republicans in congress say proposed health care reform could unfairly tax small business owners. plus what's in a name? for one company, everything. that's coming up next on "your business." it's not just any business, it's your business. that's why american express open is proud to present "your business" on msnbc.

hi there everyone. i'm j.j. hamburg. welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice on how to make your business grow. as the health care debates continues in washington, we take a closer look at what health care reform could mean to small business. representative sam graves is the ranking member of the house small business committee and he joins us today. hi there, congressman. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, j.j. >> you met with a group of small business owners earlier this week. what were they saying and looking for out of reform? >> they were very frustrateded. they want their health care costing to be affordable. they're very concerned about the

taxes and mandates that are throughout in the bill that's being proposed, and they're worried about going out of business as a result of these things that are going to be required. >> from your perspective, what does reform look like that helps small businesses? >> it's completely different than what's being proposed. what i would like to do, it allows small businesses to group together. if you're a small business with ten employees and have maybe one of those employees with a health care issue, it makes it very expensive. if you can group together with 100 businesses with ten employees, your buying power got better and your premiums will be much reduced. that's one component of a system i would like to see. >> there are programs that include exchanges where small businesses would get to group together. >> what we want to see is -- the fact of the matter is, the way you want to do this is attack the cost of health care. that's one of the problems with small business, being able to provide health care, is that the costs are too much. but coming in with a system where you're going to mandate

that all small businesses provide it, then you're going to tax those small businesses to pay for it. it's going to cost $1.5 trillion that. is the worst thing you can do. then you come up with this government option that ultimately will be the only option out there. that is just not the way to do things. >> there has been talk in washington this week of exempting businesses who make less than $500,000 in revenue from participating in this mandate to either provide health care or be taxed on their payroll if they don't provide health care. do you think that excludes some of the pain or the majority of the pain for small businesses? >> it doesn't take a whole lot of money, and not a very big small business to get to that $500,000 mark. if you think about it for just a little bit, if you have five employees or if you just figure it out, $50,000 and you have 20

employees, you can get to that mark pretty darn fast, or 30 employees with less. it doesn't take much to get to that point. >> congressman, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate all the work that's being done in washington. i know from the small business owners i talk to who don't offer health care, it's not because they don't want to. it's because they feel they can't. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. it's clear a company's name is important. it's generally the first introduction any client has with a business. you may not realize how important it is. check out this next story where a simple name change completely revamped a company's culture, sales and attitude. and there is no doubt that it is paying off. >> what do you get when you take a unique product -- >> it's like walking in with

saech-foot-tall crayon. >> combine it with an unusual corporate culture and an extremely descriptive brand name. you get big ass fans. >> it's eye-catching, ear-catching, however you want to say it. it inspires interest. >> the company is the brain child of kerry smith. ten years ago he saw a demand for massive fans that could heat and cool large spaces. he began selling the fans under a name that didn't have the same ring to it. >> we called it hvls fans, high volume, low speed. it is a little difficult to understand or remember a name like that. >> this long-time staffer sums it up another way. >> while the name was descriptive, it was not memorable. >> when they brought the fans which ranged from six feet to 24 feet in diameter, the response was always the same. they would ask us, are you the guys that make those big ass fans?

after about two years we relented and said, well, this whole hvls thing, that's not going anyplace. everybody calls us big ass fans. smith figured he was on to something. they used the big ass fans name informally in advertising. he decided to go all the way and rename the company, a decision that paid off instantly. >> our natural customers who would be the directors of maintenance, maintenance supervisors, plant engineers, plant managers, this was very acceptable to them. this was in their jargon. >> fast-forward eight years and you can find big ass fans in locations around the country, from fitness centers and restaurants to famous stadium ts like lambeau field. but the rebranding did more than just help sales, it completely reshaped the company's culture. >> it tells people an awful lot about the culture here at the company. it tells them about how we run

the company, because it is a very honest, straightforward. we're very open with what we do. >> these days people are lining up to work for big ass fans. >> we're looking for a lot of young, aggressive, dynamic people. those are the types of person that is you need for a small company. >> i think when people hear the name, they recognize it immediately, that it's something just a little bit different than what they're used to because it's obviously not run-of-the-mill. there are a lot of run-of-the-mill positions an jobs out there. >> would you rather wofrk for ibm like dad or big ass fans. >> the answer is clear. big ass fans attracts local college graduates and seasoned professionals, creating a diversion and energetic atmosphere. a business that thrives on innovation. >> you have ideas coming from rhett pretty much everywhere, from the line up to the head engineer. it doesn't matter. if it seems valid, we'll give it

a shot. >> the done fights don't hurt either. >> friday afternoon at 5:00 it's a war. >> the people at big ass fans take pride in delivering high quality products, something important for a company that could easily be written off as a gimmick. >> what that imposes upon us as a company, very to have the absolute best. >> with a name like big ass fans, you know there has to be serious engineering behind it otherwise it wouldn't make it in the market. >> what does the future hold? terry smith has big plans for his big fans. >> we see a big ass fan in everybody's living room. >> while he's confident the business would have been a success regardless of the name, he has no doubt that the change to big ass fans was the right move. >> because it is such a good drip tore of what we do. i think people appreciate that and appreciate the fact that it's very, very honest.

it really is. >> v lo it or hate it, you remember it. that's the key to any good brand. >> sometimes being literal can be your best marketing tool. let's turn to this week's board of directors to get their opinion. jennifer hill is the vice president of a group dedicated to helping female entrepreneurs. and craig latch inis the figure of out source ad opinions, a company that now boasts multimillion dollar revenues. great to see both of you. this is one of my favorite pieces. what i love about it is big ass names is such a funny name and a cute piece. it not only changed their sales, but changed the culture. how do you think that happened? they've been around for a long time. >> two things, first by using that name, it told the world we are incredibly confident in our products. what we do, we do so well we can make fun of ourselves. that attracts customers to the company.

>> and i guess attracts employees. what if you have a total straight guy as the ceo and it was filled with a bunch of straight people and you have this name. would that work? >> you can definitely wind up having a fun environment at the office while having a very straight-laced ceo. you can have a fun product name. you can have a lull of a product name regardless as long as the product is there and it does what it needs to. you can push it. >> do you have to be the kind of person who would push it? do you have to be the big ass fan guy to have a name like that or will it not work? >> you have to be able to stand by a brand. when they see the ceo, that's the leader of the company. he or she has to embody what the image is and to be a leader for your employees, too. if you're going bold with a name and making it really fun and interesting, that's going to trickle down and everyone else is going to want to be bold and fun and interesting with you. >> the name clearly is working for this company. you've been in the business for however many years.

if you changed your name tomorrow, how much work would that be? >> it takes a while to build a brand. it takes a long time, a lot of hard work and effort. once you're known within your industry, if you change it, you'll winld up having to change focus with everybody. if it's a totally different name that goes from the hvls. >> high volume, low speed. >> over to big ass fans, you're not going to know this company was that company and the fan is still the great product. it's just a new name. if they're rebuilding the product and changing everything around, at that point -- >> which they didn't. how would you evaluate, okay, it's worth the risk of changing the name is? >> sometimes you have to be bold. if you want to do it, do it. you've got a great product. you want to change your view in the marketplace. you think it's going to work and you're really confident, go for it. >> thanks so much, guys. time to answer some of your business questions. the first one is from david.

he helped a friend of his launch a business. he writes us. i did all of this with the verbal agreement of a percentage of the product as compensation once the product was profitable. well, now he's going through a divorce. will a verbal agreement with my friend hold up in court? i'll start with you jen since you're the attorney at the table. >> it depends on your state. there are a lot of states that enforce veeshl agreements. the first thing this viewer should do is talk with an attorney, did they agree on terms? was it all set before he actually raised the money. did he raise the money and see if the law is on his side. >> is it tough? >> it can be. if the viewer had witnesses, is there any documentation at all. if there's something to show that, what is court will look like is see if all the terms were there and, two, is this deal fair? he really should consult an attorney and see what his options are. if he's still in the id manial process, make sure it gets reduced to writing.

if he's acting as a finder, he needs to think about whether broker/dealer lies apply, too. >> i guess the lesson is don't have verbal agreements. >> yeah. my general practice is make sure you have it written. if it's written, it's undeniable. >> even if it's something very simple, not that much money. >> then you wouldn't be worrying about it at this point. this comings from the owner of a biscuit baking company. >> is it smart to go forward and forge ahead with launch a new product in this market or is it safe to hold off until the recession ends? >> i like as she poses it as if you find yourself in an economic downturn. i think she found herself in one. we all have. what do you think? would you launch something new right now? >> when it comes to becoming in an economic downturn, i look at something if it's a luxury or necessity and if it's expensive

or inex-pechb sive. if it's an inexpensive luxury, it might go for it. if it's an inevenings pen sive need, i'm all over it. if it's an expensive need, i might go for an alternative. >> good way of looking at it. >> is this an extension of the product you already have? do you have to have new xlirs, new suppliers, do a ton of things to actually do it. if you are going to do that, is it worth the risk that things won't go well. the good thing about a reshegs, it's a great time to get deals on overhead. it actually might be pretty wise. if this entrepreneur has the cash flow to deal with it. let's move on to the next question from allison. she asks, as a small business owner and entrepreneur, i struggle with hiring and outsourcing. how do you know when to hire someone as an employee and when to use their services as an independent contractor basis? do you determine based on

services needed, hours needed, pay/salary or what? >> the practical answer is what are you using it for? is it something that absolutely should be under your roof? you can't screw this up. the irs gets very, very upset. likewise, you can be opening yourself up to a ton of legal liability if you miss classify people. check with an attorney, an employment attorney specifically to advise you on this. >> or you can look online. they get some pretty good advice. >> irs has a top 20 ways to determine if somebody is an employee or contractor. it's good to make sure because all states are slightly different. the other thing is where are you using your money? is it a short-term need that you don't need somebody full time? there's a lot of factors you can use to determine whether you need to control everything that person does and have them in house versus takinging advantage of an outside service and paying for that instead? >> that's what you do. someone doesn't hire a person to

work on their ad trafficking which is what you do. they hire you as a company who provides the person which takes care of all that difficulty are they employee or contractor. >> right. we provide x amount of service for x fee, and that fee is usually -- that's what you have to figure out as you're going through this process. what's my budget? what can i get? what's the most bang for my buck? what can i get for the budget i have in place. when it comes to outsourcing you want to look at or a freelancer, do you have redundancy, will you miss out on anything and say i want to go outside or are you going to have someone internal to watch over. going through that decision is tough. when you look at a freelancer, you say it's a down economy, what happens when they get a job? >> do i need them at the drop of a hat? if so, are they going to be there if they're a freelancer. thanks so much. we'll bring you back later to evaluate our elevator pitch. we want to let you know if you have a question for our experts,

head to our website. you can submit your questions by clicking on the "contact us" link. while you're on the site, you can find web exclusive content and videos with more information to help you grow your business. all the information and the advice to help you run your small business is at yourbusiness.msnbc.com. we've heard from our experts. now let's get some survival tactics from small business owners just like you. my advice to other entrepreneurs is to start slow and grow in a slow manner. try to make sure the product you're cry eighting meets a need in the community and try to build the best quality products possible at a competitive price. >> my advice to small business owners, especially in this economy is to be very connected. what i mean by that is to be reaching out to your networks,

to be meeting people in person. >> i would say the first thing you do is go after the competition with a vengeance, find out who is playing in your space because this presents opportunity for your business. just ahead, we have more good advice on helping your small business. it's easy to ignore employee reviews, but we'll tell you why it's not smart and how to conduct an effective one. surf is up for our elevator pitcher who hope toss ride a wave of profitability with her line of fitted bathing suits. even during times like these, there is a light beginning to shine again. it comes from a restaurant downtown. a shop on main street. a factory around the corner. entrepreneurs like these are the most powerful force in the economy. the reinvention of business begins with them.

and while we're sure we don't know all the answers, we do know one thing for certain: we want to help. come see what the beginning looks like at openforum.com most women agree that it's hard to find a bathing suit that looks as good on them as it does on the hanger. today's elevator pitcher may have a solution with her fitted swim suit line. for this one, let's get out of

the elevator and pitch this where it counts, the beach. >> hi, i'm aaron talbin under which i have a bra-sized swim wear line. where business is down 10%, erin rose is up 33%. this is due in fact to the ten years in business as well as our diversified sales strategy which includes e-com on our own erinrose.com as well as national catalogs, specialty swim stores and on television at qvc. we are requesting a million dollars to fund the launch of erin rose as a fit and figure conscious brand for apparel and lingerie. this money will go towards the marketing pushes, merchandising and, of course, manufacturing costs that will entail in this endeavor. in return, you'll receive 8% on your money. at the end of which three years we will then give you 10% stock

in the company as well as the million dollars back. hope you're interested. >> okay. i had to bring my prop. i'm completely overdressed for the beach as are you guys, by the way. that was great. thank you for being the model for this. as someone that buys bathing suits, i start with you, jen. >> you gave me impressive metrics and made me want to listen more but the description of the business, tell me when's unique. i have seen a thousand bathing suits. you really have something that's unique so let us know at the beginning to have a better way to put the wonderful things in perspective. >> so craig? >> yeah. i would want to know that you have done some study market research to make sure there's no too many barriers for entry because there's a lot of clothing and lingerie companies and formal wear companies and if there's not enough research to back it up it's pretty tough. >> okay. jen, you listened to so many pitches.

this is clearly sort of in your personal world. would you take another meeting? >> i would. i think there's room for inno vags and look forward to doing it. >> craig? >> sure. it sounds -- >> sure. if you bring jessica, absolutely. >> it sounds good. >> really good about it. >> it sounds good. it sounds like you have a lot going for you and already taken your business and made it into something big. by all means, when you have that solid foundation, it is easier to bid something new. >> congratulations on your success and good luck with everything going forward. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for everything today. we appreciate it. now, if any of you have a product or service and want needback from the panel or today our beach panel, on your chances of getting interested investors, send us an e-mail. yourbusiness@msnbc.com. include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise and what you intend to do with that money. you never know. somebody might be interested in helping you.

if you use a lot of digital tools to run your company day-to-day, we can help you. 5050biz.com calls itself a virtual office with a variety of services including video conferences, calendars, document sharing and areas for social networking. pricing options vary depending on the types of services you are looking for. being a good manager means being able to inspire your team and help them on their career growth. now, one of the best ways to ensure that's happening is through the employee review. now, i know some people dread it and a lot of people even forget about it, but if done right, it can be a great way to keep your team focused on growing your company. kim is the president an founder of i78 and dynamics, a dallas-based firm that handles leadership development and other training needs and here to tell us how to put together the perfect employee review. hi there, kim.

>> hi, j.j. how are you? >> good. it's greet see you. as an employee, the first time i had a proper employee review, which was the internship in between business school years, i couldn't believe it. it changes the dynamic of the company to know what was expected of me and to give feedback. you say communicate expectations. does that mean the expectations of the review itself or the expectations in the review of what's expected of you? >> i think both. the thing about showing or sharing the expectations of the actual review is takes away that fear factor that people of the actual review. telling what is discussed, what do you expect from them, giving them some things to come to the meeting so they're prepared will change the entire review process for you. >> and then you have to be prepared, too. i know when my employees talk to me, i have it all written out. i have, you know, this is what we talked about this year. this is what you have achieved

and work on for nextier. >> exactly. it has to be prepared. it shows that you're interested in them. it shows that they're important to you. being prepared for them, again, takes away the fear but also lets them know where they stand. the other thing about reviews is that when you're doing a review and a large review, hopefully you've been doing many reviews along the way so people know when they step into the big review they know what's coming. >> i know you're saying you could have addressed this, link their goals to your company's goals but the next spoint start with the positive, so you ease them in even if it's a problem employee? >> absolutely. tell them what they're doing right, and it makes people at ease. makes them feel good about what they're doing. other thing is when you get to the negative or the things that they're not doing well, be prepared with solutions of what you see as solutions and then ask them for feedback so that

they can then share with you what they think they can do to improve the things that are maybe a negative or thing that is they could improve on and then end with a positive. again, your goal is to make your employee the most effective overall and not just sitting in the room for an hour. >> just one very quick last question, should reviews be linked to raises or separate them out? >> reviews, if you want reviews to matter, you link them to some sort of bonus or -- as you say, a raise. some sort of bonus. it needs to be tied into something. the goals need to be tied into something. that is where you see movement, improvement. >> kim zoller, thank you so much. have them. people avoid having them. they're important. >> yes, yes. >> all right. >> they're so important. thank you. >> thanks so much, kim. small businesses have different tech needs than larger companies, but entrepreneurs can

learn. here's five of them courtesy of pcworld.com. standardize your equipment. try to buy all of your hardware, software and mobile devices from the same respective manufacturers. two, perform offsite data backup. online backup service providers like box.net have plans for small businesses. three, install perm firewalls on the systems and running at all times. find inpension ensive at avg.com. four, look into secure virtual private networks from sites such as openvpn.org for employees that work from home. an number five, have a test plan. before you implement any kind of tech upgrade, encourage tech savvy employees to give ate dry run and listen to their thoughts. to learn more about today's show, click on our website, it's

yourbusiness.msnbc.com. you'll find all of today's segments and web exclusive content with more information to help you grow your business. >> b. >> my own? >> did i get called on? >> yeah. >> why. you beat me. >> you called on and wished you hadn't because you're wrong. it is c. nicely done. we're interested in hear whag's going on with your small business so take part in the community discussions about today's topics. next week, when pirates rip off your intellectual property, most entrepreneurs call their lawyers to sue but not this guy. >> if we could put up a sign that says pirates come here, we're your friends, i would do that. yeah, because, you know, whereas everybody else in the industry is shunning them, we want them to come and work with us. next week, how to outsmart pirates an beat them at their own game. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg and

remember, we make your business our business. even during times like these, there is a light beginning to shine again. it comes from a restaurant downtown. a shop on main street. a factory around the corner. entrepreneurs like these are the most powerful force in the economy. the reinvention of business begins with them. and while we're sure we don't know all the answers, we do know one thing for certain: we want to help. come see what the beginning looks like at openforum.com