the presidential election season is under way. figure out what issues should interest you most as small business sounds off on decision 2012. and why many small businesses are pulling manufacturing out of china and bringing it back here to the u.s. we'll have that and more coming up next on "your business." >> announcer: small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's why we're proud to

present "your fwbusiness" on msnbc. hi there, everyone. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to a brand new year of "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. in this presidential election year, there is a lot of talk about issues like the outsourcing of jobs and overseas manufacturing. if you're in the business of making a product, you may have heard that it's cheaper to manufacture it in a place like china. but we wanted to know if that was really true. today we meet a business owner who says she couldn't afford to make her candles overseas anymore and so she opened a factory right here in the usa. >> i started to go to china in the late 1980s, and the buzzword

in the '80s and '90s was outsourcing. but i think now it's about right-sourcing, finding which countries are right for your supply chain. >> reporter: that's dale williams, chief operating officer of chesapeake bay candle company. >> you actually couldn't import candles from china cost-effectively any longer because there's a tremendous antidumping duty applied to chinese candles. >> antidumbing you know is a way when country feel the countries coming from another country is selling lower than the cost of what this country is producing. >> the result is that it almost doubles the cost of your product when you're bringing it in. >> smells good. how many are we making today? >> reporter: that's may she. she's a chinese-born american citizen, the owner of chesapeake bay candles and this brand new multimillion-dollar factory in glen bernie, maryland, which is

produce up to 2400 candles an hour. >> this new word is popg up called reshoring. that refers to the fact that offshoring in the past of jobs to china, jobs to india is coming back. >> reporter: the american antidumbing trade policy is a significant reason why she is reshoring her production to the usa but it's not the only reason. >> shipping costs has increased more than 30% every year due to fuel cost. >> and actually shipping those candles is quite expensive and as freight costs went up, we started looking at that mix. >> and we quickly realized that the economy of shipping oils back to china and then shipping them back to the u.s. with glass components, it's not really making a lot of financial sense. >> reporter: in addition to cutting shipping costs, moving production to the u.s. has

shortened production lead times and reduced large inventory costs. >> we have a lot of large national retailers that require very quick service cycles. >> reporter: inl stead of waiting 12 weeks for delivery on ordz, williams can now produce a new product or tweak what's in production and deliver it in just one or two weeks, tops. >> we can take a look at what's selling and what our customers want, what the u.s. consumer wants, and change fragrances, change styles, change colors, much more rapidly from the u.s. >> the number one factor is the labor cost increase in china. but these workers have graduated to the next level. the young generation do not want to work in low-paying jobs where the environment is not nice. they may not be living in five-star hotels but they want their grandchildren to do that. >> reporter: while opening a u.s. factory makes long-term sense for her country, it's a difficult under taking. >> i'm not saying that it's

impossible. it's kind of improbable if you are an entrepreneur without a very strong financial background and don't have customers lining up yet. >> you have to have an iron will and rhinoceros hide to get through the process of establishing a new manufacturing facility. >> reporter: looking at this place now, you'd never guess that 17 years ago mei started out pouring the wax herself and making the sales calls from her own home just a few miles from here. >> it took off right away. we were partnering with blooming dale's and nordstrom because of the strong fashion colors. >> reporter: it wasn't just fashionable colors and sophisticated fragrances that made her business a success, and in order to deliver she's traveled the world to find the best manufacturing sources available. >> we went to guatemala, we went to mexico, we went to manila, we went to thailand. and it was always something off.

>> reporter: to set things up properly, she's brought chinese engineers and chemists to instruct her american staff. and she says the learning curve has been steep. >> i think this is okay right now. >> but that's not okay. that sooting is excessive. >> reporter: for decades, the americans have been teaching the chinese to use our production techniques in order to take advantage of their offshore factories. today china may no longer be the default solution for everyone. could it be that china's over? >> i don't think china's over. china is an enormously capable country with just huge resources. but china is differently ♪ >> so are a lot of companies starting to reshore? and does that make sense? let's turn to this week's board of directors. hal seshgen is senior partner and managing director at the boston consulting group and an expert in competing globally. les mckuhn is the president and

ceo of predictable success and also author of "the sinner gist," how to lead your team to success. and marketing gru are you jeff haze let is head of a business consulting company and author of the new book "running the gauntlet," essential business lessons to lead, grow change and profits. good to see you. >> great to be here. >> hal, do you find a lot of companies reshoring? do you find you're giving that advice to a lot of companies you work with? >> well, it -- the world has changed pretty rapidly. wages have risen in china by 20% to 30% a year for a while and companies are beginning to realize the advantages of going to china particularly on products that don't have a large labor content are going down. so we're starting to see just the beginnings of a wave of companies who are beginning to reshore to the u.s. we don't think this will start in a major way until around 2015, but we're surprised by how many have begun now, company like furuk system that lake hair

dryers or sleek audio or coleman that makes coolers are now bringing their products back to the united states. >> and how -- >> that is a rapid change. >> why bring them to the u.s. instead of another low-wage country? >> well, there's several factors that are involved. first is the quality of the products that can be produced in the u.s. they are very high. and most importantly is the transportation costs that if you go to another country, you won't have the same kind of productivity as china gives you or the u.s. gives you and the transportation costs are quite high for a lot of these products. soing bringing them back to the u.s. makes it very economical. >> you know what else i was thinking. we talked about in the piece how now there's a two-week turnaround versus i forget what it is, six weeks. with fads coming and going so quickly, the internet, you're able to see something and like it, it seems like that's really important. >> absolutely. if it takes two or three weeks just to ship it across the ocean, you have to think about it. you might miss the window you

need to have. a lot of the bigger companies especially are looking to right sourcing the product in the region. if you're in the region, if you're in north america, you have the bltd to ship them around north america, or in europe. makes a lot more sense. >> we did a piece a couple of weeks ago on a factory that used to produce stuff overseas, now here. she was saying personally frankly it's a lot easier because she's not traveling back and forth anymore. >> sure. i think there's also an imperative to want to just help the local economy as well. i think people's minds are shifting at least to be open to the possibility. but somebody once said the plural of anecdote is not data. i'm not 100% convinced we're not just seeing one or two great stories like this. for the candle company, it's the right thing to do. just to give something a name like resourcing, that doesn't mean this is a trend. >> is this something people need to think about dog now then? a lot of small businesses don't

have their own factories but at least moving their manufacturing here to the u.s.? >> i believe they have to start dog this right now because it takes a while to build a factory. this is one place where small businesses have an advantage. because they are small, they move a lot quicker than the major businesses that have a lot of processes and things to get things done. putting up a relatively small plant, hiring a few workers is something a small business can do quickly. >> hal, thank you so much for your expertise. we appreciate you coming on the program. you guys, thank you but you stick around. are you wondering what 2012 has in store for your business? here are the top five small business trends for the new year courtesy of "usa today" small business columnist steve strauss. number five, internet video. video increases sales so consider adding instructional video, a tour of your store or video newsletters to your marketing plan. four, social media. social media is growing

exponentially and should be a key element of your business model going forward. three, the death of 9 to 5. the internet, laptops, smartphones and apps have made it possible to work anywhere anytime. two, are happy days back? consumer confidence continues to rise and unemployment claims continue to fall. if this trend continues, it will shape your business significantly in 2012, for the better. and number one, mobile mania. more than 20% of all searches are done on a mobile device. so consider geotargeting mobile marketings and make your web site mobile friendly. from now until the final vote is cast november 6th, you can pretty much plan on the candidates courting small business owners. >> banks on wall street played by different rules than businesses on main street. >> one is to make america once again the most attractive place

in the world for entrepreneurs and innovators and pioneers and businesses of all kinds. >> we will work diligently to make the cost of doing business here in america for people who make things, the job creators, the wealth yaitors, the great multiplier effect in economy and the engine of growth for small town america. >> the reason is really important. small businesses are the primary job creators of the country. >> but, look, let's be honest. so many of us get so caught up in the day-to-day of running our business that we don't take the time to really see how what goes on in washington achffects ulsz. but guess what? it does. and each candidate has their own views on what they think helps small business everyones get or stay on track. sometimes these ideas resonate and sometimes they don't. so as caucus and primary season begins, we've brought together a group of 25 small business owners from around the country to ask them what they think about the upcoming election and the issues they believe are

critical in 2012. in the months ahead, we'll send questions to this panel and ask them to give us a reality check on what they think is important. we'll also post these questions on our facebook page and our twitter feed to see what you think. so please be sure to chime in. in this first installment of "small biz sounds off" we have three entrepreneurs with us to talk politics. gene marks is the president of the marks group and a small business columnist for the "new york times" who's based in philadelphia. he voted for president obama in the last election. paul saginaw is the co-found irof the zingerman's community of businesses which is based in an arbor, michigan. he also cost his vote for obama four years ago. and steve schmidt is the owner of the enchanted springs ranch in tex. he supported john mccain is the last election. thank you all for coming and joining in in the first of this series which i'm so excited about. i want to start with you, gene, because i do think in talking to small business owners a lot is happening. we don't exactly know how it's

going to affect us. so when you look at the issues that t candidates are talking about or should be talking about, what are the two things that you think we as small business owners most need to pay attention to the views from the candidates. >> there's really two big important things that i see. by the way, when you say i voted for president obama, just to be clear, i'm a registered republican as well who voted for george bush twice and then voted for obama. so i've kind of been on both sides of the table there. two things i think are really important for businesses looking forward. number one is the tax environment, overall. taxes represent to most small businesses the largest percentage of money we're paying, our biggest cost. for many of us, it's 25%, 30%, niefrt% goes to the flal government. if the rates are too high and taxes are taken away, it's less money we can spend on people, capital, growing our business. it's a big issue. the second issue that i see, which is really the most

disappointing thing i've seen in the past four years is the overall business environment, all right, jj? so when i look at other business owners like myself, we have felt over the past four years putting aside regulatory issues, putting aside, oh, there's too much regulations or laws or things against small business, it's more just like a tone that comes out of washington. is it business friendly? is it not business friendly? and over the past four years as a business owner myself and from the many people i interview and speak to, i just get the sense that business owners are holding back from investing because they don't feel like it's a business-friendly environment to invest in. which is why business investment has been so low. >> gene, is there a candidate who particularly speaks to you on these issues? >> again, as a registered republican, of all the candidates i've seen right now on the republican side, i favor mitt romney. and my biggest reason why, jj, is i think he has business and management experience that would create a business friendly, tax friendly environment for me to

take a few risks and to expand my business and maybe put a few bucks away for college. >> paul, i want to ask you what you thought about the past four years and what you'd like to see changed in the next four years, if you could speak to the candidates. >> well, it for me, the question is not so much who is friendly to small business but who is looking out for the middle class? because the middle class is the entrepreneurial class, and so i would like to see the candidate for me is the one who is going to least aggressively continue to shift the tax burden on to the middle class. >> and, steve, let's move to you. is there any candidate so far, at least on the republican side, obviously speaking to you as somebody who will help small business, from your perspective. >> well, there's a lot of taxes that are -- that my business struggles with. there's a lot of regulations and

licensing, and there's new bring things coming up all the time. and we spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to handle that. we are a small business, and we're struggling to stay alive. and i don't know that washington is hearing our pleas for help now. and i'm looking for someone who's willing to help us now, to balance the budget and be pro-business. i don't personally believe governments can exist anywhere without business, and people can't have jobs without business. and so that's what i'm looking for. >> is there something, paul, specific to business -- you talked about the middle class -- anything that anyone has said or could say to you about business in particular, you know, a tax cut for business, et cetera, that could get you interested? or do you just think the problems that business have are just a problem that the economy or our structure has? >> well, i'll tell you what i'm very excited about is there's a bill that's just been passed in

the house, it's in the senate now, it's the entrepreneur access to capital act. and i'm very excited about that. surprisingly, that was an emerging coalition between some leaders of the tea party in the obama administration, and i t l think that's a very good move. essentially it's a crowd funding act and it's going to allow entrepreneurs to go out to many, many people who are not accredited investors and ask them for money. and i think that this is going to spur a lot of business and will help drive the economy. >> gene, i just want to end this with you. what key words should we be looking for as we watch for the next ten months? what do we need to pay attention to? >> it's funny. as a small business owner, somebody who writes about small business, i don't buy into the whole rhetoric that it's small business as the back bone of the

economy. i look at my company, and we do a lot of work with a lot of big companies as well. it's not just small business, jj. it's big business, you know. it's business in general. sot key words i'm looking for in the fall is i'm looking for business friendly. i'm looking for people who are going to stop calling wall street bankers and financial people fat cats because they're taking too much money and they're the ones who are all the problem in the company. in fact, they're financing the company and loaning a lot of companies like businesses like mine that want to grow. >> steve, paul, gene, we'll be contacting you many times throughout the next year with questions, saying one of the candidates said this, does it resonate with you or not, give you a reality check. thank you. still to come, we answer some of your business questions that we received over the holidays, including one about incentivizing your employees. and things are looking up for this elevator pitcher who created shoes with heels that go from high to low.

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without ever changing your shoes. today's elevator pitcher hopes to pump up our panel about her new product. >> hi, i'm candace cade, the founder of day to night convertible heels which are patent pending. so there's over 50 million women in america that wear high heel shoes every day that absolutely kill their feet while they're walking into work in the morning, going out at night. they usually have to carry extra shoes with them in their bag everywhere they go, which is a pain. the day to night convertible heels, you simply press a button and the heel comes off. there's five different heel heights. you can pick and choose. they're fashionable and comfort ab ablgable. women absolutely love our shoes so we've already proven the market by preselling over 500 pairs on our web site convertibleheels.com and now we're ready to ramp up production and just need some investment money. day to night convertible heels is looking for $250,000 for a 25% equity, which will provide a

10x return within five years. the money will go toward sales, marketing and inventory and we have fantastic margins on our product, a 75% blended gross margin, not only on our shoes but also our replacement heels. >> candace, nice job. i think this is it so interesting because this happens a lot. when you are pitching a female products to males because so many investors are males, and so you might not get the product, but do you think the business is good enough to take it? how do you think she did on the pitch? >> i think you did a great job. you got my attention, which i think is important. the key thing is, i'm going to do my own research. the first person i'm going ask is my wife and daughter who do buy all the shoes. of course i do buy aloft them, but -- >> at least your credit card does. >> exactly right. but i want to know some other things. will they really wear it? i want to see or see pictures or hear things from other people that this is really something they want to get. because i know it doesn't have

to be comfortable, doesn't even have to be functional. just has to be good-looking. >> exactly. i'm just going to let les chime in. how was the pitch? >> i think the pitch is great. i get it. i get the product immediately. my concern is i think it suffers from the omg illusion, which is that everybody you're going to show this to is going to say, oh, my god, this isn't mean this is it a good business. this is a good product. i'm not 100% convinced it's a good fwiz. what i'd like to see you do is think about licensing this, making sure you tie up the intellectual property, and surf the infomercials for two or three nights and maybe find one or two other people who have got an infrastructure already behind them who want more product to put in their existing marketing, rather than going into very, very expensive marketing for just one product. >> right. we're talking with three of the top producers for women's high heel shoes very interested in partnering or doing a licensing. >> that's the stuff you want in the pitch. i want to hear about distribution and scale. if i'm going to give you $250,000, which i might do, i

want to see the 10% or ten times earnings on that, i want it even faster. but i want to know that by, you've got the key contacts or you've met them or they're somewhat interested in the product. >> all right. well, congratulations with the mrukt and selling so many already. good luck with everything as i teeter on my high heels, right? >> thank you. >> thank you and thank you guys for all your advice here. and if any of you have a product or service and you want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chances of getting interested investors, send us an e-mail. the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. please 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. and you never know. somebody out there watching the show may be interested in helping you. it's time to answer some of your business answers now. les and jeff are with us once again. the first one is an e-mail from joseph. he asks -- when hiring and providing incentives for employees, how

can we achieve brand buy-in of our team members in our own company? the competitive nature of our industry in the current economy prevents above-average salaries and profit sharing. that can lead to short-term decisions not conducive to long-term client retention. got that? >> the first thing i would advise joseph to do if he wants to get employee engagement is to speak plain english. you've got to be somebody pex want to work with. this sounds like straight out of some mba textbook. first, talk english. the second thing is it, it's not at all difficult to overpay people as long as you find a metric that gives you a return on investment. so when i had the pizza hut restaurant, we had 700% turnover of busboys. we found two metrics that allowed us to pay them more. if he could clean and turn the tables faster, that would bring us more money. if they could upsale people to desserts, we could pay them more. we were able to pay them 150% of what the market rate was which kept them longer and we got twice as much from them in terms

of check value. find a metric that justifies paying them more. >> in the interview process, be honest about your company so people know what they're getting into. >> transparent. be communicate. tell them what's on the line for you and them. show them, if they do this and you get to this level, you can provide those kind of benefits and incentives if it's important. a lot of times employees aren't really motivated by the money. they're motivated by feeling really good about what they're doing and providing a great income for their family. so it really is about being more transparent to your employees. >> okay. moving on to the next one. it is a question from larry who wrote -- i have a sales script/pitch writing business with clients all over the world. is there a way i can find an agent like performance have who can book sales script writing work and then take care of the business end of things so i can do what i like best -- writing scripts. how does he find someone like this? >> the interwebs are a good place to start. i've never heard of someone with

that skill set, but my thought is that a really good intern or entry level employee should be able to do this work pretty readily. i mean, the information is all transparently available. it's not like the old days of publishing when you need an agent to unlock the secret doors. i would get a really bright intern and let them work for twor or three months on it. >> in the end, you're responsible for the success of your company. i'm a little worried when i hear someone say, i just want to do this piece, not the other stuff. trust me, no matter who or where you are, you always have to sell your business, especially if you're the owner. a great way to look is through social media. as you said, get out there and link with others. use linkedin, facebook, twitter. pretty soon you'll build up a great network of people. it's really about networking. >> yeah, i think if you can be pretty specific about what you're looking for and send it out to all of your friends, contacts, et cetera, you'll find something. this is something you won't find smunl in the industry because the industry doesn't really

exist in that way, but you may find someone with those skills. >> and it will take time. so be ready for that. >> thanks so much for the advice. very, very helpful. and if any of you have a question for our experts, go to our web site openforum.com/yourbusiness. there just hit the "ask the show" link to submit a question for our panel. again, the web site is openforum.com/yourbusiness or you can e-mail us your questions and kmenlts, yourbusiness@msnbc.com. do you wish working from anywhere anytime was a little bit easier? check out our web site of the week. webex.com is an online meeting platform that combines desktop sharing with video. everyone sees the same thing while you talk. the evs is available on your mobile device so you can take your web meetings on the road. web meeting doesn't require a membership but to host a

prescription is required. next week, he's gotten people to lun through fire, scale walls covered in oil, and jump into ice cold water. >> i said, let's see if we can take elements of special forces traichb, mix all of that up into a run, make it about teamwork and camaraderie and chal evening people. >> how a harvard mba took his idea of ail miles-long obstacle course into a multimillion-dollar business. until then, i'm jj ramberg. and, remember, we make "your business, our business. sam: i'm sam chernin. owner of sammy's fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family. and, i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card. so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families.