weeks. that's historic level for any -- whether you're going to a bank or anything like that. i actually took our office of disaster assistance and asked them to be assessed by outside experts to compare customer service to the private sector. and we compare very favorably to nordstrom, target. i think people will be pleased

if they come back, give us another try, to see our service levels have dramatically improved. >> i want to switch gears and talk about news that came out this week about contracts and women and the sba put out this release about how 20 years, more than 20 years after the levels had been set, that 5% of government contracts should go to women-owned businesses because of a lot of work that you've done under your tenure, you finally met it, which is amazing that it's been met. but 5% in 20 years. >> there are a couple of things. one is that most of you, i know you know this, most small businesses that women own have one employee or two employees. so it has been hard for them to go through the process of being certified and find a federal contract that they can deal with, that they can handle. so many times when a woman does come in to the play, they're getting what we call second tier

supply chain opportunities. what we're trying to do now is lift them up so they can get prime opportunities, so that they're at the top the supply chain. that's what this goal is about. say how do we get 5% of women to get certified, get through the process and be large enough to handle a federal contract. it's the floor in my mind. i know we hadn't reached it. there were things that weren't right about it. i was frustrated when i got here they had caps on the size of loans and contracts that we could give to women. we've taken that out. >> all great to see you, administrator. thanks for taking the time to talk to us. >> jj, this is women's history month. we were so pleased we were able to announce first time ever the u.s. government reaches its goal with contracting for women. we reached it for disabled vets. we doubled the rate for minority disadvantaged people and overall, the fact that we are now able to direct one in every four dollars to small businesses

it's important progress. we're going to continue to build on it. >> congratulations on that. i agree with you, this is the beginning. you'll keep going from there. thank you. >> thank you. in a perfect world, a good product plus a good marketing and promotional strategy translates into sales. you can't grow your brand without getting the word out. while many of us looked at things like social media or direct mail to connect with customers, three entrepreneurs took a wildly different approach. when they were worried about shoppers coming to their clothing store, they started a whole new business. they didn't focus on jeans or t-shirts either. they were all about coffee. ♪ >> no shame in our game. we always had this selfish idea that we wanted to introduce more people to the brand. how can we do that. >> roberto torres isn't afraid to take risks, after all, he and co-founders luis and

christopher, launched their tampa, florida clothing company, black and denim right in the middle of a downturn. >> we started thinking about how is it we can create something for ourselves, the bottom of the recession fell out. >> the brand is rooted in american history. the owners refer to the line as apparel for the brave. >> what we like to see, we're a james dean look with a johnny cash sound track. >> we sell apparel for both men and women, t-shirts, denim be accessories. everything is made 100% in america. >> after successfully selling both wholesale and through the black and denim website, the trio wanted to create a focal point for their operation. >> we were doing well with just the clothing but bewanted to do better. we needed to expand on that. >> they decided to build their own boutique and concentrate on selling directly to customers. >> we wanted to establish brick and mortar. >> we wanted to control our identity, our brand so we can do

a better job with connecting with our core audience. >> the owners are well aware that their neighborhood is known for night life, not its shopping. getting customers in the door was a top concern. >> we knew we couldn't -- with the foot traffic, the research we did, we couldn't establish a brand at a high-end price point. >> that was a big risk for us at the time. >> that's why they took drastic action. they started a second company to benefit the first one. >> everybody wants coffee. everyone is going to come in and get coffee. we knew right away we were getting into the coffee business. >> blind tiger coffee launched with the sole purpose of drawing customers to their clothing. >> cafe, tea and textiles. >> we wanted to be able to offer our clients coming in specifically for clothing a beverage or snack while they were browsing around. >> the name blind tiger is a reference to speak easies set up during prohibition, it's a tip of the hat to black and denim and a subtle way the founders linked the brands. >> i would say they're

intertwined only because of the historical aspects that we encompass in both of them. >> the shared staff aside, these companies operate independently. but have become a perfect pair. >> we in essence created our tenants by creating the blind tiger. >> on the outside, each business has its own branded entrance. >> we wanted to make sure we can attack all angles in terms of customer base so know here's a door, i'll welcome you in, come in at any time. >> inside there's 3,000 square feet of shared space for coffee and clothing. >> i think that the person that wants a really good cup of coffee is going to come in and then all of a sudden realize there's really good clothes and apparel here. at the same time, the person that's going to come in for a really good pair of jeans or high quality t-shirt is going to also be that same person that wants that high quality coffee or tea. >> blind tiger takes up more space than black and denim. that's intentional. the space was originally split

50/50 but it wasn't a good balance. limited seating discouraged browsing. >> our customer got trained this was a grab and go and there wasn't any place to sit, meet or do anything. >> to give the coffee drinkers a bit more real, the owners rearranged the black and denim displays. the move had the exact effect the founders anticipated. people started buying. >> what we discovered was whenever they got an opportunity to sit down and linger, our sales went up 15%. >> co-branding was never part of the plan but customer demand won out. >> before i knew it, everyone was asking, saying, where's this on a t-shirt. that's what brought us into the co-branding. >> shoppers scooped up blind tiger t-shirt with black and denim labels. >> people said they never experienced anything like that before. that's what we wanted. >> internal competition isn't something worries about since both companies can actually

survive without the other. >> they are separate in the actual businesses that they live together just fine. i don't think they compete with each other. i think that it's something that people actually enjoy. >> i think that we're very aware that each brand is independent of its own and we want to keep it that way. >> luis admits that marketing is more difficult than ever before. even on social media, each business has its own identity. >> it's overwhelming to manage two brands at once, especially with them offering two completely different products. we've got plenty of people that love black and denim but don't drink coffee. we've got plenty of people that drink coffee and tea but don't wear denim. you know? so we have to be able to please everybody that comes in. >> change is a con stan at black and denim, too. clothes are rotated regularly. >> every couple of weeks we just move things around. it may seem like -- we actually have all the same products out but when people are coming back to the store, it looks

completely different to them. >> customers may or may not know that the companies have the same owners but it doesn't seem to matter. black and denim and blind tiger have expanded together to a second location in tampa. with more concepts in the works. >> i think it would have been a failure, not to open a shared space. and if it was misunderstood or people didn't come, or if we wouldn't have not the sales, that's feedback. i don't care it as failure. >> the lucrative outcome of this brick and mortar experiment is helping roberto, luis and christopher set their sights higher. >> we really took the skill set we are learning in our first business for the first five years and we applied it to a completely different business. i think black and denim has its own home inside every single blind tiger. >> for the second year in a row, msnbc has partnered with new york's 92nd street for the 7 days of genius, a week where we

celebrate inspiring thought leaders from a wide range of fields, including those who have influenced small businesses. we've been lucky to have gotten the opportunity to talk with some of the greatest entrepreneurial minds in america. so here are seven business geniuses for seven days of genius. >> there's no point in coming up with a great idea unless everybody knows about it. what you have to try to do is get yourself on to the front page of the newspaper, even if it makes making a fool of yourself, try to make people smile at the same time rather than a footnote in the back of the newspapers. >> we've just gone through a number of periods where people didn't believe we could succeed at what we were trying to do. >> i've spent late nights pacing around my living room, with teammates, right, just trying to plot out what our next move be in order to keep pushing forward. there's always a next move. >> vision. i think it's really important to create a vision with meaning that goes beyond being number one or making money.

so for zappos, for example, we went from the vision of being the number one seller of shoes to really being about the best company for customer service. and what we found was that when the vision had a lot more meaning, that employees gravitated towards it and were a lot more enthusiastic and passionate about the company and the customers could sense that. >> well, when i started the business, the martha stewart living omnimedia, our two words were inspire and inform. so you create the beautiful picture. you create the lifestyle that you think everybody would aspire to. and then you have to tell them how to get it. so that's the teaching part. and to be that inspirer, that inspiration, you have to know a lot. you can't fake it. so i learn every single day. one of my mottos is learn something new every day. and i do. so it's all about informing yourself so that you can be a good teacher.

>> so the original design of toms comes from a shoe called alpagato. i thought for every pair of shoes we sold, we'll give one back to children who don't have shoes. the best case world is that we can give away lots of shoes and have great profits. >> we didn't make money for many, many years. we were an artistic success, making great ice cream. people loved the shop, our sales increased every shop. our expenses increased every year and we were pretty much breaking even. what started to happen for the company was we started to make more unusual flavors, flavors with big chunks of cookies and candies. we started expanding our distribution, started packaging ice cream into pints. you know, sometimes people look at ben & jerry's and think of it as an overnight success. it was not overnight at all. >> the minute you rest on your laurels, become satisfied with your success, you become

somewhat complacent, maybe arrogant, maybe too comfortable. we have a philosophy in the company and the philosophy is that every season has to be better than last. we'll read a survey where we're number one in a certain category and in a certain country or, you know, we're number two in designer names in america or something like that. and i never take those things seriously, because i think, okay, that was written yesterday. you have to think of tomorrow. and the minute you stop thinking about tomorrow, you lose. don't forget about the past but think about tomorrow. >> how well do you really know your ideal customer? truly understanding who you're messaging and branding is attempting to entice and help you grow your company. entrepreneur.com put together five ways to better know your

target audience. one, collect objective data and craft a fictional character who exhibits all the traits an average member of your target audience is expected to have. two, conduct surveys. ask multiple choice questions to the widest cross-section of potential clients. three, look to your competitors. they may already have done their own market research and put it into action. observe and learn from the way they write and advertise to the audiences you're trying to attract. four, listen to social conversations. zero in on what people are saying online about your brand so you can adjust accordingly. and five, allow some room to grow. your target audience will evolve and change as you go. give yourself breathing room and do frequent checks to make sure your company is still catering to their needs. imagine if you could turn any top in your closet into a

warm and fashionable hoodie. our elevator pitcher has figured out a way to do just that with her loose-fitting cowls she calls mantles. cozy freedman is the founder. jeffrey hazelet is here as well. >> my name is avilern fox. the world mantle means a loose-hood or cloak. my customers tell me that it feels like a hug. to launch, i raised $40,000 over kick starter and obtained a tory burch foundation loan through entrepreneur works. wild mantle.com is our website. i'm getting ready to launch my

summer collection through a kick starter in april. because the mantles are currently made on antique knitting machines, manufacturing costs are high and retail price is nearly $300. with an investment of $200,000 we can reduce our production costs by scaling up to computerized knitting machinery. the result, a range of mantle options at multiple price points to cater to a broader customer base. i invite you to join me and take up the mantle. >> nice job on the pitch. at least i think so. i love them personally. two numbers between one and ten. the first is what do you think of the product, the second is what do you think of the pitch. how old is this company. >> about two years old. >> what inspired you? >> i made a hooded scarf out of cozy old sweaters because i wanted one. i wore it out and people started saying, what is that, i want one. >> got it. so you started making them. >> exactly. >> you first.

i gave you an 8 and 8. i love the product. i want one. i'm going to buy one. i'll be on your website. i thought your pitch was great. i love your enthusiasm and all that you've done. i am concerned about your competitive advantage and barrier to entry in the market. because i think when you are successful, which not if but when, you're going to have people coming in and knocking you off. and that's a concern of mine. and it would be as an investor. >> jeffrey. >> 9 and 8. okay. i thought the product is great. in fact, when you pick it up it has heft to it. it's nice and soft, very cool. i'm worried about people knocking you off. this is an item i'd come after you and the price point i think is very high. you're really smart to get that down and work hard. the other thing i'd like to hear from you, especially since i do a lot of investing myself, tell me about the market. how much money am i going to make? you didn't get to that. you really need to do that if you're going to get into my

pocketbook. >> great. thank you both. good luck with everything. congratulations on your success so far. i think you have a few new customers right in this room. thank you. thank you for modeling. any of you have a product or service and you want feedback like you just saw from our elevator pitch panel on your chances of getting interested investors, send us an e-mail, yourbusiness@msnbc.com. include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise and what you're going to do with that money. never know, somebody out there watching the show may be interested in helping you. when we come back, how to protect your brand from counterfeiters on amazon. and why jeffrey hazelet thinks you should be stalking your competitors. 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 one of the challenges that we're facing is with counterfeitering and amazon reseller network. we've been doing things such as getting package copy rights, product copy rights, registering with alibaba to have fraudulent listings removed, trying to get amazon to remove these listings. i'm wondering is there other things we should be doing to be

more pro-active to prevent and help protect our brand? >> in a weird way, you might look at it and think this is a horrible situation. this is something that's unfair. this is something that needs to be stopped. it should be. but at the same time, you have to look at the glass as half full, too. where it's actually an indication that you have a very successful product to the point that someone's willing to actually do a fake version of it and try to profit from it. so what i always say is that just proves that there's incredible consumer demand for it. if you're an up and coming handbag designer, for example, you discover that in a shadier part of the city you find counterfeiter versions of your bag but at the same time you're trying to crack open or get into, let's say, a major luxury retailer that you're having problems getting into, that bit of information actually can be very useful to show that there is a consumer that's dying to buy your product to the point that they're willing to knock it off.

we now have the top two tips that you should know to help your small bids grow. jeffrey and cozy are back with us. i'm excited to hear what both of you have to say. coming from really different industries but both of you guys have done a great job growing your companies. >> thank you. >> jeffrey, lets start with you. >> stalk them. i'm talking about your competitor. go on their website. look at the testimonials. i'm not talking about stealing the customers but what other industries, you might find a new industry, a new vertical. go on youtube. look at the videos they have, see about their products. you might pick up a hint 0 are two of a new thing you want to add or certainly look at social media. you'll see customers who are dissatisfied and that might be a great toon the for you. >> one interesting thing about stalking your competitors, knowing what they're up to is not being scared, right? if they're going into something, feeling like you need to follow them. now they're doing this, now this, uh-oh.

>> you have to have a sense of who you are. you're going to get distracted by squirrels popping up all the time. it's like wham a molck a mole. you have to stay focused. >> you have to look at the type of customer. >> what's your profile, when i was head of marketing for a big multinational company we used to profile our customers and have different names and personify them so we know fiona was this, a 45-year-old mom who had two kids, was hispanic and so forth and so on. you can do those things for yourself, too, even in small business. >> cozy. >> be green and growing, not ripe and rotting. and what i mean by that is your business is alive and it's growing and you need to branch out and evolve your business over time. and otherwise, you don't want to die on the vine. and so, you know, from my business in the churn's hair care business i started in kids salons.

and you know, that worked out. i wrote a book on kid's hair. i created a line of kid's hair care products, always staying true to my core, to the roots of what i was doing and my expertise but branching out and growing. the world is moving and changing and if you are not, you're stuck. >> what's interesting about the way you've grown your business, it could have gone a different way. you have a salon. you could have branched out around the united states. you could have franchise. there are all kinds of things you could have done but you decided to go into products instead. >> there's a million different ways any business can grow. part of that also is not going with the new shiny object. you can't just jump on every idea but really staying true to what you're doing. there was a time within i was thinking of -- my salons are for children. i was thinking of opening teen salons. i said wait a minute, why would i do that? i have a kid's business and it's working. so let me, you know, really go with that.

so sewszy, my kid's hair caroline has turn out to be the biggest part of my business. >> i think if you don't have new ideas, because you've been doing it for a long time, you're sort of comfortable where you are, bring people in who do. >> absolutely. >> mix it up. >> absolutely. >> whether it's an advisory board, employees. >> or hire a consultant. >> listen to your customers, clients, employees, everyone has ideas. you have to be open to them. >> you do. all right. great. thank you so much. so good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you. this week's your biz selfie come from warren and danielle barnes who own absolutely juicy. he was searching for healthy ways to deal with his irritable bowel syndrome. take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at "your businesyourbusiness@msnbc us @msnbcyourbiz.

don't forget #yourbizselfie. put yourself out there and take risks because you never know what's going to happen. when our cameras turned off in the elevator, jeffrey hazelet asked the elevator pitcher if she had a mentor in the fashion industry. she said no, listen, e-mail me and i'm going to connect you with someone. jeffrey is pretty well connected in this world. she took a risk by writing us to get on our show, as a result she's probably going to get a great mentor in that field. always take risks and put yourself out there. nothing happens if you don't let it happen. we'd love to hear from you and hear what you learned from today's show. if you have questions or comments about today's show, e-mail us at "your business"@mispbs.com. also click on our website, openforum.com/your business. don't forget to connect with us on our digital and media platforms as we'll. next week, in the heat of

this presidential election season, we travelled to the warmth of daytona beach, florida, to hear what the owners of main street small businesses there are thinking. >> i think there's so much taking place nationally and internationally, that i think small businesses fall off the radar of the national politics. >> on the eve of their primary, we'll hear what the small businesses in this colorful town want to learn from the candidates. till then, i'm jj ramberg and remember, we make your business our business. 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 thank you for staying with us tonight. this has turned out to be a night that may go down in history as one of the darker moments in american major party politics. here's the context. here's how i think we got here, by deliberate means. i don't think this was an accident. one of the really important, really intense things that's been going on in our country over the past few years that has mostly been happening outside of big-time electoral politics has been a race issue and a justice issue and a civil rights issue and a public order issue, frankly in cities and suburbs all over the country