i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. there's been one process in running my company that i find not very fun at all. and that is looking for office space. once you get a great space, of course it's fantastic, but the road there can be, to say the least, a bit of a headache. today we will try and make it easier for you by preparing you with the questions to ask and the issues you need to think about before signing on the dotted line. here's a primer on the best practices for renting an office, whether it's your first lease or your tenth. >> it's a rainy day in new york city. not the best weather to go out looking at office space, but as entrepreneurs, we're used to dealing with much worse than a little rain. i've gone through the process of renting an office, a few times, and believe me, i know it can be daunting. hi, there. >> jj, how are you doing? >>> we asked jonathan wasserstroh, the ceo and founder of tech start up the square foot to give us an overview on how

i am jj ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. a few years ago we went to maryland to profile a company that did something unusual, they completely opened up all of their books to their employees and shared almost every piece of financial information, and when times got tough they found out this policy created loyal employees and amazing results. now the founders are taking another step to get their employees involved, they are turning everybody into an owner. the year was 2009. the recession was shutting down the economy. and everyone at this maryland-based designed build company took substantial pay cuts. >> we took 20% from the employees and 30% from management and anthony and i participated at 50%. >> they were desperate. >> back then, we didn't know how long the recession was going to be but it was a strategy to buy us time. >> my thought was holy crap. i had been here eight months. all of a sudden we are getting pay cuts, who was a shock to e

until then, i'm jj ramberg.mber, we make your business our business. >>> brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com. for ideas to help you grow your business. ders were rushing in. ders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com signed by president obama it is a stark freaking thing. did you see this today? look. quote. executive order , facilitation of a presidential transition. quote. by the authority vested in me as president by the constitution and the laws of the united states of america, it is hereby ordered as follows. section 1, policy. the peaceful transition of power has

until then i'm jj ramberg. remember, we make your business our business.our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com >> this has been a busy friday. there are a couple of serious stories still unfolding tonight as we speak that we're going to keep an eye on we'll be talking about over the course of this hour. one of them is this shooting that happened this afternoon in downtown washington, d.c. very, very near to the white house. apparently what happens is a man with a gun approached secret service officers right outside the white house at one of the perimeter check points that's manned by armed secret service agents. the man report

ramberg host of msnbc's your business was on capitol hill yesterday. she testified before the house small business committee about the state of small businesses in the u.s. and her own experience as an entrepreneur. >> there is no doubt as we all at this table know that owning a small business and entrepreneurship is no cake walk. it can be hard. there are many people who struggle and even for those who are very successful, there are a lot of pain points along the way. >> make sure to catch new episodes of "your business" at 7:30 eastern on msnbc. >>> 15 after the hour. matt scherzer struck out 20 batters against his ex-team, the detroit tigers. the 20 strikeouts tie an mlb record held by three other pitchers. he threw an astonishing 126 strikes on 119 pitches and the least amount of pitches and balls in a 20 strikeout game. after the game, which his nats won by the way, 3-2, scherzer said quote, strikeouts are sexy. and to punch out 20 is sexy. >>> all right. one way to put it and now to the nba. steph curry was awarded his trophy by adam silver. the

i am jj ramberg. welcome to your business, the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. may is mental health awareness month and we have information about a business using technology. the couch and the appointment book are things of the pwas, and unlimited texting which most of us do regularly with our friends is the new way for you to communicate with your therapist and while the company is only a few years old, their number one priority is advancing the conversation about mental health care, even if they're innovative approach is controversial. just a few years ago, orrin and ronnie frank's marriage was on the brink of collapse. the crisis was a turning point, in a last ditch effort to save the marriage, they tried couples therapy. >> it was a great thing for us, and it taught us how to communicate with each other. >> therapy saved their marriage. >> therapy has some issues. stigma, shame, and therapy is costly which is a nice word for outrageously expensive. >> their idea was to use technology, replacing the office visit for unlimited texting. >> i am take my phone an

i am jj ramberg. welcome to "your business."he show dedicated to helping your small business grow. here's the problem with running a small business. nobody pays your paycheck except for you and that means if there is no money left over after you have paid your other expenses you personally get nothing. now that can be a sign that your business is in trouble or just that you need to look at your company differently, and that's why this week we are kicking off the new year with a special your business makeover, which we did for a retail boutique in houston, and the owner sent out a frantic call for help. ♪ >> this must be it. >> i guess so. >> dirt road divas. >> love it. >> don is about to shake things up here. >> jodi! this is my friend, dawn. >> jodi is the owner of this cowgirl store. things might be good at the store from the outside, and shoppers are shopping and bills are getting paid but the end of the month, guess what jodi has left to pay herself? nothing. that's just plain bad business. don and his partner are going to

i am jj ramberg. welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to helping your small business grow and sometimes when you think something was a sure thing fails to take off and leaving you in debt with tough de zcisions to make. listening to what customers really wanted, the chance to make their own looks now has this small business flying high. ♪ growing up, scott chastain's line was about sports and superheroes. >> i loved superheroes as a kid, comic books, and going to the university was around collegiate sports, and the passion that comes with the fans of sec football. >> when the real estate market crashed he decided to take the plunge head first into a passion project making superhero capes for fans so he set up shop in thomasville, georgia, and launched the business and taking a leap of faith, scott ordered his first batch of capes from a manufacturer, and it was a crash course on intrapreneentrepreneu scott was not quite ready for. >> i remember seeing the boxes and being a little shocked, like, man, that's a lot of pro

i'm jj ramberg, and welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. may is mental health awareness month, and this week we have a story about a business that's using technology to shake up the traditional approach to psychotherapy. at talk space, the couch and the appointment book are things of the past. unlimited texting, which most of us already do pretty much regularly with our friends, is the new way for you to communicate with your therapist, and while the company's only a few years old, their number-one priority is advancing the conversation about mental health care even if their innovative approach is controversial. just a few years ago, orrin and ronnie frank's marriage was on the brink of collapse. >> our marriage was falling apart, and we decided to give it a last chance. >> the crisis was a turning point. in a last-ditch effort to save the marriage, they tried couples therapy. >> and for us it was a wonderful experience because it basically taught us how to communicate with each other, and we could see the value, and i could in my head ext