good morning. coming up on msnbc's your business, a struggling main street in wilmar, minnesota, is revisealized chancs to a changing demographic. >> the ceo of hallmark greets us with his philosophy about sharing their business values with their customers. plus, getting your online customers to shop at your brick and mortar. all that and more coming up next on "your business."

hi, there. everyone. i'm jj ramberg, and welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business survive, thrive, and grow. the hardware stores and soda shops that many of us associate with small-town main streets have largely disappeared. this has often left rows of empty store fronts and one of the big problems is how do you bring new commerce to main street? one town finding an answer is wilmar, minnesota, population 20,000. the answer they discovered begins with the population itself.

>> i grew up in kenya, went to a refugee camp and finally came to the united states. >> i grew up in south texas. >> i group up in here. >> i have been in wilmar since 2011. >> i have been here since 1985. >> there are the newcomers and old timers, and they are mixing together here on main street in wilmar, minnesota, to help grow their businesses. >> i have three businesses right now. if it doesn't fit my agenda in a year, maybe i sell one, maybe i sell both. i'm flexible. >> the can-do spirit of business owners like roberto is fueled largely by the region's nearly billion dollar agriculture economy. the local corn, dairy, and poultry production has attracted large numbers of immigrant job seekers. and entrepreneurs. >> when i started managing these buildings about six years ago,

downtown had a lot of buildings for sale. downtown had some empty store fronts. >> tom, manager at minnesota first real estate, says new immigrants have kept his properties occupied. >> working with the somalis and so many hispanics, we were able to help them move into some of these locations to provide more retail. >> wilmar is very cosmopolitan now. and i really like that because every new culture brings new things and new ideas and new skills. >> this man started his first business, a specized car shuttle, just a few months ago. after saving up for seven years, he and his partners launched southwest transportation. they drive people to and from medical appointments as a service covered by medical insurance. >> the business is run by myself and two of my other co-owners and we had to raise the money among ourselves and we haven't used any financing from any

source. >> there was a demand for basically hispanic products. and there's no way to find it. >> alberto and his wife first opened la fiesta food in 2000. today, la fiesta food not only serves the growing latino community in wilmar, it also attracts new customers to the main street from the larger surrounding region. >> we serve an area around 60 miles from wilmar. the only place they can find what they need. >> it's good to see business coming in to town. >> vicky davis is the owner of the goodness coffee shop. she's lived here 25 years, raised 11 children here, and remembers a time when this building wasn't a coffee shop. >> this building used to be a bank. >> like most everyone we met, vicky said her key concern is staying on top of the business and hopefully growing it to the next level. >> i hope we'll be here five years from now, and my dream is to have the whole building and just have more goodness.

>> i love the small town feel and community time sense and the school system. that's my daughter. she used to be a soccer player alwilmar high, and my son is also a soccer player. >> this man, who sometimes goes by zach, is the owner of west central interpreting. he also owns the whole building which stands next door to the goodness cafe. he, too, has big dreams for his space. >> we want to have a salon for the hair, for the ladies. a grocery store, not a cafe but what they call a deli. we want to make it a place where all the cultures can intersect. >> working out of the second floor, zach has more than 30 employees. >> we try to help the newcomers to this country to understand the main street businesses and communities so that they can be a part of the main street societies. >> we're doers. you know, we're people of

action, people who actually have made it and actually have a successful business. nothing stops them. >> roberto valdez jr. grew up on the texas border, but he says he's become so much a part of wilmar that he was surprised when someone he didn't know laughed at him. >> i was getting nervous. he said he had never heard a lutono with a minnesota accent. that explains half and half of my life. >> like many of the immigrant entrepreneurs we met, roberto said he had to take a partner to finance his party supply business. they combined their savings to avoid taking a loan. now he's got a total of three businesses and he's looking to open more. >> i always say that immigrants are risk takers by nature. they may not know english, but they're excellent business people. you know, they may not know how to navigate the system, but they'll good there if they want to. and yes, the economy is good for everyone right now. >> okay, so let's go 62 on it.

>> buckwheat honey. native to the midwest. >> the wilmar company has been good to douglas's nutritional supply shop. mr. we moved here 35 years ago. i took the plunge into the financial and business world. >> it's shthat seriousness that kept potpourri health foods alive and well through many cycles on main street. >> the language was a barrier to start with. many have learned better english. i learned a few words in their language to help out. we're able to communicate if they try to find a product, for example. >> as for the future of his business, he's working that out now. >> i'm looking at the possibility of retirement down the road. i have people that are possibly interested in the business. just like anything else, you're on the wings of time. >> in the future, i want to move to a bigger place. >> this man runs an east african grocery and coffee shop called light of the sun.

right now, the coffee shop is squeezed between the front door and the coffee aisle. >> it's a lot of challenge here. we have small business going. >> his niche is serving items customers just can't find at walmart. delicacies such as this camel meat. >> we chop it and weigh it, so we sell it. you cannot get it anywhere except us. >> somali cooking oil. and east african flat bread. just around the corner, you'll find all of these ingredients come together at the somali star restaurant. >> i see it as the spot that starts the whole revolution here. >> perhaps the biggest dreamer of them all is beverly doherty, who recently bought this vacant main street building which she fondly remembers from her childhood. >> when i was in june. high, we would come here after school, walk here and have a treat. >> she and her team have already invested nearly half a million

dollars to create what she calls a food hub. >> we just walked in this door right here. >> it will be a combination of retail, wholesale, and a food processing facility, all to promote leakally grown produce, dairy, and meat. >> our first tenant is operating for a year and a half. that's foxhole brew house, a craft brew house. >> she expects the rest of the build out to cost another half million with an overall goal to produce a profit incubator for producers. >> i don't know if the return is going to be there with what she's looking at doing. i don't know if it's feasible. >> i know that's the word on the street, that this will never succeed, but my whole life has been that kind of comment and i succeeded. i think people don't understand the depth of it. >> i would say it hopefully will be a catalyst for other development in the downtown. it will bring other business in. >> aaron is executive director of the countywide economic

development commission. he says beverly's food hub plan is part of a new wave of business growth disrupting and rebuilding the town. he's optimistic that these entrepreneurs, both the old timers and the newcomers, together, are giving wilmar the push it needs to keep on growing. >> wilmar is getting bigger, more solid, and more diverse. and that's a good thing. >> this holiday season, big brands will pump tons of advertising dollars into marketing strategies to get online customers into their stores to start shopping. but small businesses just don't have that type of budget, so as a small retailer, what can you do to get your online customers to hop off line, march through your doors and get the cash registers ringing. emelyn northw waway has successy used strategies to get her online customers into her score, and stacey riska is a consultant

and owner of many businesses. good to see you both. >> thanks for having us. >> thank you for joining us today. okay, before we do this, i want to ask a question of, you do a good job getting people to buy online. why are you trying to market to those people to get them to the store? why not just sell to them online? >> a great question. what we found is a lot of our customers are doing their research online and then wanting to buy in the store. so they're figuring out their styles and they want to pick out their size in the store and make the purchase. >> row have their interest. you don't want them to forget about you. >> exactly. once they're there, they'll buy. they're ready to buy. >> fantastic. stacey, now that we have that down, what is something you can do? i'm online a. how do i get inspired to get in my car or the subway to get to the store? >> a great question, and it's really interesting because i saw a statistic that 71% of people will shop online because they

think that they can get a better deal. yet, 94% of consumers will go to a brick and mortar to spend their money. so we've got to bridge the gap. how do you get those online customers into the store? so -- what i see a lot of small businesses do is they throw these coupons up online. but what i found that works better is by using something unique or a freemium, giving something away for free that they can't get anywhere else. that's what gets people from online into your store. >> you can get this special thing in our store. you can't buy it online. which is funny because when the internat began, there was a lot of, you can get this online but you can't get it in the store. now we're doing the opposite. what else do you do to get people in the store? >> that's a great point. i think one of the things that -- it sounds simple, but we do offer the opportunity to do rerns in the store. and i think that's a really

important point because people don't like doing returns online. so they're a pain and you don't want to go to fed ex. they hate doing it. and then they eye something else maybe they didn't notice online and they're making an exchange instead of a return and they'll come back. >> so true. how many times have you returned something, you think you're going to leave with a credit and you leave spending double what you were in for. >> stacey, what about events? other things you can do in a store that you can't do online? >> it's such a great question because this is where small local retailers can really differentiate themselves. it's all about creating an experience. something that people are just so excited that they want to come and be part of your story. and where you can even expand that more is with social media. and so, you know, taking pictures of people in your store

and showing what the experience of your brand is all about. >> and i think you do a great job with that because you have the events that aren't just about shopping. >> completely. we're not afraid to have an event that doesn't even have shopping in the title. events that generate content or great experiences for our customer that show that we understand them, so for us, it's business woman, maybe it's about how to network properly or dress for success, those are the ones that build brand loyalty and allow us to connect with our brand in a way that's not salesy. we're not pushing products. we're showing them we understand them. >> to stacey's point, they're becoming then a part of your story. >> absolutely. >> they're not just buying your clothes. they're buying into here are these two young women who are growing this company. >> those are the ones where they go back the next day to work and tell their colleagues about this awesome event they went to at this store and it's generating word of mouth and it's organic and natural and easy to do.

>> what's one last thing you do in your store to get people in there? >> we tap into the organizations and networks of our customer base. for us, it's law firms, banks, women's networks, but any group that's really in need of an event and content and a space for members. it's great for them because we offer them a prepackaged event and great for us because we're only marketed to one group as opposed to marketing to individuals to come to an event. those are the one that people are excited about and it's a really easy strategy to host events and make sure they're well done. >> by the way, it's fantastic. you hold your own events, but people are always looking for a space to do something. if you make it a beautiful, interesting space, they want to use you. >> thank you both. really appreciate it. thank you for your tips, stacey. good luck with you and the holiday season. >> thanks so much. >> a birthday, a wedding, an anniversary. all of these send you right to

the card shop, and aunch straight to hallmark. founding in 1910, it's the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the united states. the business has also expanded into other ventures like television, ornaments, and party supplies. we met don hall jr., current ceo and grandson of joyce hall at hallmark headquarters in kansas city, missouri. he gave us his secrets of success in this week's learning from the pros. >> i think you're starting to drift when you go back to formula, when you're satisfied with where you are. results may be okay at that point, but if they're okay and it doesn't propel you to try to find out what's next, i think those are the early signs that you're not focusing enough, that you're not driving hard enough, that you're not moving quickly enough, and you're not creating enough accountability for people to stretch themselves further.

and i think every great business sees those signs and constantly looks for a way to change them. obviously, if you don't catch those signs early enough, they become much more apparent in the marketplace and your consumers and your customers start telling you that you're falling behind. it's so important for a company to be a good collaborator. to be open to the sense of possibilities. we have challenged all of our creative people to take five days out of the office. this isn't their vacation time. this is work time, where we want them to get out of their routine and immerse themselves in things that fuel their creativity because we know that external inspiration is so important. but we have also done that with partnerships of other creative people. and we have done that throughout time. we were the first people to license the disney property. wall disney started the studio just a couple blocks away from

where we're sitting right now, before he moved out to hollywood and began mickey mouse. my grandfather and walt were great friends and had great correspondents, and my grandfather convinced walt to let us use mickey in greeting cards. my brother and i still to this day sit down with every hallmarker who is new to the company to talk about our beliefs and values. beliefs and values are critically important in terms of defining what our north star is. it defines clearly the expectations we have about how we go about doing our work and who we are. so for us, it's been a really important component to insuring our success in the marketplace. but also, for painting a picture of what our future can be and how we will approach that future in a very consistent and thoughtful way. it is football season, and

stadium parking lots are packed with partying tailgaters. today's elevator pitcher has a clever product that will help you party in style at the game or the beach. let's see if he scores with the panel. david is the founder of new york angels, the chairman and ceo of gust. and paul lewis is a serial entrepreneur who has founded six companies and counting. >> hi. my name is mark, and i'm the founder of shaze. heading to the beach or tailgates over the last couple years, i have gotten increasingly more annoyed by the amount of products i had to bring to have a good time. after months of development, prototyping, we have come out with the perfect product for beachgoers, campers, and tail gazers. meet shaze, the ultimate lounge chair. at 11 pounds, it's lightweight and durable, two water proof speakers in. we have a cooler, so you can cool off your drink on the beach. a usb charging, a towel holder,

and a bunch of other amazing features. right now, we're selling this product on indygogo for $79.99. we already have gotten a lot of interest from major retails across country and seeking a $500,000 investment to grow out marketing team, to bring awareness. we expect our investors to have a huge return on their money. >> all right. i feel like i need to sit here for my part in this. congratulations, nice job. i'll trade you water for this. all right. and here is the pen. so two numbers. the first one is -- there is a lot going on, a lot passing through. a number for the product, one through ten and number for the pitch one through ten. how you thought he did. i'm assuming this comes in lots of colors. >> four colors and we expect to launch with a lot more. >> i like the backpack. i have a beach chair with a

backpack but doesn't do all this. >> this is a really cool idea. i like this idea. i gave you a ten on the product. >> whoa. >> a seven on the pitch. i'm going to buy one of these chairs. i will buy one of these chairs. the pitch was a little rough, i thought. maybe clean it up a little bit. i would like to know more about pricing, cost, when will i get it, when will it be available. but nice job. >> okay. david. >> i might also get this, but i'm not quite as sanguine about this as an investable product. i think it is a nice combination of several things you could use, but these are things that really pretty much are available, cooler and something to hold your towel and battery and so on and so forth. i'm not sure it is a compelling product at that number. that being said, i thought you did a decent job of telling what it is. you could use more practice at smoothing out the pitch a bit, but all and all, good. >> you have to get good at talking and showing at the same time. >> exactly.

>> nice job. because he gave you a 6, i want to say he started out with -- i'm going to buy it. so i'm going to bump that 6 up for you, perhaps not as an investor, but as a shopper. >> which is an interesting difference there are many things i would love to get as a product that i think i would personally use, but might not be investable as a business. i might actually buy this. >> fantastic. thank you, both, so much. good luck with everything. on indy go go right now. what is the name of the product? >> shaiz. >> let's get in the water. >> we're here in our fancy clothes. >> and we can bring this with us. it is waterproof. >> if any of you have a product or service and you want feedback from our elevator pitch panel, like you saw on your chances of getting interested investors on consumers, send us an e-mail, yourbusiness@msnbc.com. in that e-mail, tell us 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 all of those pitches and seeing some of you here on the show. when we come back, if you want funding from a bank, you better get those financials in order. and what you need to know to stop cybercriminals from has beening -- hacking your business. small business saturday is our day to get out and shop small. a day to support our community and show some love for the people we love. and the places we love. the stuff we can't get anywhere else and food that tastes like home. because the money we spend here can help keep our town growing. on small business saturday, let's shop small for our neighborhood, our town, our home. on november 26th, get up, (all) get together and shop small.

how do i present my financials in the best way to be able to raise money from bankers rather than taking on diluted investment sources. >> so there say joke out there that banks only want to lend money to people who don't need it and that's absolutely true. why i say that is because you really have to be prepared to show that you're in a strong position regardless of the loan. now, that starts with having all of your financial statements in order and up to date, balance sheet, cash flow, income statement, and pay particular attention to the cash flow statement because you want to show that you have enough cash to easily service the debt. you also want to make sure that all of your tax obligations are in line and with all of that basic information aside, you have to have your arms around the trends. sales growth grohhing, sales growing faster than costs, are your forecasts realistic and

finally you may need to demonstrate that you have collateral maybe in the form of home equity to pay back the loan no matter what. if you do all these things, you know your numbers and you're prepared, you'll be in a situation to be a great borrower and not give up equity in your business. we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your small business grow. david and paul are back with us once again. when i introduced you before, paul, i said six businesses and counting. i feel like every time you come on the show, you started another company. >> there is so many opportunities out there. so my latest company has to do with security in the cloud and putting data in the cloud and keeping that free from hackers. so my top tip that i have for all companies is understand your cyberrisks. understand and talk to your employees about what the problems are. the hackers are not only going after large global companies, they're going after small companies just as well. so if you talk to your employees and educate them and let them know that certain easy things

like don't use the same password on two different accounts, we have to -- we all do that, we have to change that, make a point to do that right away. don't use the same passwords. if you get an e-mail that tells you to reset your password, close your e-mail, don't fall for that trap, go to the website, go to the site, see if they do want you it reset. >> unless you clicked reset password on the website. >> unless you know to expect it. but if it comes in randomly. if you get a wire request, somebody sends an e-mail and wants you to wire funds, even if you know the person and even if you're expecting that request to come in, call and verify the exact amount and account it has to go to. be cautious and teach your employees to be just as cautious. >> i mean, the different passwords for different accounts, it is just so simple. and people aren't doing it. it is amazing to me. >> everybody has the same three or four passwords for everything. >> i have a system for my passwords, right? it is a little annoying and then you get used to it. >> has to be done. >> has to be done. >> when you start a business,

know what kind of business you're starting. we all think of starting a business as single spectrum from beginning to end. i start a business and end up at google. the only question is where you get off, google, smaller public company, big private company, do you get bought, go out of business. >> but there are two paths. you could be a small not looking to grow, not looking to give options or fast growth company. >> absolutely. and neither is right or wrong. in fact, the typical small independent american business accounts for about 95% of all businesses in america. this is everything from the local yoga studio or restaurant to the professional services operation. these are all fine. absolutely great businesses. >> but you think of them differently. >> they're not designed to be a scaleable high growth business, and if you're doing that kind of company, you want to think about how you incorporate, an llc probably in your home state, have employees and pay them on salary. on the other hand, if you're a high growth startup, we think of startups, you're looking to from the very beginning, go public or be acquired, you have employees,

all your employees have options, you try and raise money from angel investo or venture capital funds, that means very different -- there you'll be incorporated. you have all kinds of things that i wrote about in my book which are designed for the high growth path but not the other path. >> exactly. this is something -- it is a little soul searching in looking at the kind of company you're starting. >> absolutely. >> thank you, both, so much. >> thank you. >> this week's your biz selfie from bruce kline who owns steel city chess. he sells chess sets that come with pieces fashioned after the architecture in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. you can see them in the background there. thank you so much for sending that in. now, why don't you pick up your smartphone, take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at your business@msnbc.com. so we can feature it here on the show or you can tweet it to @msnbcyourbiz. include your name, your business

and use the #your biz selfie. if you have any questions or if you have some comments about the show, send us an e-mail to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. you can visit our website, openforum.com/yourbusiness. we posted all of the seg s from today and a whole lot more. and don't forget to connect with us on our digital and social media platforms as well. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg. remember, we make your business our. small business saturday is our day to get out and shop small. a day to support our community and show some love for the people we love. and the places we love. the stuff we can't get anywhere else and food that tastes like home. because the money we spend here can help keep our town growing.

on small business saturday, let's shop small for our neighborhood, our town, our home. on november 26th, get up, (all) get together and shop small. the trump era begins. >> we're going to do some absolutely spectacular things for the american people. >> talk of unity in washington. >> come together, work together. >> it was a great opportunity meeting with you. >> and clear signs of the fight ahead. >> we will stand up to bigotry. we will not give an inch on this. not now. not ever. >> how will trump attack the obama legacy? how will democrats respond? what about the trump/ryan feud? and who now is the leader of the democratic party? a nation divided after a shocking election. millions of americans living in fear. "politicsnation" starts right now.