small business and washington. as election day draws near, both sides of the aisle claim that they know what's best for small business owners. and what do the owners of this gelato do when the bank refused their request for financi financing? a story worth watching next in "your business."

small businesses are revitalizing the economy. hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg, and welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. the issues affecting small businesses are took center stage at both the republican and democratic conventions. the gop voiced their support for small business owners with their chants of "we built it," and advocating tax cuts and cutting restrictive government regulations. sba head carol mills spoke to democrats about inroads in funding, while other speakers addressed the made it to fuel america's entrepreneurial spirit. it is more than just lip service for some members of congress who

support small business and who often differ on policies to aid main street. joining us now is senator ben cardin, a democrat from maryland and member of the small business committee. senator, great to see you. >> j.j., a pleasure to be with you. thank you. >> so from your perspective, how are small business owner doing? >> well, small business owners, small business is the economic engine of our nation. that's where job growth will see the most, we'll see innovation. it's been a tough time for all. but i think that the tools that we put in place, the help that we provide through the small business administration, the credit opportunity that's are available to small businesses, the tax cuts that have been implemented to help small businesses, the regulatory reforms that we've passed, i think it's having its impact. we're now seeing be somes doing better. you see the economy doing better, we're creating more jobs. i think we're moving in the right direction to help small businesses in america. >> what do you think are maybe the two key things that you guys are focused on right now to try and help small businesses?

>> first of all, we're -- the tax code, we've provided some tax relief for small businesses. we're looking at additional ways to help small businesses who are putting on more employees to give them breaks on their taxes, incentives to move forward and hire more people. we are looking at ways that we can ease up the regulatory framework, particularly within the banks so that they're more readily available to give loans to small businesses. we're looking at additional tools for government procurement. we believe government procurement is a way in which we can get more small businesses economic opportunities. not just as subcontractors but as prime contractors. so i've introduced legislation, our committee has worked on legislation to make it easier for federal agencies to give contracts to small businesses. >> senator, one of the complaints that i hear from a lot of small business owners that i talk to is that small business is a very broad term. particularly as defined by the government. so it goes from the sole

prieptor to someone with 499 employees. so it's hard to pass policy that fits everybody. and a lot of the things that we hear coming out of washington is actually more helpful to the bigger small businesses. >> well, you are correct. i mean, there's -- small business community's a diversified community. and my own state of maryland, we have a lot of small, bioscience tech companies that store off of employees, some have grown to giant. where they are on the transition depends upon the help they need. the help they got initially to get started was critically important. they appreciate the fact that -- that we provided the basic research at the institutes of health that gave them the basic tools to get started otherwise they couldn't have gotten started. >> when we talk about tax breaks, do you feel like they their are any tax breaks that are particularly very helpful to a small business, ten people or under? >> well, absolutely. the president obama's proposal

that would provide teammate to small businesses that are ad -- tax relief to small businesses that are adding employees to their payroll, it's additional to add employees. the president's proposal helps in that direction. the spir bill that we reauthorized under president obama's leadership will help small companies in the -- the tech fields. yes, i think this are -- and particularly helping them with the regulatory issues. you know, we removed that 1099 reporting requirement. the smaller companies particularly said that would have been overly burdensome on the health reform bills for under ten. there's no additional burdens under the affordable care act. yet they can take advantage of credits if they do provide benefit for their employee. we are mindful of the small companies. >> so senator, i want to ask you -- we're asking a lot of people on the show and in the country over the next couple of months, do you feel small businesses are pert off now than they were four years ago?

>> i think small businesses are absolutely moving in the right direction. four years ago, it was extremely uncertain as to whether they could survive. now they know they have a bright future ahead of them. i think the tools have been put in place, have helped them in order to make decisions to invest, grow, and continue in business. i think we have the animals place that are helping be somes today that we didn't have four years ago. >> thank you very much, senator cardin, for coming on the program and for caring about small businesses, and we look forward to speaking to you again. >> thank you, j.j. joining me now is congressman daniel webster, a republican from florida. his family runs webster air conditioning and heating in orlando, a business started by his father in 1961. great to see you, congressman. >> great to see you, j.j. >> and congratulations on your -- your company lasting three generations so far. >> yes. 51 years, a long time. >> that's exciting. so -- so you have an interesting perspective. you're a part of congress, and you also have a family-run

business. as a business person with that hat on now, what do you think needs to be done to help be ssm businesses? >> the looming tax increases proposed by the obama administration are something that affects all small businesses including ours. and not only that, the health care law, even though we do not have 50 employees, our costs have gone up since it passed, 14% every year with less -- actually less opportunities for -- bigger out-of-pocket costs for employees. it's a tough time. >> how much were your costs going up before the legislation passed? >> actually, they were even. we were able to bargain and usually get a pretty good plan. sometimes less or about the same. >> talk to me a little about -- you said that the -- not extending the tax cuts would affect your business. tell me how much it would affect it. really, you'll be paying higher taxes on -- incremental earnings, above $250,000. >> let me give you a public of

how it works. my dad started our business in 1961, 51 year ago, and he invested everything he had. and he also did not take a salary. my mom worked as a nurse on nights and weekends at a local hospital. i was the cook. i was 12 years old. my dad, not taking a salary, also took all the money he made and paid taxes like what happens now, he paid taxes on it. however, he invested that in the business. it became the operating capital, and it's still there today. it's a loan. he paid taxes, but it's money that, yes, "he made," reported on his tax return, paid taxes on it, but never saw it. that's the problem, and that's why over 500,000 to maybe 700,000 jobs would be affected. >> tell me if you could ask for three thing, we talked about health care, we talked about taxes, three things that could help small businesses besides those, what would they be? >> here's what i would say --

number one, i sponsored an act that rewards small businesses if they were to hire one new employee. called the one, o-n-e, new employee. if they were to do that, our unemployment, if every small business hired one -- one new employee, our unemployment rate would go below 5%. so i believe there has to be some incentive, and that's what i would like to do is give a tax incentive to those that hire new people. it gets them on the tax rolls, gets a new person, gets them off the unemployment rolls. i think it's a great idea. to me, that would be number one. that's what we ought to be doing. >> and do you have any other ones? >> well, i think, two, there are regulations. and they're pushing -- you know, just extra beyond what the legislation actually allows. and so the -- the current law is pressed to the limit by many of the regulators in the federal government. and i think businesses, if you look at it, what they want is three cs. one of them is just the -- is just the fact that they would

have certainty. >> i want to ask you one last question which is do you think that be somes are better today -- that small businesses are better today than four years ago? >> i can speak by most -- my most experience, my own. i would say we're not as good as we were four years ago. and there are lots of reasons because of that. the unemployment level has not gone down. there are also -- there is little capital because government is borrowing so much money. there's little capital for expansion, and so forth. so there are all kinds of reasons why, and the consumer confidence is low. therefore, they don't buy things. that's -- >> your revenue has dropped today from four years ago? >> they have. by probably about $125,000. >> got it. okay. thank you very much, congressman, for joining us. we really appreciate your perspective. >> great to be on. it's one of the most frustrating experiences for any entrepreneur. you go to a lender to ask for cash, you fill out the forms, and you do whatever else the lender asks.

and then your request is denied. it is a situation that is all too common. but you can't give up. as two entrepreneurs in maine discovered, per several eastern can pay off. >> it was flat-out no. we told them, move forward based on what you told us, now we're screwed. i think at that point we knew where we stood with them. >> joshua davis knows the frustration of being a business owner who's looking for funding. >> around $200,000. >> last year, the co-owner of the gelato fiasco in brunswick, maine, needed a cash infusion so he and his partner could open a second location. >> we decided that the people believe in us and we believe in us. let's keep going, keep expanding. >> probably the number-one question since we opened in brunswick was, when are we going to open in portland. why hadn't we opened there, and how quick can you get down

there. >> neither one ever thought that the search for funding for their 5-year-old retail and wholesale business would turn into a fiasco of its own. it took about eight months to find a spot to expand. when the time came to ask for money, the two intentionally approached a bank with which they had a previous relationship. >> we had existing loans with them that we paid on time. we have a strong record of sales and cash flow. all the things that banks theoretically use to evaluate you. >> bank officials visited the new location. after reviewing the company's plans, the message appeared to be optimistic. >> they said, you know, i think we have a deal here. i think -- we should be able to get this done for you. go ahead, sign the lease. and we'll worry about the paperwork and get the loan started. we should have the money for you in a couple of weeks. >> hearing that, davis and respect toeano put pen to paper. they were ready to bring flavors like strawberry balsamic and espresso chip to new customers. >> we signed the ten-year lease,

put our security deposit down, first month's rent down. >> with renovations underway, things seemed to be going well. that is until the bank stook a step back. -- took a step back. within weeks, the request was denied. >> it was hard to get an exact reason why. and then at the end, they said, we don't do that type of loan anymore. >> unlike the gelato in their cases, the news was tough for davisto-- for davis and respect toeano. >> you walked down main street and told me i was not even second place in the beauty contest is sad. >> despite the no from the bank, these business owners didn't stop looking. they were determined to find someone to say yes. the truth is, they didn't have much of a choice. >> we started making the list again of banks and started calls. by then, contractors had started working there. and they were expecting to get paid toward the middle or end of

the job. and we didn't know how that would come together. >> it turns out that pitching the idea to other potential lenders wasn't easy either. unfortunately, the odds didn't seem to be in the company's favor. >> still a gelato business in maine is a far-fetched idea to bankers apparently. so there was a lot of hesitation to even crash anything. >> the other challenge was that the gelato fiasco needed money fast. something that banks don't do. >> by the time that we tried to apply to those other places, the fix was in, the game was rigged against us at that point. i wasn't too surprised that they said no just because if you walk into a bank today and expect them to give you an answer next week, it's not quick respond. >> the pair says that tensions were never that high, but they got quite the entrepreneurial reality check. >> it was five or six nos in eight weeks or so during the time where the build-out was going on at the same time. every day that passed was we were a step closer to opening,

but we were also a step closer to really needing the financing. >> with a deadline looming, these entrepreneurs finally turned to a community group for help. >> they're a lender of last resort. you have to exhaust all your options before you can tap into any of the financing they offer. >> coastal entertain prideses, inc., had unexpectedly gotten money from the jobs for usa fund started by starbucks. cei knew of the gelato fiasco and was willing to help. unlike the bank, the two got an answer quickly. >> about two weeks or so after we made the call, we had an approval and had that send of relief that, okay, we know at least how we're going to proceed. >> one the funding came through, the result was a renovated storefront. at least 30 flavors available daily and more. >> now this seven employees that we've added in portland that have full-time jobs with health benefits and vacation. >> this quest for funding was a challenging one. but the men have learned some

valuable lessons. they simply refused to back down. and that's got them ready for the next potential fight -- >> cash is king. you always got to make sure you have cash. and i see that as my job is making sure. >> the moral of the story needs to be that you can't give up but then you also have to believe in what you're doing. i mean, you need to have the self-confidence to keep going. you can't just let one setback, you know, end your idea. there's no doubt the recession raised the bar in terms of small business owners getting loans. what advice does our panel have for people looking for funding? marketing expert jeffrey hazlett is head of the hazelett group and author of "running the gauntlet." and david aaronoff is general partner with flybridge capital partners. great to see you guys. >> thank you.

>> the moral of the story is don't give up. i felt like maybe the moral of the story is don't count your chicken before they hatch. >> yeah. >> i was watching that and felt so stressed for them as they had contractors and no money. >> how can you sign a piece of paper for a ten-year lease and not have money in the bank? that scared me. i think the moral i had at least was you don't put all your eggs in one basket either. they should have gone to a bank a lot earlier, had that relationship, and actually be working all along. they said they paid off loans early, paid them. but you still need to develop that relationship with that bank. i didn't see them do that -- >> i don't know. it sounded like they had it. they'd been working with them. a good relationship. the bank says it looks good. >> one of the other aspects is they weren't single threaded. in this environment, particularly with bank coming and going and the fortunes changing, the idea of just going single on one potential source of capital is -- is really kind of silly. i know it's hard in brunswick, maine -- >> do you suggest, then, you

look for the whole amount from different people or parts of the amount from different people? >> i think you could have chosen different sources. first of all, to go with one bank, to go with one lender of any kind or source of capital doesn't make sense. you want to get competition going. first you'll get better rates or -- better terms. the other aspect is if something falls off, you'll have another choice. >> even in my own small business today, i have more than one bank. i do most of my business with one bank and have that relationship. when i don't need the money is when i go get the money. >> right. >> so i go and open up lines of credit well ahead of time, before i anticipate it. >> pay on time. >> pay them on time. i do this with my partner. every week, pay them down. pay them down. send them something every week so they know we're trying to do it. >> do you have any other ideas of places people can go? they were lucky, they found this community organization, had money to give them. >> i would have gone to friends and family. or customers. i would imagine they have raving fans. sounds like they do. the fans were the ones saying move to portland.

maybe they should have tapped into that, picked up $50,000 or $100,000 or a portion of that. >> it other thing, if you look at the guys' web site, they've done a fantastic job with social media and reaching out to the community. there are community funding sites before the jobs act kick-started which has been around for a few years, a fantastic way to think about funding smaller amounts of money. i have to believe that the state of maine probably has programs to encourage the creation of jobs andship. going after that could be -- and entrepreneurship. going after that could have been another source. >> and the lending club, all kinds of thing. you have to be persistent. i guess the moral of their story, don't give up. >> never give up. >> never give up when it comes to money. >> all right. david and jeffrey, this was a great conversation. thanks, you guys. when we come back, how to start up a business with just $100. we'll answer your questions on the right marketing approach for your company. and our elevator picture shows us her design line with a global flare. -- global flair. on every one of our cards there's a date.

a reminder... that before this date, we have to exceed expectations. we have to find new ways to help make life easier, more convenient and more rewarding. it's the reason why we don't have costumers. we have members. american express. welcome in. fashion week in new york had fashionistas from around the world sizing up the runways and catwalks for new designs. today's "elevator pitcher" has her own beautiful line of apparel that speaks to the international lineage of its

creator. ♪ >> hi. my name is sharon. my line is called sharon gill nyc. i create goddess clothing for women that functions in the real world and makes them shine and feel like a star. growing up in mumbai, india, i saw my mom wearing these beautiful, colorful saris which made me decide to become a designer. after working eight years in the field, i decided the only way in 2004 to bring my unique idea to the world was to create my own line. i wanted to use my indian roots as a source of inspiration, as i was contemplating this idea. i walked past the stores in soho. they were showcasing tunic tops which helped me form late my idea. now we're in over 40 stores nationwide. had over 150,000 in sales. we've sold at scoop, at calypso in the caribbean islands, as well as in palm beach. we've had over 150,000 in sale. we're seeking $250,000 in investment for a 10% return

which will be used for p.r. marketing, trade shows, as well as toward the product, geared toward helping women reconnect to their goddess essence that they are. you can view the line at sharon gill nyc. >> i'll give you a hint. you probably don't know this -- skpoop and calypso, very trendy. if you're in there, it's a big deal. >> i know that from my wife. >> good. you know. let's start with you. how do you think she did? >> very impressive. you had it down. very, very good. i think the line of clothing looks wonderful. i've been to the web site, taken a look. i like the fact that you're going to use the money for marketing and for p.r. i might throw in a little bit -- i think you should think about more social media. get other people's money, opm, other people's money working for you. >> dave? >> i think you did a fantastic job, as well. i know my wife is going to be watching and want me to bring home the tunic. in addition to what jeffrey said in terms of marketing, what i would have loved to hear more about is distribution. how you get beyond 40 stores and what the plans are to take it out. whether it's going to be something that you wanted to stay in boutiques, whether you

want to spread it out to mass production. >> would you take another meeting? >> absolutely. >> jeffrey? >> i'd take another meeting but want to know more about how you'll use the money. >> great. shirn, good luck. carmen, you were a great model. >> thank you. >> and thank you guys for everything. and if any of you out there is a product or service and you want feedback fromur "elevator pitch" panel on your chances of getting interested investors, send us an e-mail. time answer some of your business questions. jeffrey and david are with us again. the first one is a question about the best way to market your business. >> how do i do the right type of marketing to build my business and take it to the next level? and the right marketing that gets me the right type of clients i'm looking for? >> very broad question. i guess let's narrow it down to how do you think about choosing what kind of marketing? >> i like sam kin son, the old comedian. used to have a routine about starving people in the desert. move to where the food s. if you

want to reach a certain audience, find out where they're at and be part of it. network like crazy. there's great ways, linkedin, facebook, twitter. there's lots of places to be able to get that opm, other people's money. >> the other thing about social media, you can throw it out there. if it doesn't work, nothing gained, nothing lost. >> that's part of it. for a guy in the architectural business, you know, twitter may not be the right place to go. i think understanding the context, where customers as partners are, and if to them. twitter, facebook, linkedin may be great sources. it may not be the only thing. he's got to think about the context before he lays out the cash. >> old school in this case. he needs to be hanging around engineers, homebuilders, and other folks that are in the construction industries. there's lots of chapters. the associated general contractors, the architects, engineers, land servers, they have local chapters. he should start playing there. >> networking to what you said before. >> always. >> let's move to the next question. this is one about networking. >> when you enter a room at an event, how do you present

yourself? what brand do you present? how do you present your company and describe what you do for a living? >> sort of your mini "elevator pitch." i'd be concerned with how do you get yourself to be likeable so you're not just pitching once you meet someone which nobody wants. >> think about what the brand is. nothing but something you put on a cow. that's where the word came from. but it's more than that. a promise delivered. what's your promise? really have that elevator pitch down so you can speak to it. also how do you look, the way in which you represent yourself, carry your body, even the confidence that you have in your own statement says a lot about your brand. >> the old saying is you only get one chance to make a first impression. trying to do that when you're knowingly going in trying to pitch people and maintain authenticity is a very, very hard balance to strike. i think practice and rehearsal is part of it. you don't want to overrehearse because it could be seen as just being a plain marking spin. i think that finding comforts and understanding, what you know and how to pitch it in a way that seems authentic is the key.

>> david, jeffrey, appreciate the advice. if any of you have a question for our experts, all you have to do is go to our web site. the address is openforum.com/yourbusiness. once you get there, hit the "ask the show" link to submit a question. again, the web site is openforum.com/yourbusiness. or if you'd rather, send us an e-mail with your questions and your comments. the address is yourbusiness@msnbc.com. when it comes to starting a business, you might think that it takes tons of money. but according to blogger and entrepreneur chris gilibow, you can go from idea to startup in less than a month, and it could cost as little as $100. he's author of the new book, "the 100 startup: reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future." >> the entrepreneurs that we profiled in "$100 startup," we talked with more than 1,500 people from all over the world. most did follow a passion but

found a way to connect the passion something that's valuable. with something that's marketable and desired in the marketplace. so focusing relentlessly on the question of convergence, you know, between your passion and what other people are also passionate about, that's really the key. i love to travel, for example. but no one wants to pay me to travel the world. once i learned to teach people about travel, helped other people travel, you know, that's how i was able to create a business. so the same is true with cupcakes or anything. so anything you can do to kind of reinforce the purchase. anything you can do to emotionally validate the customer, if you can send -- you know, handwritten thank you card. make a phone call. you know, if you can offer a discount on an additional service, whatever you can do to overdeliver, it creates a lot of reassurance. it's a great business strategy. an offer has a lot of characteristics. it includes the price point, it includes the primary benefit, maybe the secondary benefit. invitation. i think the most important characteristic of a really good offer is urgency. you know, the most important characteristic is why should people take action now.

like i can look at this and it's great, but why should i do it now. if you can provide something that's limited time or people who buy now get an additional bonus or the benefits going to decrease over time so you want to buy now, the more you can answer the question of urgency the better the offer will be. most frequent question i get over and over is i have all these different ideas, i don't know which one to pick. so i used to have this long convoluted answer. i say pick one. don't spend a year writing a business plan that no one's going to read. don't spend all your life in analysis. pick one of these ideas, gets it to market in 30 days, put up the web site, however basic it is. put a paypal button on it. see what happens. >> to learn more about today's show, click on our web site. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find all of today's segment plus web exclusive content with more information to help your business grow. you can also follow us on twitter. it's @msnbcyourbiz. don't forget to become a fan on

facebook. we love getting your feedback. next week, education nation on msnbc. your business heads back to school. we'll find out how a new generation of entrepreneurs is being prepped with advice and even funding. >> as a student, you know, at 19, 20, you have great ideas. you're creative and energetic. but there may not be that platform to really hone your craft and sharpen the tools you need. that's where the idea played into our business. >> we'll introduce you to a student-run venture accelerator at boston's northeastern university that's got the right idea. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg. remember, we make your business our business. we make a simple thing. a thing that helps you buy other things. but plenty of companies do that.