♪ we can't let you download... uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. good morning. coming up, looking for office space? we walk you through the process and go with what you need to know before signing that lease. and then turning a retail shop into a vedestination to ge more customers. that's all coming up on "your business."

hi, there, everyone. i am jj ramberg. welcome to "your business." there's been one process in running my company that i find not fun at all and that's looking for office space. once you get a great space, of course it's fantastic, but the road there can be, to say the least, a bit of a headache. today we will try and make it easier for you by preparing you with the questions to ask and the issues you need to think about before signing on the dotted line. whether it's your first lease or

your tenth. >> it's a rainy day in new york city. not the best weather to go out looking at office space, but as intrapreneurs we're used to dealing with much worse than a little rain. i have gone through the process of renting an office a few times, and believe me, i know it can be daunting. hi, there. >> jj, how are you doing? >> we asked the ceo and founder of tech start up the square foot to give us an overview on how to approach the process of renting a office space. he took us on a tour, and giving us a sense of what you get for your money and what questions to ask when looking at spaces, because, he said, no matter, what there are going to be

tradeoffs. when you walk in, is the lobby g. and bathrooms are clean, and how many elevators are there, and connectivity is also very important, and you want to make sure there are enough providers of internet and telecom. >> in real estate, there's a negotiation. how much are you paying per square foot, and how long is the lease for, and what kind of improvements will the they pay for. >> if you come and say i want the space for ten years, the landlord will do a lot within reason, and if you are putting in for three years, you will have to put in more money. >> to give aus sense of the decisions his clients need to make. >> no right or wrong, but

different spaces make more sense for different groups. >> we started at a boutique and fashion brand, and this is what he would consider a good option. >> a beautiful building. >> yeah, clients love it because the same lobby, look, and feel, and the same space, look and feel, and it's about 20 bucks less a foot. >> there's the deal. the build something nice but the neighborhood, a little less so. for this company, that didn't matter, they wanted to be in this area. >> they wanted to be in the garment district because they wanted to be around the same of of times they are working around. >> and they polish the floors, and paints the walls and makes a very turn key. >> and it made this rental a symbol one, the terms came down to price and the length of the lease and he felt comfortable

putting his client in the building, something he knew well. >> we have been in places before where there was an active tenant still in the space and then with the client said how do you like it, and the tenoned said, everything is great except for these three things which are horrible and we have those conversations. >> next, jonathan took us to a health and wellness media, and their price per square foot is more expensive because it's a trendier area of town, and when they were looking for space this company had very specific requirements. what must haves did this company come to you with? >> they needed a kitchen and the space checked that box with flying colors, and best recipes and that stuff and they like to be able to cook within their space. >> got it. but this must have been hard to find. most offices don't have a kitchen like this, a full

kitchen. >> was hard to find. >> they were clear on what was important, and they decided they were going to pay extra to be in the desired neighborhood and get the kitchen but did not want to spend money on changing the layout and even though they are growing fast the setup wrbgz for them, at least for now. >> how many square feet do you think i need per person? >> depends on the type of business you have, and this is 4,500 square feet, and that's called startup come ftporfortac. it depends on the type of business you have and the layout you have, and 125 square feet a person is a comfortable estimate. >> and the one thing is predicting how much you will need in the future. >> we took this floor and share space with one of our investors and we helped other groups dual,

and there are other companies that do that, and that's one way to get around the growth issues and the other is to realize in the goingout months you will pay more and at the back end of the lease, you will get to be saur tkaedea deans. >> a suit company is growing rapidly here. the company started with this one office, and when they ran out of space, they annexed an office next door and then another down the hall, and far from ideal, and then the space was no longer working. >> as i look around the room here and i look at your sales area in the other room, it's tight. >> it's really tight. >> it -- was there a point where your employees were starting to

say, john, we need more pace. >> that was a year ago. >> the lease on their current offices makes it a little ext complicated. >> is your lease up? >> you have the option of subleasing and surrendering, or doing something right in the middle, and that's giving away offices one at a taoeurpblgs so when you surrender, the land lord takes it back and there's a fixture of fines and penalties, but then you move into the next space not having to worry about your old spaces. >> john wanted to create the perfect office, so he and his landlord did negotiating and he took a longer lease in exchange for the landlord helps with the cost to build out the space. >> that put us in a position where we could grow for three to five years and that landlord helped us to put us in a place

where we can grow and expand in the same floor. >> john gave us a sneak peek of his office under construction around the corner. >> this is great. >> beautiful set up. great entryway when you walk in, so super exciting for an upgrade for us. >> now, john's two priorities for the new space, room to grow and a great customer experience are realized. >> welcome to the new space. >> this is great. >> it's got -- >> it's big. >> it's massive. the elevator exits right off the space and just a nice change in scenery to what you saw at the old space. you are walk into an all-show room floor set up with a big retail experience and we have taken the old retail floor and tripled the size. >> after seeing officers all over town with different budgeets and priorities, it was

interesting. >> how excited are you to be in one space instead of four spaces? >> if i am excited, our staff is astatic. >> space is incredibly important and that's true when it comes to a brick and mortar retail store, and it's so easy to buy online your shop needs to have something extra to get people in the door. and one business figured the trip, they turned their store into a true experience. >> when ted and angie created a small collection of wallets on a whim they never imagined their passion project would evolve into a brand known throughout the world. back in 2003, the husband and wife team became known for organizing hip little art shows

during their down time and they loved exposing their inner circle to the emerging artwork around them. >> none of the artwork was selling because we were all poor, and so we thought why not make something that is affordable that everybody needs. >> they collaborated with handful of local artists to design a line of limited edition wallets for an event. >> they sold out that night. >> with your art, the couple launched an online retail destination that sales both their original creations and other design driven pieces with a similar aesthetic, all at affordable prices. they have always celebrated the visionaries behind the products. >> there was always a bio associated with the artist, and

it adds a whole other life to what you are bringing home. >> over the past decade, they have gone from a planned up start to a booming business with a community of diehard fans that grows by the day, and big name brands like nike has seized unique opportunities to partnerup. >> that's a special thing about us, because it was somehow able to walk the line between walking the mainstream and niche. >> they understood the importance of creating memorable experiences from their customers from pop-up shops to a deeper and more meaningful level. in 2012, they opened up the flagship shop in the heart of l.a.'s downtown art district.

from social media for your business, their workshops have become a celebrated community staple for the brand. >> we are not just here to sell things but here to provide a whole set of different creative outlets. >> their ability to creatively and authentically create with their community have taken them beyond their wildest dreams. this past summer, the pair partnered with retail giant, nordstrom's, to create bins throughout the country so they could get a real taste of what they are all about. >> the best compliment is when they write us and say i am so inspired by what you do, and it's a really great thing that

we can touch people in that way and really have that experience beyond, you know, just buying a product. i know we talk so much about social, but i don't want to discount the importance of e-mail, and e-mail has evolved in big ways thanks to a focus on mobile and a greater integration of social, and we got five ways we could make the most of our digital correspondence. >> one, make your contact list a database of information, and a link to the e-mails you gathered on each lead, and two get real time notifications, alerts you when your e-mails have been opened and you can engage, and

then capture more e-mail addresses with tools, and a service collects new contacts to add to your list through built in pop-ups on your website, and four, automation, and communicating with your visitors at a specific time in a particular way will help to convert more of those people into customers, and personalized offers can entice repeat customers to share something with their friends. when it comes to building our teams, i think that all or at least most of us go into the process thinking we are looking for the best people and assuming once they are in our companies we are cultivating their talent but the truth is so many small business owners are doing it

wrong, and they suffer as a result. a professor and a director of tux center for leadership, and launched the book "superbosses," and dr. sid, nice to see you and thank you for coming on the program. >> great to be on, jj. >> this is probably the most important thing you can do for your company is hiring people and keeping them, and too many of us don't think of it as a real business practice? >> it absolutely is, and it has to start with the interviewing process and take advantage of that and look for the best people, and some people say, hire people smarter than you, and ask the questions that give you meaning and ideas, and ask about specific things they will do on the job to see how they think and react. >> i want to go into that. how specific can you be about your company? how much can you assume this person knows about your company? >> number one, you want somebody

who has done research ahead of time and that shows they are interested, and number two, it's too costly to make a bad hire, and you want to get the right hire. >> what are the top five things you will do your first five months here? >> wow. >> granted it, they may be wrong, but it gets may to understand they have started thinking about what we do. >> that's what you want, people in the game and are thinking and not just going to do everything you assign them to do, which they better do right, but you want them to come up with stuff you have not thought of. >> and a lot of us feel like when you lose people it's disruptive. >> yeah. >> but you feel differently? >> you don't want to lose the best talent but the reality is the best talent will go and do their own thing and they may want to start their own company or have your job or go elsewhere and go to a bigger company, who knows? you want to give them an opportunity to excel and you do

better and don't worry so much about it. >> how do you deal with it -- if all of your employees are there and they see people going out the door, one reaction is, this is not a great place to be. >> another way to look at it, these people are moving on to bigger and better things and this is the type of place i want to be at, and you gain a reputation as a talent magnet. >> how do you say good-bye to people who leave? >> say thank you to start. the last thing you want to say is you have been disloyal and i don't know if i want anything to do with you, but the network is wonderful, and there's a business opportunity you could look for and so many different ways you would continue to do business. why wouldn't you want to do that? >> use yourself confidence to delegate more, and it's one of the number one issues with fo d

founde founders, they hold on tight? >> you built it and you created the whole thing. >> and you know everything that is right? >> that's dangerous in itself. the key successful as manager, and that's past a startup company, you have to hire great and delegate and give them an opportunity to create value for you, and you have to be confident, and you have to trust them, and that's the thing i find time and time again trips up people, and fur finding you are not delegating, and so many people tell me, they are over worked and burned out and can't handle it, and why not? they don't trust the other people. >> thank you so much, again, we cannot stress how important a team s. and it's a difference between a successful company and not so successful one. >> thank you, jj. >> thank you. today's elevator pitch wanted to teach her children the

importance of being charitable. let's see what our judges think so cozy hair care for kids. >> hello. my name is lilly a., and i am the founder of little loving hands, a monthly subscription business. i'm a mom of two and i wanted to teach them the importance of giving back and helping others. unfortunately i wasn't able to find any volunteer opportunities for their age. so i created little loving hands. every month we spotlight a different charity, and we provide kids with all the materials they need to learn who they're helping and to create a craft that is september bant ba charity. we have shipped over 1,000 boxes and we have hundreds of kids around the country creating beautiful crafts that are sent to help the elderly, the homeless and sick children. right now i'm doing this all by myself, so a $50,000 investment would be really helpful so that i can focus on strategic efforts

to grow the business and acquire more customers. the kids craft business is a billion-dollar industry. but there's nothing like little loving hands that provides an activity to teach about kindness and empathy. so will you join me in teaching and showing that the littlest people can have the biggest hearts? >> thank you so much for your pitch. how much are you looking for? >> $50,000. >> $50,000. so i'm going to give both of you these. two numbers. the first one between 1 to 10, what do you think of the product? number two, what do you think of the pitch? you have tapped into something clearly that parents are thinking about right now. i think it's inabcredibly smart. that's my opinion. but now let's get the panel's opinion. alicia, let's start with you. >> so i gave the product a 7. it's clear that you felt a personal pain point and there was a real need for this and you understand this deeply. so i really like the idea of what you're doing and it sounds like there's some traction to date. i gave the pitch a 7 because i felt like there was a lot of

really great information in terms of your ask and some of the milestones you've reached and also the market size. but i probably would have wanted to hear a little bit more about what you're using the money for and how you're defending yourself against competition. so 7 and 7. >> great. all right. and that's great feedback because which is what alisha does for a living. >> i gave your product a 9 and your pitch an 8. on the product side, i have a 4 1/2-year-old daughter who loves arts and crafts, so she would be obsessed with this. as a dad, i want my kids to learn how to do well. from a pitch perspective, sometimes when you deal with charity and capitalism, it's a little bit like oil and water. so somehow if you can bridge the gap between the two and give an investor the context of how to relate that to other businesses that have succeeded there, that would be helpful. so for example, toms for the shoes and state bags. so if you can weave that into your pitch, you can bridge the gap between the two and give context to us for your opportunity. >> i think that's great feedback

because ultimately an investor is not investing in a cause. that would be a donation. they also want to make money. so thank you. that was great feedback from both of you. thank you so much and good luck with everything. >> thank you so much. if any of you out there have a company and you want to pitch it here in the elevator, send us an e-mail. the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. please include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise and what you intend to do with that money. we look forward to reading about your businesses and seeing some of you here on the show. when we come back, we tackle the question how much will it cost to start up a new business? and the difference between pitching a product to customers and pitching your company to potential funders. 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 lp. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those buildi 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 so good news, arlene. it's never been cheaper or easier to start a business. in fact, a lot of the basic tools you need to start a business, whether it's creating e-mail accounts or marketing on social media or creating a website are basically free. so that may even allow you to start a business without raising any capital at all and just basically bootstrapping it. but if you need to raise money,

i think the best way to do it is talk to banks. and if not, consider venture capital, talk to people you know raising a little bit of capital from angels or even consider cro crowdfunding. if you think about those tools and you consider how much money you need, you may find that you can raise very little capital to get started. and that's a good thing because the minute you raise capital, you have a boss. and so you want to make sure that you retain as much control as possible. we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your small business grow. alisha and scott are back with us to give their advice. okay. you gave great advice over there in the elevator. now let's hear something for our audience. >> know the difference between a product pitch and an investment pitch. >> yes. i cannot agree with you more. >> huge, right? so with a product pitch, as you know, it's talking about all the details of the product. the technology, the add-ons, et cetera. but an investment pitch, i.e., a pitch to investors for funding really has to focus on the

business holistically. so that includes everything including the product but also the team, the market size, the competitive landscape, what you're asking for in terms of funding, where that funding will go and also the financials. how you're reaching customers. so you really have to know what kind of pitch is called for because if you're giving a product pitch to an investor and they're looking for the whole view of the business, then you're probably missing out on an opportunity to really connect with them and get funding that could grow your business. >> absolutely. and if you're speaking to a potential partner, it's a different pitch as well. >> exactly. >> put yourself in the shoes of the person that you're talking to. >> exactly. >> it's such a good point. all right. you're up. >> so my top tip is find the white space and go after it. so the marketplace is so super competitive and the barriers to entry in almost any product or service is really, really low. so if you take a look at what you're doing and you look at the market and you see what you have that your competition doesn't have, it gives you an opportunity to hone in on what

you should focus on and what you can own and make your own. so from there, you can build kind of a defensible position in the market and actually that informs your product development and informs your marketing, informs everything that you do as a company and gives you a clear path in the industry that no one else can copy. >> assuming that what you have is something that customers want, right? >> absolutely. >> i think the only thing you have to be careful there is okay, i have this one feature. but there may be a reason none of your competitors have that feature. right? it might be that nobody wants it. >> one may not be enough. it has to be a deck stacked high of things that you bring to the table that no one else can bring. but yes, it has to start with having something that is unique and special in the first place. >> great. thanks so much, both of you. >> thank you. >> it's so good to see you both. >> thank you. this week's " #yourbizselfie comes from john in columbus, ohio. they install and maintain fire and security systems. thank you so much, john, for sending that in. want to see your company here on the show?

pick up your cell phone and take a selfie of you and your business. no professional shots. we want selfies. and then just send it to us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com or you can use twitter @msnbcyourbiz and use the #yourbizselfie. thank you so much for joining us today. here's what i learned on today's show. leases are negotiable. so the more you know about the market and the more you understand what your must-haves are versus your like-to-haves, the better you're going to do. it's hard. whole process is hard, but you really need to have knowledge in order to win this correctly. now wee we'd love to hear from you. if you have any questions or comments about today's show, just e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. can you also go to our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. we posted all the segments from today's show plus a lot more. connect with us on all of our digital and social media platforms, too. next week we find out how

one company turned their entire staff into a team. so loyal that they put the survival of the company and each other ahead of their own interests. >> i still get a little teary when i think of it because people came to me that knew other people couldn't afford that cut and said, take more of my salary. people were grateful for their jobs. >> we look at open book management, a controversial management tool that works, but it may not be for everyone. 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 st. 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 the donald trump snub. >> what a lot of republicans want to see is that we have a standard bear that bears our standards. >> party leaders sit out the election. will trump cost republicans control of congress? >> this is not entertainment. it is not a reality show. >> we'll talk to the democratic congresswoman trying to take down john mccain. also, hillary clinton's reality check for bernie sanders. >> i am 3 million-plus vote as head of senator sanders. and our exclusive sit-down with larry wilmore, his first on-camera interview since the n-word controversy. >> it was at the point where i