coming up on your business, as president trump moves down to the white house, small business owners are upbeat about what his administration is going to do to help them when it comes to deregulation and tax reform. that plus two fraternity brothers who turned their partying lifestyle into a lifestyle brand. and how to reach an incredibly influential democratic. millennial moms. we have that and more coming up on next on "your business."

hi everyone, and welcome to your business. the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. donald trump has been sworn in as the nation's 45th president. and according to a number of surveys, small business owners are excited. the nfib small business optimism index jumped a remarkable 7.4 points in december. the largest jump since the index was started in 1986. it is just one of a number of

surveys showing that mainstream businesses are upbeat with the hope thaft trump administration will be business-friendly and you shaller in deregulation and tax reforms. the chief economist for the small business and interneuroship president of the and ceo of the national small business association. so good to see both of you. >> good to be here, thanks. >> thanks for talking to us. i want to dig into this. i've seen a number of surveys where optimism is higher, right? and people in small business feel like the next four years may be good for them. so let's get down to why. what do you think will happen in the next four years that will be good for small business? >> you would hope that entrepreneurs and small business owners are optimists. you better be. you're also a realist. the last eight to ten years have been tough in the great recession, miserable recovery, and quite frankly, the obama administration has not been friendly to much of the business community. so i think in terms what have they heard in this election and what they focussed on, i think

the two big things that they focussed on was regulatory reform and relief. and those are two biggies for small businesses as well as large businesses. >> when we talk about -- we talk about this a lot here, regulatory reform and relief, right? so todd, what does that mean? what regulations are going to disappear and suddenly going to make my business easier to run? >> well, there are working for the administration to make that happen. we're not going to see a whole bunch of things disappear. our hope is that we can put into place a new process think about how regulations affect companies. frp our perspective, biggest problems small businesses face is a given regulation one or two of them or one more additional one, it's the vast bulk of the federal regulations. the unknowns. they don't know which are going effect them. they don't know how to figure it out. hire lawyers andle real gets in the way of progress. we like the idea of reordering the regulatory process so you have to focus on those things that are the most important.

and, you know, the president-elect talked about a system where for every new regulation that comes in two have to go away. i'm not sure how that works. but something along the lines where new regulations have to be counterweighted with reduction in the overall regulatory burden on small businesses. >> we've seen happen many times a regulation gets put into place and nobody has thought about how twitter affects a small business owner. may it may sense for big business and small business may get caught up. >> that's right. todd is right. you have to have institutional reforms so that you force government to do this. sun setting regulations. forces the elected fibs to say okay, does this still make sense? in terms of the technology and economy, should we do this? is there a better way? look at the cost benefit analysis. those reforms are needed, we just bring sanity to the regulatory in washington toir. >> you just did a survey about the cost for small business

owners. $83,000 you found in the first year. >> yeah, the average cost complying with new regulations is hurting new businessing with $83,000 a year according to to the survey. ongoing costs of over 12,000 a year for typical small business after that. and that doesn't really even capture everything because so much of the regulatory burden is sort of baked into our economy, and just getting handed to a lot of small companies. the real cost is higher than that. those are the direct costs. >> and you mentioned this before, i find that one of the biggest costs is not actually complying with regulations, by figuring out which you need to even comply with. >> and does a small business have the staff to do that. no, they don't. you have to do it yourself in your start-up. and that's an enormous, enormous undertaking. and that's time is money, bottom line. >> so ray -- go ahead, todd. >> ray is right. every minute that a small business own figures out if they're complying, they're not

finding a new customer, mentoring new employees and expanding their businesses. >> todd's point earlier about you just can't look at the latest regulation and what the cost is because that's on top of everything that's been going on for if you want to say 50, 60 years in terms of increase in regulatory burden. and study after study show that the costs are significant and they fall higher on small businesses than large businesses. >> i would love to -- we have to wrap this up unfortunately. pilled i would love to have you both back in four months from now and i want to check in to say where are we? is the mindset changing in the way we thought, heading in the right direction from your perspective and your constituent's perspective or what still needs to change. >> love to do it. absolutely. >> right, good to see both of you. >> thank you. necessity is the mother of invention. it's why so many new parents come up with baby gear companies and pet owners start doggy businesses. so, if your two college fraternity brothers whab do you need to make your life better or

rather in the case of the entrepreneurs we made, make your party better? these two friends came up with a product that caught on so well with their crowd they built a whole brand around it. scotty and wyatt first met as college sophomores. >> we had over a glass of whisky. hey, you like entrepreneurship. i do too. >> maybe i'm going to do business with this guy. and one thing led to another. >> they prove their chops as entrepreneurs. >> it didn't have to be a huge project. very small. >> we had a couple thousand dollars saved up and what can we do, our personal savings, and basically prove to people that we're legitimate entrepreneurs? >> like that was the original idea. >> they settled on making a special kind of tool that can tear a hole in the bottom of the can. don't know why? you're one of the people whose

never shotgunned a beer. >> shotgunning is a beer is when you're breaking into the bottom of a can. and then you're drinking from that hole. >> once they settled, they had to figure out how. >> then we started calling people. >> the people they called for help with engineers, industrial designers, metal fabricators and their parents. >> we both got a small investment from our dads. it was around $10,000. >> with that is all help, they created a sleek-looking, inexpensive product they called the saver cube. after graduation, they both got jobs in silicon valley, but quickly ditched those when they realized the saber tooth had some real teeth. >> this year we've grown almost 800%. >> they say it wasn't the product itself that caught fire. but the whole frat party brand. which they named raging mammoth. >> raging mammoth is all about having a great time. the saber tooth opened their

eyes to an overlooked market. >> we looked around and went, why has no one started a company around this lifestyle? and that's really how it came about. >> more than just a logo, raging mammoth became a symbol of the high octane adventure their customers craved. and a brand with a mission. >> so why are we doing this? our why is to create good times. it's the way you do it when you use the product. that was a defining moment for us, that's what drives growth. >> not only did sales numbers explode, but they say their customers hijacked their instagram and facebook pages with hundreds of unslit sissed pictures and stories boasting of their exploits. >> about 99% of our posts online and they're all created to our customers. they're seeing us online. this is what the brand represents. and then once they physical in love about that. and then they're part of the community. >> now they're using that brand idea as a spring board to new products. >> really doesn't matter what we

make. raging mammoth, everything that we create is about having a better time with friends. that's all that matters. >> then the products come out of that. how are we going to create a product that's going to compliment that lifestyle. >> people will come to with us an idea. >> that's where rob lane comes in. >> then we work through the different phases of designing and developing and getting a product to the manufacturer. they have turned to the design company. >> this is what we want. what do you think? >> look at that idea. look at how to make that idea better. >> do a couple prototypes. and then from there find new structures. the next is the deluxe take. a replica modular snow ski with

several shot glasses lined up for group drinking. >> i think my friends were like a little upset they were spilling it all over themselves. >> is the weight good? you see the way it was. >> perfect. >> okay. and how about that? >> this is only one of more than a dozen new products scotty and wyatt want to take to market as quickly as possible. >> they are going to be a massive part of our company in this next year because we have 13 original products we're releasing. >> to keep things moving, they're outsourced the design and manufacturing to the southern california design company. >> the way we look at them. they're up and coming. they're getting wrote up. they're confident. >> instead of us going out and trying to learn like okay, we need to get a warehouse, you know, we need to hit the insurance of the warehouse. we need to hire -- let's just give it to somebody who knows. >> with big dreams to grow, they're outsourced the shipping and fulfill customer service and marketing. they're concentrating on what they do best.

developing the brand and the supporting products. where that leads, even they can't predict. >> we never started out to try to make this a huge company. we really wanted to prove to people we could do something valuable. so we could go do something bigger down the road. and just ended up going bigger than we originally planned. millennial moms have some say. they are hugely influential. according to our guests, 55% of millennial moms say they are frequently std for product recommendations. how can you get them to spread the word? sharon is the founder and ceo of parent tested parent approved. one of the most recognized awards programs by consumers. it's so good to see you. >> thanks for having me on today. >> and you have grown your business a lot by millennial moms talking about it. >> absolutely. that's literally how we grew our business. word of mouth, getting moms talking about it. telling them our story and

getting them to spread it. >> so many people are trying to get to the mommy bloggers because they know that moms as a whole -- you know, they're speaking from the heart. it worked for my kid. it worked for me. i'm going to tell my friends. >> that was the whole concept behind our business. what i think a lot of brands are missing out on, they're still advertising to these millennial moms in very traditional ways. so for example, they need to stop advertising, showing moms in these traditional goals, holding a laundry basket and looking dishevelled and running after the kids. reality is, that's not a millennial mom's typical life these days. >> it's not speaking to them. >> not at all. the husband plays a role in this. or they have help at home. because they're likely working full-time as well. >> right. >> so let's show them as professional accomplished women. you know, even when we see women in the board room. they're always in a hurry. why are they always waiting on the side of a street? late and waiting for a taxi? every ad, in a professional

sense. so, show them in a way that's more modern. so that they'll -- it'll resinate with them. >> they can relate and also you talked about, we've used the word authentic, everyone does. but don't push stuff down. >> yes. >> right. >> be authentic about why you're talking to them. >> and connect with them on an emotional level. it was funny, there's this video that publix put out, and it's literally an ad of a mom and little daughter and she's a pregnant mom and she is standing in the kitchen baking with her daughter. they're casually showing ingredients, but by the end of this commercial, nobody is not crying. and it was three years later, and i'm still talking about this commercial because it resinated on an emotional level. it made that connection for me and publix. that's how you need to communicate with people. >> i think a lot of these brands still think of millennial moms is my marketing tool. i have to get them to try my product. >> you can't tram down people's

throats. >> that's it. they used to work, it no longer works. they want to know more about the companies. millennials really want to know about the companies. they want to know if they have a social conscience. if it's food, where it's sourced. these things are more important than the advertising like you said that you're ramming down their throats. they are turning to video. so as we did a survey and 83% of millennials said they go online to search for the products they're going to purchase. three out of every five turned to video to learn more about the product. so that is a no-brainer for companies. be out there, be on video, again, make sure you're taking into account all of those emotional components that you want to have resinate with that customer afterwards. >> once you get one. once you got a millennial mom who likes you, how do you encourage her to spread the word? what can you give them. >> it's all about making sure you're talking about the things that are important to them. what we found was important to millennials, they want to know that there is value in the product they're purchasing from you. they want to know there's

convenience. and the number one thing, is safety. so, as long as you can incorporate that messaging, that customer will really stay with you. because where it used to be a price plan, i won't say the price doesn't impact the purchasing decision, they are willing to pay a little bit more to make sure that they have all of those three things encompassed in the product that they're purchasing for their family. >> right. and once you get someone like this, love it. >> stay with you. >> and spread the word. >> and the last thing you need to be on is social. at the end of the day, social such an important component because people are talking about products they love. parent tested, parent approved, we will go out and find inflew wensers who love a product that we to want talk about. and make sure that they are authentic. by authentic, it's a buzz word. to us it's important they've used it, they really love the product, they've talked about it in a positive manner before they've been paid to do so. >> uh-huh. >> and that's how we're trying to build a positive buzz for the

brands that we work with. >> all right. congratulations on your success. >> you know more about this than anyone. >> thank you. >> thank you for stopping by. >> my pleasure. i don't care if you're a silicon valley start-up or a small town dry cleaner, technology is going to keep on changing your business. in order to stay one step ahead, you have to know where the trends are heading. inc..com highlights five of the top tech advancements coming our way. one, 5g is the upgrade the wireless signal that's going to make smart phones and tablets even more valuable. higher speeds could change how video conference on mobile works. two, augmented reality. companies like microsoft are launching headsets that could change the way you've been training, sales demos, and more. three, chat box. systems that you interact with via text will get much more sophisticated in 2017. there are already ones that will hand over your travel plans or tell you the weather. but think about ones that do

things like monitor your health or your spending. four, phone goes wireless. expect to have even more ways to charge all your mobile devices without using cable. and five, amazon's alexa is already being used to lock your car, read a book, or make purchases, but in 2017, expect to also see it shopped at public places like your bank or local grocery store. >> nice to meet you. co-founder and ceo of spot luck. >> how are you? >> pleasure, pleasure. in the dining industry there's a gazillion choices where have to eat. we've all been there. where do you want to go? i don't know, i don't know, where do you want to go? instead of arguing, it's a totally free app. get one spin per day. we pick a great local spot for you and give you a discount. the key is it's a smart discount. we patented software that makes them change based on day, time, where, and other factors.

you're going to get higher incentives than a monday or friday raining or if it's nice out. restaurants love it because it's smart. consumers love it because it's fun. who doesn't love spinning a wheel, right? we have great traction. around is 00,000 people on the app every month. we got around over 1,000 paying clients and we've got a good foundation, but a long way to go. and we to want get the right people involved. we're raising $1.5 million now to launch new york, arguably the largest dining city in the world. and we have half of that round committed. we also have over 200 restaurants signed and ready to go live in march. really, we're here because we have a decent foundation, but and a good product, but the team is magic. these guys eat, breathe, live, breathe spot luck. >> congratulations. that number one app on itunes. i would say i'm going to hear what they say, i say start the pitch with that, right? because that is big. right. okay. so while we're chatting here, i need two numbers from you guys,

number one from one to ten, what do you think of the product? number two, what do you think of the pitch? okay. let's see what they think. simon, you're up. >> i'm up. >> i gave it a seven and the pitch a six. the the product,mean, i live in new york. i'm a foodie, and we don't just use one app, we use multiple apps to find restaurants. and i think there is a potential for something fun. unlike j.j., i always get a little suspicious when, especially when a young start-up company says to me that you're number one in anything. i don't believe it. how is that possible? >> sure. >> and i like companies that are sort of say where they're going, what their intention is. in terms of the pitch, i wanted to know your story. you know, i love a company born out of personal challenge, personal story. you were fighting with your friend, you know -- >> sure. >> as opposed to the generic, you know, when you're out. so, for me, i was looking for something to relate to and i think that's potential for improvement. >> a appreciate the feedback. >> and this is what simon is all about, connecting with the why,

the why you started your business. you should listen to his ted talk. >> i'm a big fan of spotluck, so thanks. >> so, eight and seven. >> okay. >> so, on the product, i think you have a great product. what i'm looking at is that it does have other uses, and you've done a great job of kind of focusing on one thing right now, not getting distracted, which is really good. and you know, i've learned the hard way that when you get distracted, you only delude and you get in trouble. i agree with simon, make it your story, put a thing behind it that's personal. >> sure. >> it's about -- we used to have this story about wow, and people would get -- instead of talking about money and your results and they would get hung up on this wow. tell us about that wow. what does that wow mean? and that became the bigger conversation than trying to talk about money and results, because the money and results aren't good in the beginning. >> totally agree. >> it strikes me also that you are a solution, the next version of groupon for these restaurants, right? which was a problem for them. but you allow them to change the

price discount. >> absolutely. and i definitely agree with both of what you guys are saying. funny thing is, our story is traditional. we started in our basement, quit our jobs, used our own money, right? >> what was the birth of the idea? >> realizing that prices in a restaurant on a tuesday when it's raining shouldn't be the same price as friday night at 6:00. >> that's real, absolutely. >> we wish you the best of luck. thank you for coming on the program. >> thank you. >> thank you both to be your honest feedback. if you have a company and want to pitch our panelists here in our elevator like you just saw, let us know. send an e-mail to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. tell us what you do, how much money you're looking to raise and how that money's going to change the trajectory of your company. we cannot wait to see some of you here on the show! still to come, when it comes to hiring managers, what's best, hiring from within your company or looking outside of it? and tariq tells us why you shouldn't be chasing the money.

will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. ♪ how do you choose your top-level managers within your organization? do you prefer to promote from within or do you hire from outside? >> gosh, the quick answer is

this -- both, and it depends. so, clearly, what we have to do is if you're going to hire from or promote from within, then the great news about that is that these people are going to bring -- they understand the corporate culture, they understand the history and the dna from the organization. and also what they do is they inspire other employees from within the organization who want to grow. now, the great thing about bringing people in from the outside is that they bring a new level of energy to the organization, new blood, new ideas, a new, fresh set of eyes. clearly, we have to bring people to the organization who have experience, right? because we want to round out our team of strengths, but even more importantly than that, though, whether we're hiring or promoting from within or hiring from without, we need to have people who are highly motivated, who have a lot of integrity, and who have tons of capacity so they can grow with you. we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your small business grow.

leadership expert simon sinek and tariq farid, founder and ceo of edible arrangements, are back with us again. not only leadership expert, top three most-watched ted talk? >> that's right. >> and if i can tout both of you -- when we met you, you were the second story or first story i think we did on this show. >> that's right. >> one of the first three. you had 400 franchises then. >> a little less than 400. >> and now? >> 1,300. >> okay, so i clearly want to hear the tips from you because you know what you're doing. >> it's clearly the show that did it. >> exactly. i launched both of you. i launched you both. let's start with you, simon. >> sure. so, my top tip is take care and work to see that those around you succeed. so many entrepreneurs make it about themselves and they forget that there's other people there who have devoted their lives, their workdays to support. and when they feel that they're always subordinate in trying to see you succeed, it is demoralizing. so work to see that those around you work to their natural best. they become valuable members of

the team and more and more, they will offer you their blood and sweat and tears to make your vision come to life. >> what's that actually look like, celebrating them at company meetings? >> helping them grow. part is offering affirmation and possible feedback, but it's also offering them opportunities to grow, it's offering them classes and opportunities to learn communication skills or confrontation, things that will actually help them grow as human beings. put them in situations where they can fall and try again, where you won't just take over because you can do it better. let them screw up and let them try again and know that you're there to support them. >> i think the gist is just people aren't coming into your company to punch the clock, right? >> that's exactly right. >> they want to get something out of it, too. they're not just there -- >> they want to grow, be better versions of themselves. >> okay. what about you? >> so, my best lesson i learned is from the best businessperson i ever knew, my mother. >> i always say the same about my mom. >> i was 17, started my first business, struggled every day and came home always disappointed. she said one day, stop chasing

money it runs really fast. go do the right thing, it will chase you. so i changed focus totally at that point and really focused on the customer instead of focused on trying to make money and just making that customer get that wow experience and really listening and everything. so, i think you have to in a business, small business, as you get larger, it becomes tougher and tougher, you really have to focus on the customer. a lot of people believe they do, but if they test it, they will see that they actually don't, not the way they did it on the first day they started business, when they were desperate for every sale. >> so, did you lose money, you think, as you were changing from chasing money to understanding the customer? did your revenue go like that? >> to my surprise, when you take care of a customer, they always leave a little more behind than they needed to, you know. so you know, and then they tell ten people about it. >> got it. >> they come back because of you, not because of maybe the product that you were selling. and back then, i was selling flowers. they could have gone to 30 different places, but it was

that experience that they would come back for the wedding and all the other things. so, and we stayed true to that, but we test it to say are we really true to that commitment to the customer? >> right. >> and as you walk -- >> basically, don't cut corners. i think what you both are saying is don't cut corners. if you succeed by cutting corners with your employees, your customers, it will get you here, but not here, and eventually here. >> take care of the people inside, take care of the people outside, watch the business grow. that's it. >> thank you both. this week's "your biz selfie" comes from s&s intimates in dearborn, michigan. they say they are all about empowering women in the way they look and feel. this is certainly the sexiest your biz selfie we have had so far. everyone out there, pick up your cell phone and take a selfie of you in your business. send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com or tweet it to @msnbcyourbiz. include your name, your business name, your location and #yourbizselfie.

thank you to all of you for joining us today. we love hearing from you, so if you have any questions or you have comments about the show, e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. we read all of your e-mails. you can also go to our website, openforum.com/yourbusiness. we posted all of the segments from today's show, plus a whole lot more. and don't forget to connect with us on all of our digital and social media platforms as well. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm jj ramberg. and remember, we make "your business" our business. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. we had, it looked, honestly, it looked like 1.5 million people. whatever it was, it was, but it went all the way back to the washington monument. and i turn on -- and by mistake, i get this network, and it shows an empty field, and it said we drew 250,000 people. now, that's not bad, but it's a lie. >> these attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong. >> hello. i'm al sharpton, and welcome to "politics nation."