Small Business Show

Should you be worried about only using a .COM domain name for your Small Business? How do you deal with coming up with a domain name if your Small Business name is not available as a .COM web address? Join us for episode 137 of the Small Business Show to find out what longtime, serial Small Business owners Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean think about this and much more. We then jump into a riveting discussion about old-school merchant credit card processing vs. newer solutions from Stripe, Square and Paypal. Dave shares his story of having to dig deep into actual paper reports to find out just how much his business has been getting charged and what roadblocks are being put in his way to keep his customers ongoing, subscription based payments intact when he changes processors. In the end, we agree with Paypal COO Bill Ready when he says “Talking about payment processing just for the sake of payment processing is just not that interesting.” The discussion needs to be about how transparent, contextual

Do you take the time out to attend Small Business conferences and trade shows? Would you like to make some powerful connections, meet some great people and renew your energy? Listen in to episode 136 of the Small Business Show to find out how you can have all this and more! Shannon just returned from the Paypal cNow conference in Chicago and he’s ready to talk about the people he met and what he learned. The conference included roughly 50 Small Business owners from across the country that got a chance to meet Paypal, Braintree and Venmo executives to see their latest “Contextual Commerce” payment products and sit in on some excellent Small Business discussions. Dave and Shannon spend some time discussing the power of attending these types of events and why you should be seeking them out as part of your business development system and the building of your personal brand. You’ll learn how to engage with the speakers, make long term connections and how to work your way onto discussion pan

Do you run your Small Business from your home? Are you tempted to wear sweatpants everyday and move your desk close to the refrigerator for convenience? Join us today on the Small Business Show to get some great tips on how to stay motivated and disciplined while working from home. Long-time home office Small Business owner Dave Hamilton answers questions today as Shannon transitions from going into the office each day (24-years!) to working out of his home. We discuss finding a routine that works for you, checking in with your remote employees or partners each morning and the power of regular video meetings in Google Hangouts. We also spend time going over ways to manage remote interruptions, since no one can “see” that you’re busy when they ask for your help, using Slack reminders and the importance of actually combing your hair before you start work each day. Join us for these topics and more and then jump over to the Small Business Show Support Group to comment and offer us your own tips

What’s the best way to build your companies brand and create fans that are passionate about your products? Cory Fosket and Doug Butcher took a company focused on a single product line and expanded it over the last 13-years into a trusted brand for waterfowl hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. Along the way, they’ve learned about the importance of quality and how to step outside the business to plan 3-5 years ahead rather than just grinding it out day-after-day. Listen in to this episode of the Small Business Show to hear the Tanglefree story! During our discussion today, we get some great tips on creating strong relationships with your customers as well as your overseas suppliers to create a win-win environment where your company and suppliers profit while the customer gets a great value, high quality product. Cory and Doug spend some time discussing various measures of success and what means the most to each of them, as well as what they are doing to power through obstacles to propel Tanglefree into

What’s the best method for naming your Small Business? Go with your instincts, listen to friends and family or use an online tool? Listen to this episode of the Small Business Show for tips to come up with a great name for your business and avoid some common mistakes with the help from our friends at Entrepreneur magazine. We also discuss the power of Taglines to enhance your Small Business name and just how much effort should you put into that killer logo? Then we’re on to listener questions with a discussion on how to power yourself up so you can best represent your Small Business during the sale process and a quick primer on why Cash is King to keep the gears of your business turning smoothly. Join us for these topics and more on episode 133 of the Small Business Show! Chapters/Timestamps 00:00:00 Small Business Show #133 August 23, 2017 00:00:41 Breaking your routine to keep you fresh 00:02:08 Should you be able to do each job? 00:05:16 Naming your business Infographic from Entrepreneur.com

Do you know the signs that tell if a person is an Employee, Self-Employed or an Entrepreneur? Join Dave and Shannon for this episode of the Small Business Show to find out! During today’s episode, we get to spend time dissecting personality types so you can understand who would make a good employee vs. who would make a good business partner. We discuss Do’ers vs delegators and ways to create a Working Agreement to help you find out if you all have what it takes to build a successful partnership. Communication is key and your hosts speak about methods to keep the dialogue going when their is an inevitable problem with your business partner (Partner Therapy, anyone?). Find out why how much risk and accountability your employees are willing to take starts with YOU, the business owner and just how to get past the Superhero complex that is so common. We wrap up the show with a discussion about getting-out-of-the-way of your employees so they can do their jobs and grow your business along with the importance of sh

What’s the best way to find real value in attending Trade Shows, Conferences and Workshops? Do you sit in the back row and head right back to the hotel after the event? You can probably guess what your Small Business Show co-hosts would say about that. Join us for this episode to discuss maximizing your time at these types of events as Shannon discusses attending eBay Open 2017 in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. During the eBay discussing, we touch on eBay’s dramatic shift during the last 2-years regarding their attitude towards the Small Business seller community and how your business can benefit from it. We discuss the new eBay Concierge customer service platform, ways to reach eBay’s 171 million buyers and new initiatives like eBay Authenticate, Shop with Images and Direct Shopify Integration to sell your products on eBay. Shannon believes that it’s time for another look at selling on eBay if you’ve been away for a few years. Dave then jumps in to discuss the critical difference be

Could you make the leap from dog walker / poop-picker-upper to creating a software platform for service related Small Businesses? Well, Britt Alwerud did just that, creating the Handlr Business Management suite of tools to help manage your employees or contractors, communicate with customers, generate reports and perhaps most importantly, get paid on time! Join Dave and Shannon for episode 130 of the Small Business Show and our awesome interview with Britt from Handlr. During our talk, you’ll hear about how Britt had to hit rock bottom and be told by a client that she was “…not a businesswoman, you’re a dog walker” before she realized she needed to create a software platform to help manage her company so she could become the businesswoman she knew she could be. We jump into a discussion about marketing (cold calling!) and we hear about mistakes (lessons learned) made along the way during the creation of Handlr. We explore what it takes to find and hire a reputable software develo

Are you making a living with your Podcast? We need to talk. Join us today on the Small Business Show and learn about the business of podcasting. Specifically, what’s happening in the world of Podcast advertising, what are sponsors looking for and how is success being measured. Dave shares his expertise about how a typical Podcast audience is made up of Intentional Listeners that have made the effort to seek out your content, subscribe and in many cases, download it to their device for future listening. These people are valuable and they have put their trust in your hands. How do you educate advertisers (and ad agencies) about that value and protect that trust at the same time? Listen in to hear some tips! We round out the show by revisiting the 1000 true fan concept and how it might apply to Podcasting and what additional value your Podcast can bring to you, beyond revenue. Join us today on the Small Business Show for all this and more. Then, visit the Small Business Support Group on Facebook to join th

What is the most important thing to remember when selling your business? Today on the Small Business Show, we continue our discussion about selling your business with advice from Abbi Vakil, inventor of the U-Socket USB wall plug. Listen in to hear us discuss cash-flow vs. profits and which is most important and what do to when you’re business is not succeeding OR failing. We touch on one of the tips from ReWork about ignoring your competition, since you don’t know what’s going on inside their business or if their profitable. Continuing on the tip from episode 127 of the Small Business Show, finding the right buyer and making it “easy” for them to buy your company is brought up with some tips on how to make this happen. Finally, we discuss how to keep growing your “Revenue Stack” after you sell your business with some creative ways to handle investing in startup companies. If you think (dream?) about selling your business now or someday, you’ll want to join us f

What happens when you realize that you’re NOT the best owner for your Small Business? Join us today for episode 127 of the Small Business Show to hear the story from one of your co-hosts that made just such a discovery after 13-years of being at the helm of TechRestore. Dave and Shannon discuss how finding the “right” buyer is critical to any sale, tips to find that person (or company) and what requirements will you have after the sale is completed. Shannon talks about separating assets to streamline the sale, how to quantify “soft” assets like goodwill and reputation as well as working with your accountant to be sure to limit your tax exposure based on how you allocate assets in your purchase agreement. We spend time discussing how to be sure the sale keeps moving forward to completion and how history shows (in both your co-hosts cases), how things can go sideways at the last minute. Along the way, you’ll hear about making the sale more of a partnership with the buyer and

Longtime listeners of the Small Business Show know that we embrace optimism with a passion. However, today we’re talking about failure. Specifically, why Small Businesses fail and how to avoid it. Dave and Shannon jump right into today’s Small Business Show with a discussion of your ROE, or Return on Energy for projects within your business, or new ideas that may not make you a profit, but can make you a better person and help to increase your energy levels throughout your Revenue Stack. Then, it’s on to a detailed discussion of a report published by Small Business Trends that focuses on why businesses fail. The great news is that there’s never been a better time to start a new business, however, studies show that about half of all Small Businesses will fail within the first 5-years. Half! We think that number is much too high, so we’re digging into this report to help you avoid the pitfalls of the “other” 50% of Small Business owners that won’t make it to their

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are popular buzzwords we read and hear about a lot these days. Much of it sounds like it “will be” great someday, but what about Small Businesses that are in the VR/AR space and creating businesses TODAY? Joining us for episode 125 of the Small Business Show is Chase Dittmer and TJ Dishaw, co-founders of GrowpoVR Studios and GovRed. GrowpoVR began as an arcade/studio business, offering up VR experiences for consumers. When Chase and TJ noticed lots of Police officers using the equipment, they quickly realized there was an underserved demographic, so of course, they launched a new business, GoVRed to focus on military and government agency VR use. During the show, we also got a chance to learn about the Iowa Startup Accelerator and how GoVRed became a part of this 12-month startup program. We discussed how the business incubator provides support for design and engineering as well as legal and marketing areas. The co-founders discuss how their youth has been a benefit as we

You know the name, you’ve accepted the payment method. But, did you know that Paypal has a team of people focused solely on Small Business advocacy and public policy? Joining us today on the Small Business Show is Paul Disselkoen, Paypal Public Relations Specialist. Paul is charged with getting the voices of Small Business owners heard by politicians that are setting public policy that impacts Small Businesses throughout the country. Join your hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean to learn about what Paypal is doing to insure that it’s not just the big companies that are sending lobbyists to Washington. You’ll get a chance to find out about the Paypal Small Merchant Advisory Delegation and how YOU can join and get your message heard and get some great publicity for your Small Business. Paul takes us through the role that Paypal plays in helping to set policies that are favorable for Small Business owners and discusses the types of businesses they are looking for to connect with lawmakers loca

Are you a Closer? On the Small Business Show, we often say that all business owners are in the Customer Service business – but, we’re also in the Sales business. Wether you’re selling a product or service, you’ve got to sell to make your business grow. This week on the Small Business Show, you’ll get to hear the story of Ryan Stewman, Founder of HardcoreCloser.com. Ryan is an incredibly enthusiastic sales trainer and motivator that has overcome numerous obstacles to create a successful business that helps others succeed. Listen in to learn how Ryan started out washing cars and moved up to selling mortgages before the “Police kicked in the door” and everything came to a screeching halt. Keeping motivated and overcoming adversity propelled Ryan and before long he was back on top and running his own company. As the Founder of Hardcore Closer,  Ryan teaches salespeople and business owners how to succeed using social media, the sales funnel concept and all about grinding-i

What’s your Exit Strategy? You have one, right? That’s the question a business mentor asked of Kyle Baccus a few years ago that led to the eventual sale of one of his businesses. Today on the Small Business Show, Kyle joins us for a second guest spot to discuss the sale and to spend some time exploring our Revenue Stack concept of developing multiple streams of revenue as part of your path towards world domination. We get a chance to learn about the three different types of business sales that Kyle has been involved in and what he’s learned from each of them, with the concept that you should “Keep saying Yes until there’s a reason not to” as a guidepost during the transactions. Business owners should consider going to a business-sales seminar to learn about selling a company, but be weary of paying cash up front to a business broker when you area ready to sell, according to Kyle. We then jump into a conversation about what is the most difficult part about selling a Small Bu

Stop for a moment. Think about your day. Are you doing work that should be delegated to your employees or contract workers? Small Business owner Robert is feeling overwhelmed and looking for tips to save time and increase his profits at the end of each month. Would you be surprised to hear that your Small Business Show co-hosts have experienced this situation a few times? Dave and Shannon offer Robert some advice about delegating and keeping the phrase “Who is going to do this for me?” in his thoughts as he moves from working IN the business each day to working ON the business to become the manage and leader his company needs. Additional tips include saying no more often, raising your prices to reach an equilibrium between revenue and profit that works for you and your business and developing an Organization Chart to really see who’s doing what each day. We then jump into a question about the impact of an impending increase of the minimum wage to $15 on Gail’s local Ice Cream business.

You’ve got questions about your Small Business and we’re here to help! Join Shannon and Dave today on the Small Business Show to hear their thoughts on setting up data sharing for a virtual office and the pros and cons of freelancers vs a business partner that has the skill set you are missing. If you need to share real-time data with your team that is working from different locations, what’s the best solution? Dropbox? Google Drive? How about a private solution like the Synology CloudStation? Your hosts spend time discussion these options and more to help one listener keep the data flowing between team members. We’ve spoken at length on the Small Business Show about outsourcing talent to help your business. Todd M. wants to hear what we think about hiring a freelancer vs bringing in a business partner for his technical needs. The guys talk about their experiences in this area and what to look out for with both solutions before making their recommendation. Listen in to episode 120 of t

Have you used outsourced talent for specific tasks in your Small Business? Ever run into quality problems? We thought so. Neil Napier ran into so many problems outsourcing that he realized there was a business opportunity to minimize headaches and increase the quality of the talent pool and thus, JobRack was born! Listen in to episode 119 of the Small Business Show and learn about the importance of having systems and procedures in place BEFORE deciding to outsource projects and how to get help if you don’t have either. We also discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing and what type of tasks lend themselves to using outsourced talent. Neil offers up some great tips to increase the likelihood of success with your outsourcing by developing Key Performance Indicators to insure that all progress is measurable. We then jump into ways to use larger companies to jumpstart your business, riding on the “coattails” of a larger company to launch your own, how to educate your customers about quality over

It’s as simple as it is powerful. If we were using clickbait headlines, this one would read: This One Tip Will Make Your Customers Love You! But, since we don’t do that stuff on the Small Business Show, join us this week as we dive in deeper to the Two Tokens concept of Customer Service, as so eloquently described by Jean-Louis Gassée in his Monday Note. Gassée, who has a storied history at Apple and founded Be Computing and the BeOS, uses the United Airlines customer service disaster to shine the spotlight on the concept of Two Tokens when solving customer service problems. In a nutshell, the Two Tokens concept states that: “When a customer brings a complaint, there are two tokens on the table: It’s Nothing and It’s Awful. Both tokens are always played, so whoever chooses first forces the other to grab the token that’s left.” Your Small Business Show co-hosts were so impressed with how Gassée explained this concept and how important it can be when solving problems, that they spent the