21 Hats Podcast

This week, in a special bonus episode, Greg Wittstock, founder of Aquascape, explains how he invented the backyard pond industry, how he improvised a business model, and how he almost lost it all. After failing at franchising, Wittstock decided to give away his pond building expertise and marketing to landscape contractors in what he calls “a franchise system without a franchise fee.” And it worked. Always candid to a fault, he recounts how the business shot to $59 million in annual sales, why it then stagnated for 10 years, and what he ultimately figured out about social media marketing. Plus: he also explains why his first rule of customer service is: Don't give them what they ask for. Give them what they want.

Show Notes:

Here’s Bo Burlingham’s profile of Greg Wittstock: https://www.inc.com/magazine/20031101/aquascape.html

Here’s Greg’s video of Shaquille O’Neal’s pond installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-k4LUQBNs

As listeners to this podcast know, Dana White has a remarkable array of opportunities before her, including company-owned hair salons, franchised salons, salons on military bases, hair products, and POS software. But especially since the pandemic, she has struggled to get traction. This week, in episode 111, special guest Ami Kassar, an expert in small business finance, guides Dana through a discussion of how she might prioritize those opportunities and get them financed. Ami and Dana consider such questions as: What should she do first? Should she continue to pursue franchising, where she’s already sunk a lot of money? Or should she focus on opening company-owned salons at Fort Bragg and in Dallas? And should she be looking for an investor? If so, how important is it that she maintains control of the business? Or should she try for a bank loan? And if so, what kind of pitch is likely to impress a bank? As the conversation continues, a plan emerges.

This week, Gene Marks talks us through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, or SSBCI, which is a tad complicated but well worth figuring out. While the actual offerings vary by state, as the name suggests, there is $10 billion on the table in the form of grants, loans, and venture capital that could conceivably help almost any business. Plus: the dangers of hitting customers with fine-print fees and surcharges, an assessment of New York City’s efforts to eliminate onerous regulations, and Gene makes the case for employee ownership—while explaining why he would never, ever consider an ESOP for his own business!

This week, in episode 110, Kelly Allan—a consultant who specializes in sharing the principles espoused by the late management guru W. Edwards Deming—returns to the podcast for a conversation with Paul Downs, Jay Goltz, and Laura Zander. After World War II, you may recall, Deming was sent to Japan, where he was largely credited with resuscitating the devastated economy. He of course went on to become tremendously influential here, too. And if you read his books or scan his “14 points” for management, it’s clear that many of his lessons are now widely accepted. But not all of them. For example, he encouraged business leaders not to set production quotas, not to hold people accountable—at least not without first holding the process accountable—and not to address employee performance and pay in the same conversation. Some of these issues came up in an episode that Paul, Jay, and Laura taped in December, which is why we decided to invite Kelly, who is chairman of the Advisory Council of the W. Edwards Deming Institute and has his own management consulting business, to join us. The goal was to see if we could figure out what Deming would tell Paul, Jay, and Laura, and whether the three owners would be open to his suggestions. Spoiler alert: Paul’s not really buying it.

“I see it, and I feel it,” Liz Picarazzi tells Shawn Busse and Jay Goltz this week, in episode 109, a conversation about the looming recession many are predicting. But Liz is not hunkering down. In fact, she has launched an ambitious marketing campaign that relies not on Google AdWords but on Google Alerts. She’s also taking some advice from Carey Smith, the founder of Big Ass Fans, that she didn’t want to hear when it was first offered. Plus: How some owners trap themselves in miserable businesses. And Shawn, Jay, and Liz suggest regulations that need to die—with Jay going off on the way businesses are compelled to pay for unemployment insurance.

This week, Lou Mosca, COO of American Management Services, which works with small businesses all around the country, talks about why hiring—and not recession or inflation—remains his clients’ biggest concern and what he and his clients are still learning about recruiting. Plus: Lou sees banks overreacting and warns about the dangers of online lending.

This week, in episode 108, Jay Goltz and Dana White talk about their employee handbooks. Do they take them seriously? Or is it just boilerplate? Has anything changed since the pandemic? Is the handbook the place to remind employees that they are hired at will and can be fired at any time with or without a reason? Are there issues that should not be addressed in the handbook? When was the last time they updated it? When was the last time they read it? “Me, personally?” responded Jay. “Actually picked it up and read it?” Yes, Jay, that’s the question. “Years.”

This week, Gene Marks tells Loren Feldman why he thinks investing in small business marketing is a lot like going to Vegas or Atlantic City—especially if you don’t have good data. But, he says, there are things you can do to improve your odds. Gene and Loren also discuss why Gene is rethinking the CRM systems he recommends, why business travel is coming back stronger than many expected, and why we’re experiencing both a labor shortage and a wave of layoffs at the same time.

This week, in episode 107, Shawn Busse, Jay Goltz, and William Vanderbloemen discuss whether the old line about hiring slow and firing fast makes sense during a labor shortage. As William puts it, “What if you do have to hire fast? How do you do that? What if you do want to keep people even if you might have wanted to get rid of them before? How do you do that without ruining your culture?” Plus: How do you know it’s really time for someone to go? And what happens when employees share their salaries with each other? Anything good? And as we all binge watch the real life dramas about WeWork and Theranos, the question inevitably arises: Is it still okay to fake it until you make it? And if so, where do you draw the line?

This week, Loren Feldman and Gene Marks resume their weekly conversations about the most important stories affecting business owners, starting with why Gene was ahead of his time in taking his business remote and why he thinks it’s left his company dysfunctional. Plus: what should owners take from the latest strong jobs report? And how will businesses be affected if the Supreme Court does indeed overturn Roe v. Wade?