show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. good morning everyone. coming up on the final edition of msnbc's your business, i look back at some of my favorite stories and moments from the last 12 years. remember our makeover of this tea company. we'll talk to the founder to find out what's happened since. then we sit down to look at what lies ahead for small business in 2019. weave got that and much more coming up next on the series finale of your business. msnbc, your business, is

sponsored by american express. don't do business without it. > hi there everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to your business. the show dedicate today helping your growing business. today's a big day for all of us here because it is our last show. 12 years ago i got a call out of the blue from msnbc asking if i wanted to be the host of a new small business program they were about to launch. i had been a reporter before but i quit to start my own company. it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up so i said yes. it was supposed to be a six-month job. 12 years later, here we are. i cannot thank you enough for joining us every week and sharing in the stories we've gotten the opportunity to tell. i've met truly the most

incredible people along the way. i have gone home inspired countless times. this has been a show about business, but the truth is, it's really been a show about life, about success, about failure and how failure is really in the eye of the beholder. that's one thing i truly learned. turn it around and it is just another teaching moment. we've been through boom times together and a terrible recession. what remains constant is people's ability to dream and then make those dreams come true. >> hot air balloon company, toy story, app developers, restaurants, river rafters, over the past 12 years, the businesses we've covered have run the gamut. it all started with this. >> time to open your business. >> since then, we've heard from people with no business experience who showed us what you can do with a dream and determination. ray petro built this indoor mountain bike park in cleveland,

ohio. now it's a mecca for mountain bikers around the world. when he first had the idea, nobody thought it would work. >> it's like a mountain bike miracle. like field of dreams type thing. there was no business plan, no business model. it was just blind stupidity, luck, passion. >> we met people who bet it all. kim benson was a part-time waitress with a mortgage, four kids and a husband who was unable to work because of an injury. she gathered all their savings and launched kim's low fat bagels. >> it's a lot. but you know what, three years ago we couldn't afford heating oil for our home and today, we not only the business provides for us and eight other families. it's huge. >> we went to silicon valley to talk to the founders of twitter and pinterest. we learned from the ceos of growing companies like peloton, swell bottle and launched a podcast. been there, built that, where we got to dive even deeper. >> i'm here in las vegas at the

consumer electronics show. >> we kept up with the newest innovations in las vegas and south by southwest in austin. and we walked around main streets across the country. >> good morning from beloit, wisconsin. >> to learn how small business owners helped revitalize their community. >> we answered calls for your business makeover. in monterey, california, asked for help for his parents not earning enough to retire from the company they put their heart and soul into. >> you must be joe. i'm jj ramberg from your business. it's nice to meet you and get to finally see your store. >> we brought in our team of experts who revamped everything and rewrote their future. >> i'm overdone. really. >> you are the best. >> you're the best. thank you. >> our elevator pitchers sold

their products to sam's club and appeared on hsn. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> and to get the real story, we went fly diving in san diego. skateboarding with tony hawk. >> that's it. >> running through fire in new jersey. and what felt like the craziest one of all, swimming with sharks in hawaii. and from the beginning, we kept an eye on washington to see what it was doing to help business owners. we met every small business administrator and i testified in front of the house small business committee and we learned business is not just business. it's life. while hosting this show, i grew the company i founded with my brother, good shop.com. i wrote two books. one with two your business producers. i got married, i had three kids and i got them involved from the start. >> that's coming up next on your

business. >> why did you decide to go in here? >> because i love unicorn stuff. >> and we were inspired by all these people who started with nothing more than an idea and worked hard. then worked even harder and made it all happen. who wouldn't take no for an answer. who thought of failure as simply a learning experience. and who taught us all anything is possible. as we begin 2019, i wanted to take a step back to talk about what is the next year going to look like for small businesses. who better to do that with than linda mcmahon, the head of the small business administration. good to see you. >> you're such a strong advocate for small businesses. i appreciate it always. i know you shop small businesses. >> i do all the time. i am a small business. i am the audience. let's talk about what's going on in 2019.

there's been uncertainty about some things, great news about others. if you had to talk to small business owners saying what to prepare for for 2019, what's number one? >> the thing that i'm hearing the most going into 2019 one of the number one issues with small businesses, big businesses, too, but it is a shortage of skilled workforce. so -- >> by the way, this has been the one thing for years. for years. >> yes. but now with a 3.7 unemployment rate, the pool is -- has shrunk. so now small businesses competing more and more with large businesses for the same pool of skilled workers. >> what do we do? >> it's a blessing. not so much a blessing all at the same time. one of the things that i'm doing at sba is encouraging our small businesses to work with their community colleges, their technical schools, go into the high schools and talking to the high school counselors. helping to design the curriculum

and helping to let these facilities as well as four-year universities, know what it is you need. so that curriculum can get written, the instruction that's given, the training that's given will match what industry and business needs. there's a big gap right now. private sector has been doing it for longer than we've actually known because we've had folks like boeing, some of the big businesses that have paid for -- >> i've been coaching small businesses and said take your time. i was at a technical school in charleston, west virginia. toyota has manufacturing plants down the road. they came into this college, brought equipment from their plant, said let's do a deal. you'll teach them here for a couple of days, three days a week they'll work with me as apprentices. i'll pay them. help to offset the cost of their

education. teaching them on what they'll need. betsy devos, secretary of education is very much in favor, heng to work with four-year institutions as well who are -- so that we are mindful of what industry and business need. >> let's talk about minority run and women-run small businesses. what are we doing for them? by we, i mean you. >> it's interesting. in the hispanic community, that's one of the fastest growing small business segments and in the hispanic community, 44% of the small businesses are owned by women. and they are starting businesses more frequently than men. one of the things we'll be working on, we started now on this 2019 is our women's digital website. and it's going to be -- it's a whole platform. i think it's going to be pretty

special. because it's going to be interactive learning. we have 16 more women business centers and 118 around the country for women to go to. again, no charge. go to, get counseling, how are you going to run your business? what kind of -- what do you need to get started? how do we connect you with capital? also, how do we connect you with suppliers of goods and services that you might need? >> i want to talk about the tariffs. there have been a number of small businesses hit by this. what do you say to them? >> it's tough. i've asked them, i said understand this is a work in progress. try to know that sba is helpful in that transition time. we know you've got a good program going forward. we need a little time to get there. >> you mean helpful in terms of backing the loan they can get. >> or connecting them with

another business that they might could partner with to do things. it's all part of that networking to do. you know, the tariffs are going to -- they're going to work their way through. for people that are struggling, whether because of tariffs or something -- you're a small business owner and turned it into a big business. how can people weather through when it feels like this is it? i pay my bills, i can't make payroll, which happens to all of us at some point in our business. i'll tell you one of the reasons, probably the number one reason that small businesses fail is they're undercapitalized. they don't know how to manage cash flow. we try to be instructive about it. how to manage your cash flow because what's good this month may not be good next month and you really have to plan it. you also have to understand when it's time that you ought to get a loan for a while to help you. some folks are so risk averse that they don't want to take out

a little bit of money to help them get through a bad part. i'm not saying that for people to get into debt. sometimes there are opportunities that you need to take advantage of. >> i really appreciate that you have spent the last two years out there and talking to people and listening to what really goes on with small business owners. we are not a group that is completely similar. right? >> i have talked to over 800 business owners as of the end of october of 2018. i've talked to 800 business owners when i'm out. i hear. i'm a chief advocate in washington for small business. i want to know what's impacting you. one of the things was health care. now the department of labor has just rolled out association health plans. they did it in the fall of 2018. your restaurant association, chamber of commerce, small businesses can buy in to

association health plans at much reduced premiums. even a sole proprietor never considered a group before can now go in. >> i really appreciate. you're listening to people and making change for them. letting them know -- it was great to see you. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. as our show is coming to n end, i want to leave you with a library full of books to help you continue to grow your companies. we've had a lot of amazing guests on the show. here are five books that i've read from them and about them that i've really enjoyed. one, do the kind thing by the ceo of kind snacks. two, thirst by scott harrison. founder of charity water. three, shoe dog. a memoir by the creator of nike. bill knight. >> four, onward. how starbucks without losing its soul. five, getting there.

a book of mentors by jillian siegel. a little over a year ago we got a letter from a business owner asking for a makeover. she had developed a delicious bottled drink based on her grandfath grandfather's recipe. her labels and packaging were not helping at all. after nearly six years in business, she wasn't able to pay herself a salary. our experts overhauled her design, dug into her operations and distribution. she now has deals with sam's club. she's here now to talk about her journey. you were one of the people that inspired our entire staff. i got to say. people watched that show and just could not believe your determination. >> it's crazy. i don't really know how to feel. there's been tons and tons of growth since the makeover. >> doubled your revenue. >> definitely. more than doubled my revenue.

sam's club gave me an opportunity, i'm not if you remember, along with the makeover came new packaging and sam's club gave me an opportunity to roll out in michigan. since then, we're working on closing on a deal for long-term national distribution. >> it's so incredible. i'm excited for you. i forget how calm you are, right? what you've done is insane. are you paying yourself? >> i am finally paying myself as well. when i met you guys, i was not on payroll. >> six years. i want to make sure everyone understands. six years you believed in in drink and just kept at it and kept at it and kept at it. what was it? how were you able to get through the six years? it's hard. it's you basically doing everything. >> it was actually ten years. started out selling out of my trunk. i've been in a production facility for five, six years. when i went into business, i had to ask myself the question.

if there was no such thing as money, but you had to work, what would you do? this beverage company is beyond money for me. it's about family legacy. in those days it's tough. it's emotional roller coaster. there are daisy want to quit. what keeps me going is the passion for freedom. at the end of the day, i want to be free. about this beverage company, this is my freedom. >> i have to tell you, a big thank you from all of us, particularly from me and frank who produced this piece. frank silverstein for letting us into your life. you really opened your doors for us, you were vulnerable for us and took us on that journey with you and let our experts in and tell you to revamp your labels and pick apart everything. very, very gracious of you. >> thank you so much for the opportunity. because it's been nothing but amazing since then. since the makeover, we our

following has grown tremendously. my sales have increased tremendously. i haven't really rolled out any new marketing tactics. but the packaging alone, it's more than doubled. >> packaging is much better. >> more visible. >> ellis island to you. >> thank you for coming by. it's good to see you. >> thank you. >> good luck with everything. >> thanks. still to come, one last tip from our experts. how to build a top notch sales force and a look back on some of our producers' favorite stories from the last 12 years. the meeting of the executive finance committee is now in session. and... adjourned. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it.

we have an e-mail from art. he writes, how does a b 2b type business -- >> think about your sales goals. quantify how much you want a sales force to sell. then start by thinking about what you'll do to build an infrastructure to maintain successful sales. what will that look like inside of your organization based on other parts of the organization you've built, what's worked and what hasn't worked? draw on the things that have workednd to make it successful. additionally, you want to outline what your sales cycle looks like and develop a sales funnel to quantify how many targets, what industry and what products and services you're going to promote. develop sales and marketing collateral and then start to find people who have the same vision and same goals and ethics

as your organization and who are able to follow the outline that you've created with respect to your sales processes and sales cyc cycle. if you're still confused about tax reform and what it means for your business, now is the time to get clarity. here to help you avoid any filing errors that could have lasting consequences is our guest. he's the head of the marx group, a columnist for the "washington post" and a cpa. >> yes, a cpa. that's right. >> where are people getting confused? >> really, there's a lot of things to know about tax reform, jj. let's talk about four big things. the four things that affect us as business owners and individuals. number one, if you're a business owner, the pass through thing is a big thing. what came about this year, if you own an s corporation, limited liability company, a partnership, where the income comes passing through to your individual return, you might have a really big tax deduction,

up to 20% of a tax deduction. however, the irs has specific rules about who gets the deductions. >> exactly. it's not everyone. >> if you're like a service business, a lawyer or in the financial services or whatever. you got to talk with your accountant and make sure you maximize what that is. lesser taxes. more businesses. pass through and corporations. that's number one. number two. lower taxes for individuals. now, not everybody is right. the range of a lot of business people and small business people. you're going to be you are going to be seeing a pretty significant decrease in your individual tax rates, as

much as 15 to 20% depending on the bracket. that's a big, big change. if because these individual rates have gone down, the corporate rates have gone down. you might be paying in too many taxes right now for 2018. you can make an adjustment to those estimated taxes. corporate rates, big change. individual rates, another big change, right? third big change is depreciation for businesses. so accelerated appreciation deductions have gone up by everything >> go buy equipments, computers, furniture, all that kind of stuff. and you know, the thing that most people don't realize with this equipment and capital purchases, you don't have to pay for them. you can buy them, put a down payment, you can finance it. you've just got to put it into service before the end of the year. and if you do that, you get the full tax deduction for the

entire year. and because of tax reform, it went up to a million bucks a year that you can purchase. >> and the beauty of it is, you do it now and a lot of these things ron sale. maybe not the big things, but printers, et cetera. >> and a lot of our audience here, they sell equipment. >> that's so smart, of course. that's what you need to use as your marketing. >> thanks, jj. >> thank you for being our resident and animated tax consultant. >> looking forward to saving more taxes in the future. here to serve. >> for the last 12 years, you've seen me here on the show every week. but who you haven't seen is everyone who really makes this whole thing work. there is an entire fabulous team of dedicated people who have put their heart and soul into all the stories they've worked on and all the programs we've put together. here in their own words are just a few of their favorite moments. >> main streets, mountain bikes, martha stewart and makeovers. that's what i think about when i

look back as my 12 years as a producer on "your business." but there was one makeover in particular that really touched my heart and resonated with our viewers. when we were able to help two new york city firefighters rebuild their bagel business after hurricane sandy. >> we had security cameras here in the bagel store. i turned them on and i could see the water was in the store. and i was like, this is bad. >> good morning, everybody, and welcome back to surfside bagels after hurricane sandy. >> as a daughter of two entrepreneurs in the business, i got a lot of ideas straight from the grocery aisle. getting the chance to go behind the scenes with tabasco was a dream come true, especially since it's the one condiment i can't live out. nogales, arizona, was a real eye opener. it's a town right on the u.s./mexico border, with a fence running right through the center of it. the business owners have customers and family members on both sides.

and if it weren't for the fence, you'd never know there were two different countries. >> families have lived here for generations, where they have traversed the border and they've very much been involved with trade. >> from candles to cookie cutters to the world's largest christmas store, who would have guessed i'd be hanging out with the founder of a garbage company in texas or with a husband and wife who started an egg brand in new york. one of my favorite stories with j.j. was in west virginia. we interviewed three white water rafting company onerous abownere challenges of merging their three brands. >> we were all very passionate. so there was a fair amount of culture clash. >> on that story, i had j.j. shoot the open of the show in a set of rapids. >> who's in charge and is it working? that's coming up next on "your business". >> and then there was the time that j.j. hopped on a roller coaster at a family-owned amusement park in maryland.

>> ahhh! >> as you probably know, with one of the main focuses of our show is shopping local. i got to work on a story about the community of richmond, virginia, which focused on their grassroots movement of urban farming, and i really enjoyed getting to produce a story that covered one of the main aspects of our show. >> i think people really resonate woith our message. i think as the larger sort of chain stores come in. as amazon continues to take over, i think this sort of local grassroots movement is really growing. and i think people are really inspired by it. >> it has been a privilege to book so many smart and successful influencers across the country, to come on the show and share their expertise, to help business owners grow their business. and it was an honor to book dr. deepak chopra, an international prominent figure, to come on the show and to share his advice on how business owners could find more balance. >> if you stop and become a

spectator of your thoughts, you'll have less stress. if you feel the sensations in your body, you'll have less stress. if you think of someone you love, you'll have less stress. >> i don't have a favorite story, per se. but i especially enjoyed learning about how communities all across the country would encourage shopping in their downtowns and main streets. like first saturday in asbury park. asbury park is close to where i live. i have discovered many cool shops and great restaurants, something that i would not have known if it wasn't for this story. >> 20 years ago, i was in seventh grade and my good friend, ashley, would chew my ear off incessantly about this cool band hanson that she loved. little did i know that 20 years later, i would have the privilege of going to tulsa, oklahoma, to hang out with hanson and learn about their beer company. i may have even shared an adult beverage or two with the hanson boy

boys. >> before there was a shark tank in its derivatives, there was the "your business" elevator pitch starting from our very first show in 2006. a lot of them have gone on to do some very great things. >> i wear it all the time, wherever i play soccer, and if it can handle that hitting you, or an elbow, it can handle a soccer ball. >> i'm here today to show you my invention, which is a fish scaler. i'm capable of scaling and cleaning the finish within 30 seconds or less. >> my company makes a patented inflatable air bag. >> oh! ♪ >> i cannot tell you how much work all of those people put into this show. they've traveled around the

country, finding the best stories, sought out the smartest efforts, created this beautiful set and edited everything together, every week. this was a team who has truly been dedicated to our mission of helping business owners. and we were, in essence, our own little business. and there's still so many others behind the scenes, which is why this week's your business selfie has tried to capture everyone. here is the "your business" staff. we've got producers, our director, our control room team, our studio crew, our makeup artists, editors, and more. you guys are the very, very best. thank you, from me, for everything. thanks again, so much, to all of you for sharing the past 12 years with us. i have absolutely loved my team getting to tell all of those stories. and all of us here hope that we're leaving you inspired and that you learned something along the way. so for one last time, i'm jj ramberg and thank you for

helping us make your business, our business. ♪

you're in the business of helping people. we're in the business of helping you. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. this is "up." i'm david gura. this morning, after one of the worst weeks in the trump presidency, the walls seem to be closing in and does the president even care? >> what a crowd, what power, what beautiful people. it's been an incredible two years. we've done things that nobody would have thought possible. and i say it often. >> a flipped fixer, a jailed former campaign chairman, now a former national security adviser set to be sentenced in a couple of days. it's all the president's