the owner of this clothing company can't pay herself a salary. our makeover team shows her what she's doing wrong and gets her a paycheck. what we taught her can help you. 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 and welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. here's the problem with running a small business. nobody pays your paycheck except for you. and that means if there is no money left over after you've paid for your inventory and paid your employees and your rent and all your other expenses, you personally get nothing. now, that can be a sign your business is in trouble or just that you need to look at your company differently. that's why this week we're kicking off the new year with a

special "your business" makeover which we did for a retail boutique and e-commerce store in houston whose hard-working owner sent out a frantic call for help. ♪ >> this must be it. >> i guess so. >> dirt road divas, southern chic boutique. >> love it. >> dawn and paco are about to shake things up here at dirt road divas southern chic boutique. >> jodi robinson is the owner of this cowgirl store. shoppers are shopping, bills are getting paid but the end of the month, guess what jodi has left to pay herself? nothing. and that's just plain bad business. so dawn, owner of powerful accounting and pack coe, founder

of enviresell are going to dig in and give jodi a business makeover. dawn's job, dive into jodi's financials and fix what's broken. meanwhile, pack coe is going to help increase sales. at the end of this makeover, they're going to get jodi paid. the team started by getting a tour. >> this is a shoe nook we had built out, perfect for ladies for them to look at themselves in the mirror, try on shoes. we're western. western themed without being like a western store. >> sure. >> we do a lot for rodeos. we have the fringe purses. >> this is almost too small. >> it didn't take long for pack coe start seeing things to improve. >> you've done a wonderful job of buying but there's almost too much stuff up there. >> really? >> part of what it is is having five great things is better than having 25 fabulous things. >> basically pack coe's telling

her that showing your customers too many products overloads them and surprising as it seems, giving that many choices sells less, not more. what you want to display is what pack coe calls a tickle, something that piques their interest. that starts with what's in the window. you have to look at from your customers' point of view. >> often we think of windows as if somebody is viewing them like this. right? >> right. >> rather than viewing it from an angle. if i were to do a gentle adjustment here, i would adjust those mannequins both so that they in effect, both of them, were facing me as i'm walking in the door, shift it just a little bit. so that the actual focus of the window is this way rather than this way. >> okay. >> make sense? >> it does. >> then that tickle should continue as the customer walks through the door. in jodi's case, the store is

cluttered with so many colorful decorations that some of the best merchandise is hidden. >> i don't see a price tag on this or this. >> that, according to pack coe is simply a missed opportunity. >> i am also concerned about what i see in that corner. >> what do you see? >> what i'm seeing in that corner is a gas tank. i'm seeing drd and i want to see not this, i want to see the product. at this point what i want is to put the tickle of handbags and shoes. i can put something up there that says shoes but if i actually had a boot and a bag up there, it might even signal what i'm going to find in that corner better and to help make you some money. >> right. >> and make you feel even better about the business than you feel now. >> meanwhile, while pack coe continued checking out the store, dawn started diving into

those financials and what she finds is that the systems are a mess. this isn't uncommon at all for someone in jodi's position but it is definitely keeping her back. >> when we came in, of course i have no quickbooks background, no business degree or anything like that. we just kind of had to learn it by reading, you know, the manual. you know quickbooks. you know how that goes. >> you didn't go into business to go quickbooks, so there's that. >> it's detailed, very good but it's confusing. >> sure. >> it turns out jodi's got several systems, each tracking different parts of her business. things like inventory, sales and payroll are not integrated, this means jodi can't see all of her financials in one place at the same time. >> she has no idea, not because she's not a smart person, she doesn't know because the numbers aren't there for her because she hadn't had the systems in place to be able to look at them and make an educated decision.

she has an inventory system that's talking to her website, wonderful. that inventory system and website are not talking to her accounting. that's one of the things we're going to work through today, making sure your systems are integrated. all you can do right now is go online and look at your bank account balance. >> jodi will be able to analyze her numbers with consolidated systems and get a deep understanding of where all the money is going and when. with that information, she can start to make educated decisions about how to run her company. >> the key for this is that she's not looking at her numbers to see what she's spending money on. how much of that inventory is dead inventory? really taking a look and saying let's get rid of this and let's get in here what is selling. without cash flow she'll never be able to pay herself. >> dawn and ed start to consolidate all those reports. but before they even look at the details, dawn has another simple

question. >> we need to know the terms of your vendors, when are you having to pay those vendors? is money coming in and when is it coming in? and when do you absolutely that last day you have to pay it? >> no terms. we pay for everything up front. >> okay. we have a pay up front, due on receipt inventory that you are personally carrying. >> that's right. >> there's no way she can pay herself if she's fronting the money for inventory. if she has high inventory, let's use a number, $75,000. she has $75,000 of inventory, she's tied up $75,000 of her cash. hanging on hangers in there. and that's not working for her until she sells it. >> bingo. dawn has already found a source of funds for jodi to start paying herself. but dawn's suggestions go hand in hand with what pack coe is working on. >> let's shut this chapter for now. >> perfect. >> and let's bring in pack coe. >> great. >> our secret sauce. >> he needs to help make changes

in how quickly she's turning over inventory. for pack coe, some of that has to do with up-selling. >> once i've got them in the door and looking at stuff, how can i take and sell them not an item but a -- so i'm not selling them a top but i'm selling a top, a bottom, a bralet, i'm selling some other piece of accessory to go along with it. >> how do you get people to think whole outfit instead of one item? >> i want to show you something really simple here. >> yes. >> part of what i want to do is connect this to this. any time i have an up and down rack, i want to think about how can i connect what's here and what's here? i just want to take this little

zone and talk about what might work better. >> okay. >> part of what the problem is here, this is a lovely garment. >> right. >> and it's one of the more expensive ones inside the store. >> yes. >> you might even also want to have the underwear that goes with it. wearing this blouse and making it look good isn't just about wearing this blouse. it's what i wear underneath it that makes me look good in this blouse. >> right. >> and i think this is one of the issues about a store like this. is that more than a nordstroms, more than a target, more than a whatever, you can do the consultive sale. part of what's fun for you, take that customer who would normally spend $79, walking out the door

with $200 worth of stuff. if they are happy walking out the door and their friends tell them they look good, they'll come back. >> i think so, too. >> let's go to the dressing room. >> okay. >> this is one of the most important parts of an apparel store. inside the dressing room, part of the problem is, it competes with the try-on process. >> right. >> and i think if this were a more neutral color it would work a little better. this might be the place also to start talking about social media. >> so what would you suggest? >> i might say this is a great place for a selfie or, you know, send us pictures of us wearing your clothes and we will post them on our social media site. >> good idea. >> and it is so effective, particularly for a business like yours. >> the next day, pack coe suggested connecting the boots with an entire outfit as a way of boosting sales.

>> what we're going to try and do is bring a mannequin here and see if we can do a shoe, leggings, boot focal point. >> okay. >> and our purpose here is to be able to sell the idea, not the item. so in moving forward here, one of the themes about getting dirt divas to do better is to get to sell the idea. this plus this plus this plus this, actually means a happier customer walks out the door. it's cool that you have all the pieces here. let's just pull them together. all right? >> okay. >> let's go. ♪ >> hey, looks pretty good, doesn't it? >> i do. it ties it all together. >> after two days of digging through the numbers and rearranging things in the store, everyone was a bit warn out.

but jodi was thrilled with the lessons she learned. >> with dawn i learned that the technology that is available now, that all the pieces can pull together and it's simple. doesn't have to be so confusing. with pack coe, it's the customer's perception of when they come in from what they smell, what they see, to which hand they grab something with, having gift items available for them. all those things together make for profits. i feel hopeful and i think that it's going to lead to a paycheck. >> all right, lady. rock on. hopefully with the advice from pack coe and dawn jodi will finally start to bring home a paycheck. we'll check back with her later this year to see how things are going. what do the experts think 2016 will hold for small businesses? business news daily.com lists five key trends to stay on top of this year. one, heightened cyber security. experts say we'll see an increase in cyber attacks

targeting small businesses in 2016, so make sure your company isn't vulnerable to predators. two, focus on the mobile experience. more people are making buying decisions using their mobile devices. so you'll need to adapt or you'll be left behind. three, collaboration and social responsibility will be even bigger in 2016. being a part of something greater than yourself will ensure that everyone, regardless of status in your company, has a sense of ownership in the brand. four, value personal relationships. digital marketing clutter makes standing out from the crowd difficult. so the small businesses that remember traditional marketing methods like face-to-face relationships and word of mouth will ultimately succeed. and five, be aware of online ad blocking software. 93% of mobile ads are blocked on fire fox and chrome. >> big established brands often have lots of things many small businesses don't.

things like large budgets and name recognition and lots of customers. but as a small business, what you can do is leverage all of that if you're able to enter into a partnership with these brands in some way. denise albert and melissa gerstein are the founders of the moms. they have established relationships with companies like stouffer's and samsung. now you have brands coming to you saying we want to partner with you. you have something we want. we want to be a part of this. congratulations to both of you. >> thank you. >> let's talk about it. lots of us have gone into meetings and come out with nos. >> we don't take no. >> we don't take no. >> i can't see that from both of you. let's go through step by step some of the advice you have. the first point you talk about is making the pitch about them, not you. >> that's right. so a lot of times i think

brands, like our brand, you want to tell them everything about what you're doing and give them that massive elevator pitch. but the most important thing is to understand who you're pitching. you've got to do your home work. need to understand who they're marketing to, what their current goals are, what their initiatives are, what their philanthropies are. it's very important after you have the conversation, listen, listen, listen. you're constantly thinking i'm going to give them this pitch. you're anxious and excited. you have to take a step back and listen to them and their goals. you want to live their brand for a little as your brand so you can really make them shine and learn new things about themselves. >> a lot of meetings we go in and say, what kinds of things are you trying to solve? even before you pitch. you're in a pitch meeting. give them 10, 20, as much as they'll talk, time for them to chan talk and change your pitch along

the way if you have to it. >> it might change and you have to be flexible. >> you talk about knowing who you are. >> uh-huh. >> you have to know who you are and what you're good at. we're lucky. we call each other work wives. we have a really amazing partnership. and melissa was talking about the brands. that's what she's really good at. i'm really good at other things, not that i'm not good at that but know who you are. we know who we are. we are the moms. there is really to our knowledge nobody doing what we're doing. we're on so many different levels doing so many different things on a small scale. we're working with brands. we have different media platforms. >> it's easy to explain. right? you are a thing. you're not going into a brand and explaining something complicated. >> right. >> this is what we are. >> it's simple. we can bring you to life within the mom commune. that's what we do. we are moms and we are part of the mom/parenting community.

we reach moms in a lot of different ways. here's what we can do. we have the ability to be creative. the more flexible you can be, you want to be able to change it on fly, the more flexible you can be, the better your chances are because you can offer different opportunities according to what they are looking for. >> also the more you can't understand. you have this is who i am, it's very clear whether i'm someone who goes after moms or doing something else. it is clear. >> you don't want to be all over the map. >> we market tople months. a lot of people say we want to reach women who are fresh out of college. not what we do. >> we market to moms. >> that's your point of knowing what your demo is. >> yes. >> when you pitch these brands, you can see this is who you can reach, period. >> period. that's right. the thing you must know is your demo. is it millennial moms, what ages, where are these moms shopping? what are they buying? you can engage them on social. we engage them with live town hall events.

we see what they're buying, what they like and don't like. that will tailor our pitch. >> good to see you both. >> thank you. when we come back, one viewer tweeted us to ask how much reserve capital do you need for a startup? we give them the answer. in today's elevator pitchers need funding for the gluten-free frozen food line. we'll see if the panel has an appetite for their product pitch. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? our new cocktail bitters were doing well, but after one tradeshow, we took off. all i could think about was our deadlines racing towards us. a loan would take too long. we needed money, now. my amex card helped me buy the ingredients to fill the orders. opportunities don't wait around, so you have to be ready for them. find out how american express cards and services

can help prepare you for growth at open.com. a viewer tweets us, how much reserve capital would you recommend be available for a startup i.t. recruiting firm? >> the money is the tool by which you're going to fuel your business six months out. that's my recognition of the value of being a strategy-driven i.t. recruiting firm. you're thinking about where your business is going to be, not where it is at that point in time. being in a position to have a large enough amount of money to pay your team, your staff, your support for marketing, whatever it is that's required, you really need to have the cash flow to sustain the company out for six months of support. depending upon how much you're interested in growing, maybe the opportunities are clear and

definitive, you certainly are going to have more money available. you want to keep moving forward as a company. particularly in a space like i.t. where there seems to be no limit to the kinds of people, particularly in the software arena, that need to be hired for a lot of these companies. it is very competitive. if you're a competitive firm, you should run your business six months out. you should have enough money to build it at the same time so we add another cash reserve. >> if you love asian cuisine but can't handle the gluten, you'll like today's elevator pitch they came up with a line of feel good foods. monica metais managing principle of seventh capital and amos winbush iii is founder and ceo of woe's. >> i'm ceo of feel good foods. >> i'm vanessa phillips, the ceo of feel good foods, a brooklyn

based company launched in 2007. together, we started the first and only gluten free dumpling and egg roll company. we offered convenient, chef inspired meal options. >> we're in 3,000 stores nationwide. with my culinary and science background i was able to make uniquely delicious food. in the last three years we've grown triple digits each year. >> $500,000 will give you a 3.3 equity stake in our company which will be used to hire more personnel, sales and marketing as well as future product launches. >> for both of you, good job. both of you, looks like that was well rehearsed, the two of you.

maybe you live together. two numbers, the first one, 1 through 10. what do you think of the product? and the second one, what do you think of the pitch? personally while you're writing, go ahead and give your scores, 1 through 10 for me, the product which i snuck and tasted before, brilliant. it's so good. >> thank you. >> congratulations to both of you on that. monica, let's start with you. >> product i would give it a 20 if i could. i'm not missing the gluten. it was phenomenal. i'm going to buy this for sure for my own family. the pitch an 8. it was very clear. it was very -- the need, how you got here, how you explained it was all very, very clear. i think maybe the valuation seems rich for me but otherwise phenomenal product. >> good job. amos. >> the product is a 10, really, really good. the casing is super light, which is good for me. the pitch, 9.5. i've seen a lot of pitches.

i can say it was really dense and packed. kind of work on that. valuation i'm having an issue with. valuation is what valuation is. >> congratulations. i think you've recruited three more customers for your product. >> thanks. >> thank you for your advice on this. >> thanks. >> if any of you out there are interested in pitching your company in the elevator, send us an e-mail, send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. our experts will tell us if they think you have a chance of scoring funding. please include a short description of what your company does, how much money you're looking for and what you plan on doing with that money. we look forward to seeing some of you here in the elevator. time now for the top two tips you need to know to help your small business grow. amos and monica are back with us

to help us out. we've had a new year resolution. let's think about how we'll make our companies grow. >> my tip is for people looking to raise money, new year, new needs for money when you're trying to meet with investors. the thing to think about is focus on making a connection. it's a rookie mistake for investors to jump right into the details of their business without really trying to make that connection and they should start by setelling a story. it's about skipping the jargon and focusing on the big vision. it's that ability to make a connection that will make the person on the other side stop and listen. >> amos, you just raised money. it is about somebody wanting to invest in you. they have to feel comfortable with you and believe you can do it. >> absolutely. which is the reason why my top tip for entrepreneurs in 2016 really focuses around being intentional with your habits. mainly entrepreneurs focus on things that people can do for

them versus things they can do for themselves. if things aren't going right in your business or personal life, you're the only person that can change that. be very intentional with the things that you give power to and the energy you give. most of the time it's our habits that bring us down. >> what habits? give me an example for you. what are you intentional about? >> self-doubt. especially when you're an entrepreneur, you really don't know if what you're building will be successful. it's important to realize that these feelings are creeping in and you should develop strategies to get rid of them. if that means finding a mentor, if that means getting into business books, if that means focusing on positive affirmations, i think as an entrepreneur, you have to look at everything in your life to make sure you have to be successful. >> you've done these studies of

the brain and what amos is talking about has a lot to do with what you wrote about. >> he could not be more correct. as an entrepreneur you've chosen a profession that has a ton of uncertainty. the way the brain processes uncertainty is by processes loss aversion. it's fear. you need to pepper your life with these crutches that can allow you to sustain past the difficult time. some people call it grit. some people call it yoga. you have to center yourself, reminded yourself what's important to shake off the things that are bringing you down. >>t's out doing something you can control. >> absolutely. >> right? >> when you are feeling out of control, because you're nervous about your business or nervous about this deal going through or whatever, you know you can control running. >> yes. >> i know that this one thing i've got control over, this one thing if i take time in the morning, i can control that. once you can control one thing, it extends out into the rest of your life.

>> one key word with control means trust. it's like if you're searching for control over something, that means you don't trust the process and you have to go through the process in order to get to the other side. there's nothing that you can do today that will leap frog you to success. you have to go through the proper steps. >> it's true. all right. i love this conversation. so glad we started off the new year with it. thanks so much for those tips, both of you. moving on to this week's your biz selfie, it comes from robert dobbins who owns a & d propane from houston, texas. why don't you pick up your cell phone and take a picture of you and your business and send it to our e-mail address or you can tweet it to @msnbc your biz. use the #your biz selfie. if you have questions or comments about today's show, e-mail us at

yourbusiness@msnbc.com. also, click on openforum. c com/your business. next week, the owners of an egg company create a niche in a very crowded space and take on big brands while maintaining small company values. to the customer the product isn't going to change. it's still from small family farms, the same size flocks, nothing in terms of how we raise the chickens changes. i think that's the beauty of the model we've developed in terms of scaleability. >> we'll tell you how these entrepreneurs have ruffled some feathers and why retailers have put them high on the pecking order. until them, i'm jj ramberg. remember, we make your business our business. brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com for ideas to help you grow your business.

but after one tradeshow, we took off. all i could think about was our deadlines racing towards us. a loan would take too long. we needed money, now. my amex card helped me buy the ingredients to fill the orders. opportunities don't wait around, so you have to be ready for them. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. >> i am the greatest. >> he knew it before the world did. >> i'll be the youngest heavyweight champion in history. >> knew it when he was cassius clay. >> i'm fast, i'm pretty and cannot be beat. >> magnetic, brash. >> i'm cocke. >> unpredictable. he brought spectacle and theater