Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast

How prepared are you for the challenges of running your small business? What energizes you to make it through tough times and just how transparent are you (and should you be) to your employees and everyone else that you discuss your business with? If you felt like your business was about to shut down, could you imagine reaching out to the New York Times with an offer to share the experience with thousands of people? Paul Downs thought it would make for a good story and he wrote for the NYTimes.com for 4-years before writing a “year in the life of my business” book: Boss Life. You’ve never read a business book like Boss Life. The book quickly joined our list of “must reads” for all current and potential business owners. The work is the most honest and transparent business book that we have ever read and we encourage all of you to read it. Today, Paul Downs joins Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean on the Small Business Show where they dig a bit deeper into Paul’s story, into Boss Life and into the work ethic that has kept Paul in business for over 30-years. Listen in and then help your fellow small business owners out by doing a quick review of the Small Business Show on iTunes.   00:00:00 Small Business Show #83 September 7th, 2016 00:01:05 Boss Life author Paul Downs – “Not suited to working for other people” 00:05:15 2008 Recession – laid off half staff – sure I was about to go out of business. 00:06:00 What would it be like to drive a business into the ground? 00:07:09 Make the offer 00:09:33 (Don’t) Hide until you’re successful 00:11:25 Think through your problems by talking about them and writing them down – this is what the NYT Blog did for Paul 00:13:45 Hang onto your threads. They’re all you’ve got. 00:15:13 Define your own definition(s) of failure 00:16:12 Be a clear thinker 00:16:57 Share your problems – with real small businesses “Real Businesses” – love this. 00:21:23 The genesis of Boss Life – The experience of running a business 00:29:57 Understanding profitability 00:31:55 Being candid won’t kill you. 00:34:04 Find out about Paul Downs Custom Conference Tables The post Paul Downs, author of Boss Life and NYT Small Business Blogger Interview – SBS 83 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

As Small Business owners, we’re always hustling and sleep can often be a casualty of the “up late, up early” workflow. What do you do when your brain just won’t shut down long enough to get some much needed sleep? Listener Elias asks Dave and Shannon for advice about disconnecting enough to fall asleep. Their suggestion might surprise you! You’re an expert in some things and probably need help in other areas. We spend some time discussing why you should create an Expertise List to identify what you do really well and what areas you need to find some tools or people to prop you up a bit. Similar to our Success List exercise, the simple act of writing down what you are good at can help you tremendously to identify areas to get help with. What areas of your business are changing? Yes, we know, all of them. But, if you had to pick revenue streams that you think will be decreasing in the next 12-24 months, could you? And once you identify those revenue streams that are drying up, what are you working on to replace them? We discuss Planned Obsolescence for areas of your business that are headed downward – the art of finding new streams of revenue for your business, before those older streams dry up. We wrap up the Small Business Show this week with a quick mention of our interview with Paul Downs that is scheduled for next week. Paul was the Small Business blogger for the New York Times and is the author of Boss Life, a book you need to get your hands on. Listen in and send us your comments or questions via text at 401-472-4249 or visit our Facebook page. We hope you enjoy the show! Chapters and Timestamps: 00:00:00 Small Business Show #82 August 31st, 2016 00:01:50 Elias – Waking Up in the middle of the night? 00:07:05 The Obstacle Is the Way 00:08:23 Reminders app 00:09:10 Notes app 00:13:42 Make Your Own Expertise List 00:17:35 And One for Your Employees? 00:20:54 Planned Obsolescence – It happens to YOU 00:26:00 Shannon Says “Verticals” 00:28:44 Perseverance – Next week with Paul Downs The post Adjusting Your Sleep Schedule, Recognizing Your Expertise and Planned Obsolescence – Small Business Show 82 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

How to you stay healthy and keep your energy level up while you are hustling to make your Small Business a success? Join Dave and Shannon for episode 81 of the Small Business Show to hear about how these two have managed while starting and growing multiple small businesses. Before we jump into health and energy, we start the show with a quick discussion of encryption and why it’s so important for your Small Business website. Dave discusses a new free option, Let’s Encrypt, that allows you to setup free security certificates for your website. After the exciting topic of encryption (Dave the nerd loves talking tech!), we jump right into bed. To discuss sleep, of course, and why it’s important to set a sleep schedule based on your energy levels, rather than traditional hours – if you have the flexibility to do so. Food then takes center stage as the benefits of grazing vs. big meals is discussed, followed by another favorite: Caffeine! Red Bull or Coffee? You make the call! We then jump into (no pun intended) exercise, the benefits of walks and again, coming up with an exercise plan that works for you. Finally, we point out that your business is not your life and that to keep healthy, you need to often step away and work ON your business, not in it. We recommend the awesome book, Rework from the folks at 37 Signals. Check it out and listen in to hear more! The post Staying Healthy While Running Your Small Business – Small Business Show Episode 81 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Join us today for episode 80 of the Small Business Show where we spend some time discussing our recent interview with Greg Mercer of JungleScout! Dave and Shannon both agree that Greg is a “career escape artist” and has created a unique business to take advantage of missing data and support in the Amazon FBA marketplace. We also talk about the difference between failing often as a Small Business Owner (which we encourage) vs. being flakey (which we don’t). One way to insure your failures are learning lessons that help you to success is to hold yourself accountable, more accountable than anyone else will. Our Success List idea comes up again during the show and we encourage every Small Business owner to start building their list to refer back to when you need to pull yourself up, to recognize that you are making strides and moving in the right direction. Since it’s a mix of topics today, we also get an update on Shannon’s “Can I create a social media business that runs solely on my iPhone” experiment. You’ll hear some revenue and profit numbers and more tips on managing time demands when your business is always in your pocket. Finally, we discuss our favorite new Small Business book, Boss Life by Paul Downs, 2nd only to the E-Myth in our opinion. Which book should you read first and why? Listen in to find out! The post Failure, Success, a Business in Your Pocket and New Books! Small Business Show episode 80 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Today on the Small Business show we are joined by Greg Mercer of JungleScout! Greg shares his story of “escaping employment” to become a small business owner, first by selling wholesale products on Amazon, then developing private labeled goods to distinguish his company with quality products and customer service. Along the way, Greg realized that he could really use some software that would help him figure out what products to sell on Amazon by tracking demand, sell-through and other data. Since no such software existed, Greg decided to create it and JungleScout was born! The company now provides a number of different analytic tools for Amazon sellers along with other products like ReviewKick, Splitly and Fetcher. Listen in and we guarantee you’ll learn as much as Dave and Shannon did during their chat with Greg! The post Escaping Employment – Small Business Interview with Greg Mercer of JungleScout appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Join us for this week’s edition of the Small Business Show! Dave and Shannon spend some time going over their interview with Tim Cote of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange from the last episode and then quickly jump into some of their core beliefs about how to succeed with your Small Business: Convince yourself (lie if you have to!) that you are a rock star, that every small success you have will build a foundation for larger successes down the road Make your own movie: So what if reality tells you otherwise!? You’re in charge of how your life goes, keep a smile on your face, tell yourself all the great stuff your learning, (even if you are failing a lot) and keep moving forward. Keep your Success List up to date: Be sure to recognize those small successes you have every-single-day Like Scott Adams, we’re bigger fans of Systems than Goals Listen in and then let us know what you think! What works for you to keep you headed in the right direction with your Small Business? Stop by our new Facebook Small Business Support Group and share your thoughts. The post Small Business Rock Stars, Wish Lists and Making Your Own Reality – SBS 78 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

How many business ideas have come from a group of people sitting around over a few beers? Must be thousands, maybe millions, right? But when you look beyond the idea stage and see how many of those folks actually executed on one of those ideas, the numbers drop exponentially. This week on the Small Business Show, we get to spend time with one of those guys that has executed and built a wildly successful business. Listen in and learn how Tim Cote took Commonwealth Foreign Exchange from an idea over a few beers to a powerhouse in the currency exchange and payment processing industry. Tim shares some great stories about hustling to pay the bills when Commonwealth was young to hiring their first employee that is still with them today. We had a great time talking to Tim, learning about Commonwealth and sharing stories about moving from idea to execution. Join us and let us know what you think! Send a text or leave a voicemail at 401-472-4249. The post Small Business Show Interview: Tim Cote from Commonwealth Foreign Exchange appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Welcome to episode 76 of the Small Business Show! This week, Dave is back from Europe and shares some time saving strategies that are good for travel as well as in your daily business. We then get an update from Shannon about his social media business experiment (spoiler alert: it’s working!) and we spend a few minutes sharing Scott from DC’s experience with community banks and why he feels they are a good fit for cash businesses. Want to share a story, ask a question or offer a critique? You can text or leave us a voicemail at 401-472-4249. We wrap up the show with a question from Sharon L. who wants to know how and where to source products to sell. It’s a tricky question, Sharon, but we hope we at least got you started on the right path to finding sources for a product that might work for you. Listen in for these stories and more! The post Community Banks, Social Media Small Business and Finding Suppliers – SBS 76 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

On this week’s episode of the Small Business Show, one of our hosts is starting a new business. But, there’s a twist! They have vowed to do things completely different than they have in the past by focusing solely on social media for promotion and to sell their products only using apps on their phone. Listen in and then stay tuned to find out if this experiment will be a profitable one, or just a learning experience! We also dive into a Small Business Study that surveyed thousands of Small Businesses to learn about the surprising demographics of most small business owners. Hint: it’s not what you think it is! Show links from our discussion include: Poshmark Small Business Owner Study Free worldwide Boingo Wireless for SPG Amex cardholders! eBay mobile selling app. The post Starting a new Small Business using Social Media – SBS 75 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

It’s time for a Rant! Specifically, Small Business Show co-host Shannon Jean has had it with a new bank that does a poor job of managing customer expectations. After Dave calms Shannon down, we dig deeper into ways to manage your customers expectations so you can be a hero to your clients as well as your employees. The discussion leads us into the dreaded Terms and Conditions document and how to not rely on it too much when trying to make your customers happy. We wrap up the show with a crucial question to ask your employees that can make their jobs much better. Listen in! Then, share your story by visiting our Facebook page or texting us at 401-472-4249.   The post Managing Customer Expectations for your Small Business – SBS 74 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

How often are you getting patted on the back as a Small Business owner? Not enough, we know. On episode 73 of the Small Business Show, Dave and Shannon discuss developing a “Success List” that you can refer to when things get tough (because they always do), to remind yourself of just how awesome you actually are. By measuring your success in small steps, you’ll achieve larger victories that much faster. We also spend a few minutes talking our recent Vaya Island interview from our previous show, how to stop yourself from being paralyzed by the “what-ifs” and much more! Join us and then come share your Small Business success story via email or text at 401-472-4249. The post Remind Yourself of your Successes – Small Business Show 73 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Live Easy with John Moran of Vaya Island What’s your small business story? Do you promote your geographic location as a strength? Do you promote your authenticity? How do you find the influencers to help you grow your Instagram presence? Join us for episode 72 of the Small Business Show to find the answers to these questions and more! John Moran from Vaya Island joins us this week for the Small Business Show to discuss how he has created a successful business and a huge social media following in a very short time. John shares how he grew his “Ambassador” program to over 5000 strong by sharing product and discounts with loyal fans on Instagram where he has over 23,000 followers that love Vaya Island products and the Vaya message of leading a positive and stress free lifestyle. Vaya Island’s story is an inspiring one that all of us can learn from. Listen in and let us know your thoughts with a quick text or voicemail to 401-472-4249! The post Authenticity and Small Business Success with John Moran from Vaya Island – SBS 72 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

What technology products and services does your Small Business need to succeed? Computers, phones, software and more – essential tools for starting and running your business. Join Dave and Shannon on episode 71 of the Small Business Show to learn more! For the first time, both of your hosts are on the West Coast, recording the Small Business Show together! We leave Skype behind for this show and jump right into a discussion about what technology we use to run our various businesses. We start the show with a discussion about computers, then jump right into which type of phone system you’ll need, what type of credit card processing is the best choice, which software will make your life easier and much more. Products and Services mentioned on the show: Cloud based phone systems: Phone.com, RingCentral, Grasshopper Accounting Apps: FreshBooks, QuickBooks, AccountEdge Payment Processing: Paypal, Square, Stripe ShipWorks, ShipStation Customer Support: HelpScout, ZenDesk Database Awesomeness : Filemaker Pro We only got through about half of our show notes, so look forward to Part 2 of Tech and your Small Business coming soon! The post Small Business Technology – Hardware and Software For your Small Business – SBS 71 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

This is NOT how to handle change in your Small Business! Welcome to Episode 70 of the Small Business Show! This week we do a quick follow up on Facebook advertising with comments from Dave about ads for the Gig Gab podcast and their interview with Jan Hammer. You’ll hear about some inexpensive ways to get started with Facebook ads and how to keep tweaking your ads as you start to see results. We then jump into this week’s primary topic: Change and how to make it work for you. Shannon spends some time discussing how, as an entrepreneur and business owner, you may love change, but what about the people around you? Your employees, and even your family. How does change impact them and how do you go about getting everyone onboard when you know a change needs to be made? Changing quickly can be a critical part of success for your small business. Join us this week on the Small Business Show for tips and tricks that have helped your co-hosts succeed over the last 20-years with their businesses. Mentioned on this episode of the Small Business Show: The Real Story of New Coke (as Coca-Cola tells it, anyway) Henry Ford’s interview tactic with Salt. (even if not true, is interesting) Shannon has a favorite quote that he (nor Google) knows who said “When you want to compliment, look out the window, when you want to criticize, look in the mirror” – Do YOU know who said it? Want to reach us? Comment here, email, twitter, facebook or text us at 401-472-4249! The post The Impact of Change on You and Your Small Business – SBS 70 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Join us this week for episode 69 of the Small Business Show! Dave and Shannon talk about Dave’s new business venture and then they jump right into part 2 of their series of tips about managing the tricky relationship that your business has with the IRS. Things like the importance of putting a human element into the relationship, getting advice BEFORE you need advice and more insight into how to turn a potential problem into just one more challenge that you will power through. If you do have the pleasure of going through an IRS audit, Shannon spends some time discussing how the IRS will also be auditing YOU in addition to your business. Every contact you have will be either a positive opportunity or a reason for the IRS to delve deeper into your business. You’ll want to be sure your lifestyle matches your tax returns. Listen in for more details. Finally, we talk about the all-important Payroll Tax and how to not go astray when managing those funds and we wrap the show up with tips on deciding if your independent contractors are actually employees and the importance of managing the sales tax you collect in your state. Want to chime in and share your experience? Send us a text or leave us a voicemail at 401-472-4249. We would love to hear from you! The post Part 2 of the Small Business IRS Show – SBS 69 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

This week on the Small Business Show, we start off by revisiting the concept of not setting financial goals for your business, but rather, developing systems that you can continually achieve success with and adjust for mistakes over time. Dave and Shannon have been using this concept for years, but it took Scott Adams book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big to lay it out in detail. Scott’s book is a must read. Longtime listener Dan T. sent in a question which led us into the main topic of the show, How to interact with the IRS. Dan’s question: Hey guys – I have a question for you. I’ve started getting some letters from the IRS about my businesses tax filings from a couple of years ago. I think I know the answer to most of the questions they have, but I’m kind of freaking out that this may lead to an audit or something. I don’t have anything to hide, but having never been through this type of thing before, any tips for dealing with the IRS? Thanks so much for contacting us for help, Dan! It’s no surprise that we do have some tips on how to interact with the IRS that may help with your situation. We dive into a lot of details, but the two main points we want to make this week are: First, humanize your relationship with the IRS. Pickup the phone and make contact with who sent the letter, or call your local IRS office for help. Be up front, honest and transparent and chances are, you’ll find someone at the IRS that will take a vested interest in helping your situation. Treating that person with respect and connecting with them personally can make a tremendous difference in how things go for you. It’s also important not to forget that YOU are a customer of the IRS! That’s right, part of their job is to please you, believe it or not. IRS employees are trained to treat you well and to offer council to help solve problems to everyone’s benefit. Now, this doesn’t mean they have the power to relieve you of paying money if you owe it, but they can (and should) make the process as painless as possible. If you are not getting the type of treatment you expect, Shannon has some tips on getting someone else to take over your case. The IRS and your business are such huge topics that, of course, we ran out of time to cover everything we wanted to. Look for a 2nd installment of the The IRS Show soon!   The post The IRS Show – How you and your business should interact with the IRS – SBS 68 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Do you compartmentalize your business? How do you keep things in perspective when solving problems? We discuss the importance of AMF (always moving forward!) when tackling problems with your small business as well as setting up triggers to help keep you accountable. We then move into a discussion of the new Federal Overtime rules that hike the hourly threshold from $23,660 to $47,476. How will this impact your managers and supervisors that are salaried? Will you adjust pay rates to cover additional overtime payments? Dave and Shannon do their best to be objective and discuss both sides of this new rule. In this episode, you can also find out how to get yourself one of the coveted Small Business Show T-shirts shown below. It’s simple, we promise! And we wrap up the show with some tips on Facebook advertising that you won’t want to miss with information about targeting your audience, getting help and finding out about local Facebook events near you. Listen in, learn and join in the discussion! We would love to hear from you via our voicemail and text line at 401-472-4249 or on our Facebook page. Show links: New Federal overtime rules – article in the NY Post Facebook business advertising info What works best on Facebook? Boosted posts, promoted posts or newsfeed ads? Good article on the CBO blog. Finding local Facebook events to learn about promoting your business on the site.   The post Salaried vs Hourly Employees, Facebook ads and more! – SBS 67 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Does everything always go right with your small business? We didn’t think so. Dave and Shannon have had a bad week and no amount of their patented optimistic self-delusion will get them through without spending some time on the Small Business Show sharing their stories and talking through ways to keep yourself and your team motivated when times are tough. Shannon talks about the risks of being overly optimistic and what to do when donuts just aren’t enough to get smiles back on your employees faces after a setback. Dave share’s a story about using the law to solve a problem when things go really bad. Speaking of the law, we discuss advice from your attorney and why you should take every step possible before you file a lawsuit that will eat up your cash, your time and your mindshare that would otherwise be focused on your small business. We’re big fans of outside advisors and this week we talk about Clarity.fm. Clarity’s service can connect you with business experts on a cost-per-minute basis when you need some quick advice in a specialized area. If you are a business consultant, Clarity also offers a good way to connect with new clients. Where else can you get a phone call from Mark Cuban, even it does set you back $167 per minute! Listen in and you’ll learn about the importance of the destroyed floor photo above and much more on episode 66 of the Small Business Show! The post Small Business Highs and Lows. Overcoming Adversity and Powering Through Problems – SBS 66 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

What happens to your well thought-out Small Business plans if you become incapacitated? Who steps in to handle the myriad of details that you take care of each day. Dave and Shannon have discussed the more formal ways to setup a succession plan, such as disability insurance and Key Man policies, but what about the equally important, but informal information that you may have stuck in your head? We talk about how we setup “bread crumb” trails to help whoever may have to step in to take over our role, as well as ways to share information to help during a management transition. We call this the “Hit By a Bus” plan. Shannon then opens a discussion about a new book by Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.” A favorite quote, “goals are for losers,” leads us to talk about Adams’ concept of Systems instead of Goals. You’ll hear about why we think this is right on target and you’ll find out if Dave or Shannon have EVER set a financial Goal for their businesses. We wrap up the show with a powerful story from Dave based on the idea that it never hurts to ask as well as a phone call from Scott that sheds some insight into Dave’s idea of becoming an Expert Witness as a side business. Our favorite comment from Scott: “You’re basically teaching children, using adult language”. Thanks for the call, Scott! The post Small Business Planning for the Worst and Scott Adams Book – SBS 65 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Ever have a crazy idea? Of course you have. Exploring those ideas can be the thing that leads to the next business opportunity. And that next business opportunity might eventually be the thing that puts food on your table. You need to pay attention to those crazy ideas, but you also need to learn how to make sure you don’t just spend your time chasing all the ideas. Shannon and Dave have experience with both sides of this and today’s the day they talk about it. Dave even throws in a new crazy idea of his own… and who knows? Maybe it’ll be lucrative some day soon! We also spend some time talking about how to deal with naysayers, if you should be sharing all your crazy ideas or just waiting to talk about how things are going once you get them started and giving yourself permission to just mess around. You just never know where things will lead and if you don’t let yourself wander a bit, you’re bound to miss opportunities. We wrap up the show by discussing your personal brand, when to start developing it, why you need to in the first place and what you can do with it once everyone knows what a rock star you actually are. Come join us! The post Crazy Ideas vs. Managing Your Time and Naysayers – SBS 64 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Any growth for your small business is good and the faster the better, right? Bryan O’Connell, co-founder of Meras Engineering would disagree! Bryan joins us today on the Small Business Show to talk about managing growth, choosing business partners, finding an advisory group that holds you accountable and more. We also discuss the value of an MBA degree, creating a customer obsessed culture and when to make yourself slow down so you can think. Great show today with some valuable insight and advice from 12-years of building Meras into the success it is today. Join us! Mentions: Alliance of CEO’s The post Managing the Growth of your Business with Bryan O’Connell of Meras Engineering – SBS 63 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Kelan Raph has built a career helping people get their products from point A to point B. With his current venture, Grand Canal Solutions, he and his team have developed Optimize, a service that automatically identifies enhancements and optimizations to your product shipments, warehousing and more. Kelan talks to Shannon and Dave about blending partnerships with opportunities, his marketing experiments, how best to manage interruptions and much MUCH more! Kelan is a big fan of business books, and recommended more than a few, including: Getting Things Done by David Allen (listen on Audiobook) The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker Rework The Lean Startup Join us on this episode of the Small Business Show to learn more about optimizing your business as well as your time. The post Optimizing your Small Business & Your Time: Kelan Raph of Grand Canal Solutions – SBS 62 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Ever thought about selling your business? We thought so! Bob Grewal of Seapoint Business Advisors sells businesses for a living, and he deals with all kinds of issues you haven’t even considered yet. Recasting financials, dealing with your employees, reducing the perception of risk and distributing revenue are all things you’ll have to deal with and Bob provides some great perspective on all of that and more! Listen today and learn how the process might work, along with some of Bob’s favorite stories of things that have happened along the way. Join us for the Small Business Show! Bob Grewal: Seapoint Business Advisors The post When and How to Sell Your Small Business – Seapoint Business Advisors – SBS 61 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In 1995 it was predicted that the Internet would kill “the middleman.” Here we are a couple decades later and not only are middlemen still in business, they’re the norm. In fact, as Dave and Shannon discover, everyone is a middleman, even if only for themslves, and that’s OK. Add in a dash about the Gig Economy and a sideline tangent about what the world might be like without vehicle ownership and you’ve got yourself a perfectly-crafted episode of the Small Business Show! Stuff mentioned: In Defense of the Middleman Turo (formerly RelayRides) The post Small Business Middleman – thriving in the internet age? – SBS 60 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave put on their kevlar vests – and tinfoil hats – and tackle the topic of a rising minimum wage as it relates to small business. Do you hire entry level employees or summer workers? Who will benefit from this? Who will get special exemptions with the government? How will it work? These are the questions Shannon and Dave ask… and they’re brave (foolish?) enough to answer them, too. Listen to what your two favorite business geeks have to say and then send in comments of your own! Stuff mentioned: Swedish town gets an unmanned convenience store Seattle’s Minimum Wage Approaches $15 The post Would a $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage Impact Your Small Business? – SBS 59 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Long-time technology journalist Jason Snell spent 17 years writing, editing and managing teams at Macworld magazine before leaving that behind to start his own small business publishing company, SixColors.com. Along the way, Jason also created and managed various Podcasts like The Incomparable, TV Talk Machine, and Upgrade. Jason joins Shannon and Dave to talk about the experience of moving from manager to business owner, and shares some of his favorite stories along the way. This week’s Small Business Show includes some key moments where things like authenticity, focus, enthusiasm, passion and reliability come up during the discussion. A podcasting pro, Jason makes for an entertaining and engaging guest… download, press play, and enjoy!     The post Jason Snell from Six Colors: From Magazine Editor to Small Business Publisher– SBS 58 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave have both run virtual (or semi-virtual) companies for decades and have used all manner of electronic communication tools to keep their various teams in sync. These days they both make use of Slack (among other tools) to organize their lives and make teams feel like teams. Hear them talk about all the tools they use and why “eliminating email” is only one reason you might want to use Slack… there are others, too! Slack articles worth reading: Small Business Trends: What is Slack and how do I use it for my team? Medium: 11 Tips for getting the most out of Slack LinkedIn: Reduce email by up to 80% with Slack The post Using Slack to manage your Small Business Team and More – SBS 57 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Ever sit on the beach and have a great idea? Paul Goodman and his business partner did, bought 400 bracelets from cart vendors, traveled home and PuraVida bracelets was born! They sold their first batch, ordered more, started and now they sell 50-100 thousand bracelets each week. Paul tells Shannon and Dave about all kinds of things … including the first public announcement of new products (and they’re not bracelets!). The post Paul Goodman & PuraVida Bracelets Execution on an Idea – SBS 56 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Episode 55 means it’s a perfect time to discuss what your two favorite business geeks have learned from watching Sammy Hagar over the years. You might be surprised to hear the revelations that Shannon and Dave have. Then it’s on to reviews. Every business gets reviews, even those that don’t think they do (someday Dave will learn that every episode matters!). Learn from Shannon and Dave their techniques for how to deal with negative reviews… and also how NOT to deal with them! Stuff mentioned: Sammy Hagar Managing by Walking/Wandering Around (MBWA) Yelp’s featured reviews Google Alerts HootSuite The post Small Business Customer Reviews – Managing the positive and negative – SBS 55 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Your two favorite business geeks are about to celebrate their one year anniversary of podcasting together and to celebrate … they interview each other. Hear Dave and Shannon ask one another about their starts, their stops, their transitions and more! The post Dave and Shannon Interview Each Other – Small Business Show 54 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

It’s mailbag day today! Shannon and Dave answer two of your questions this week, the first is about crafting your public persona. No one is better equipped to represent your business than you are, and that means you have to get comfortable putting yourself out there, too. But you don’t have to put everything online — Shannon and Dave talk through how to build that filter and use it. The second question is about pricing your business’s products or services, and that leads to an interesting discussion about the upcoming Small Business Show book! Also… theme music! Stuff mentioned: Annual Corporate Minutes Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and how to take advantage of it) The post Small Business and your personal privacy, how to set prices and more – SBS 53 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Today’s small business show takes us through some of the bigger-picture stuff you can do to grow your small business. What would it take to grow your business to be ten times its size? What would you change if you were running your business like you intended to sell it? If you had to write an executive summary about your business, what would you say? We also spend some time talking about your board of advisors and why the Beer Test matters. Listen as Shannon and Dave discuss these questions and put some perspective on how you can make things work even better for you in this new year. The post Grow Your Small Business, Executive Summaries and the Beer Test! – SBS 52 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave talk about the impact that small business owners feel when competing for employees with new, well-funded startups (aka those that can hire people their cash flow doesn’t afford!). Shannon found a great article about how on-demand businesses have created a new era of entrepreneurship — and how attractive that is to employees that want to break out of the 9-to-5 workweek. Listen to what your two favorite business geeks have to say! The post How Small Business Competes for Employees with Well Funded Startups – SBS 51 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Rob Gautereaux started JustLuxe.com in 2004 as a site with product articles and classified ads. Within 2 years he realized there was better value to the JustLuxe readers – and JustLuxe themselves – if they were a true publication business. Since then JustLuxe has grown significantly by creating their own great content and partnering with The RGM Group to help them monetize. Rob talks about many things including identifying the right opportunities and, more importantly, walking through the door when you find them. Rob also is involved in his family business, G4 Design House, which has built 350 web sites in the last 2 years for small businesses, spreading his clients’ payments out over months or years to ease the burden on small businesses. He’s a busy guy, and has quite a few lessons to share. We’re happy he took the time to share them with us! The post Luxury Small Business Success Story: Justluxe.com – SBS 50 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave dig in today, talking about naming your business (and theirs!) as well as reward credit cards. How do you go about picking a good name for a business and what message does it send to your customers? Your favorite business geeks are also rewards credit card geeks that love earning points and perks by using their credits cards for their businesses. They dissect an article Dave found and share their favorite tips and tricks for using their favorite rewards cards. Stuff Mentioned: The Best Credit Cards for 2016 from Bottom Line Personal Moments.com The post Naming Your Business and Credit Card Rewards – Small Business Show 49 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Cash is king. You hear it all the time, but have you ever sat down and thought about what it means for your small business? Your two favorite business geeks have and they share their thoughts about how to manage – and even get – cash the right way. Profits are great, but cash is king. Listen now to hear why! The post The Small Business Cash Flow Show – SBS 48 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

While cash might be king, your employees are queen… and this is one of those cases where the queen needs to win. Shannon and Dave talk about what it takes to not only motivate your employees, but also to keep your team happy. Starting with a discussion about salespeople, the value of quotas is challenged… and other ideas are thrown into the mix, as well. Listen as your two favorite business geeks wrap up their year for you this way. The post Motivating and Pleasing Your Employees – SBS 47 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Bruce Linde is the quintessential service provider, always looking to do whatever he can to support his clients. In fact, he even considers the websites he builds for his clients to serve them after he’s finished; the goal being to have the site “turn interest into a client.” Bruce wryly shares the many stories and lessons he’s learned, including telling us why he believes “mistakes are my education.” Listen today to hear it all The post Small Business Tips from 5 Happiness Webmaster – SBS 46 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

This week on the Small Business Show, we continue the discussion about small business marketing with Shannon and Dave talking about the value of marketing via social media as well as offline marketing. Strategies for authenticity are the core, including specific discussions about Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, offline marketing and more! The post Small Business Marketing Stories – Part 2 – Small Business Show 45 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave share their own thoughts about marketing as it relates to their businesses. In Part 1 of the Small Business Marketing show, advertising is a focus with discussions about pay per click, display ads, podcasts and reviews. What marketing methods have worked for you? Share your story with us in the comments below or [email protected] The post Small Business Marketing – Our Stories. Part 1 – SBS 44 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Ever had a million-dollar idea? Shannon and Dave discuss what that actually means and the realities behind bringing an idea to fruition. Kickstarter is a big part of that discussion, from both good and bad angles. But first, your two business geeks share a little tax talk about what you should be doing now to be sure you’re ready for the New Year’s ball to drop! The post Kickstarter, the Value of Ideas and Taxes – Small Business Show Episode 43 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

With just a few weeks left before the calendar ticks over to 2016, it’s time to start thinking about a few things: what to do for your employees? What do do for your customers? What to do for yourself? Taxes, health insurance, gifts, bonuses and more are the seeds for today’s topics. Listen to your two favorite business geeks discuss these things and get your questions in before time runs out: [email protected] is the best way to reach Shannon and Dave. We’d be happy to hear from you! The post Small Business end of year tasks and opportunities – SBS 42 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave dig into the mailbag today to answer a trio of questions from folks dealing with departing employees. Various reasons and scenarios led to the departures, and those each play a huge part in the advice and thoughts shared by your two favorite business geeks. On top of that, Dave spends a little time at the beginning of the show discussing the value of time pressure: sometimes you’re more productive when you have less time to complete your work. Send your thoughts in anytime to [email protected]. The post Losing Employees, Confidential Information and Moral – SBS 41 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Mick Guinn started Mick’s Macs ten years ago and has learned a lot about being a small business owner during that time. He has always made sure to keep a focus on what his employees actually need, being careful not to project his own desires onto others. He also shares some advice on how to foster a healthy business relationship with your team while still allowing an appropriate and healthy personal distance. A favorite quote, “It was such an interesting disaster to learn from!” But don’t worry, all’s well with Mick’s Macs. Listen today to hear the context of that and more, including what other business Mick describes as a “spiky, but low-hanging fruit!” The post A decade of small business experiences with Mick’s Macs – SBS 40 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

David Sparks, long time attorney and long-time geek left the practice he had been with for decades to branch out on his own. Using his geek skills to build the foundation for his nascent practice’s infrastructure, David is able to better service his clients and carve out that valuable time to spend with family and on other projects. “I knew I wanted to go out on my own, but I was terrified of admitting to myself that I wanted to do it.” Listen to David talk small business legal startup tactics with Dave and Shannon on today’s Small Business Show Visit David at MacSparky.com (for the geek stuff) and SparksEsq.com (for the law stuff). The post Small Business Legal – David Sparks advises and starts businesses appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Juan Collao from My Auto Home discusses home automation as a business. His company helps customers dissect and decipher the best way to automate their specific homes, right down to which light switch to use. Juan’s business is new and he’s already a very astute businessperson. Some great insights in this episode – well worth a listen for business owners at every stage! Highlighted quotes (listen for even more!): When considering giving up your employee status, “What you have here is someone putting money in your bank account every two weeks whether you try 100% or not.” “Maintain a sense of urgency,” even when just starting a business. In addition to Juan’s blog, check out the home automation articles that he’s written for The Mac Observer, too. The post Home Automation as a Business with My Auto Home appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Shannon and Dave talk through the benefits of having someone unrelated to your business act as a sounding board. Almost like creating your own, mini Board of Directors, it’s valuable to have a trusted confidant or two who can give you honest advice, even if it’s from outside your business, looking in. Then it’s on to social media. Dave and Shannon discuss the merits of being yourself, what not to post and the value of paid Facebook promotions. The post Outside Advice for your Small Business and Social Media Tips appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Marilyn Weinstein, founder and CEO of Vivo, says “When you’re the owner, you don’t have the confidence that somebody else’s money gives you.” One trick is building a small business management team so that you’re the “other person” with the money, and delegating those decisions to someone else. Having a partner can mitigate that from day one, so long as you start your partnership correctly. Listen to Marilyn’s lessons and anecdotes on all of this … and more! The post Small Business Management Tips from Marilyn Weinstein, Vivo CEO appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Brian Friss joins us today on the Small Business Show. Brian co-founded DIGISTOR back in 2001 and one of the first things he did was to throw away the business plan he had. Instead he followed and guided his business through an evolution reflective of his marketplace, even changing his core products as necessary throughout time. Still, a chunk of business relies on optical storage, a product that has been “obsolete for seven years.” He is proof that serving a niche can be very profitable, but you need to pay attention to where you need to go next. The biggest lesson: avoid fear-based decisions. Easier said than done! The post Business advice from Brian Friss of Digistor on the Small Business Show appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Kyle Baccus, founder of KC Tool, America’s number one German tool distributor joins Shannon and Dave on the podcast today to talk about how he started his business. He talks through a number of things he’s learned, including how it pays off to be thoughtful before you start, considering how being in a small niche and having the best products can lead you down the path of becoming number one. Stuff mentioned: Rich Dad Poor Dad The post KC Tool Business Interview – Finding your niche and being number one. appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.