AmiSights: Financing the Future For Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Jon MacDonald, founder and president of The Good, an ecommerce conversion rate and customer experience optimization advisory that helps brands understand the clicks and movements of their website visitors, and use that data to convert more existing visitors into buyers. Jon also tells us how he spent his extra time during the pandemic writing a step-by-step book, "Opting in to Optimization."

"I said, 'If I come out of COVID, what is the one thing that I could really do for the business that is going to move the needle?'" he says. "The more I thought about it, the more I thought, I have time to write a book and share with the world our thought process on how we optimize over the past 15 years for ecommerce brands. I started by interviewing my teammates, my core team members at The Good, and said, 'if you could tell the world anything, what would it be? And let's figure that out.'"

The book, available at bookstores, thegood.com, and Amazon, where it has been a bestseller the past four or five months, is aimed at ecommerce founders or managers who are at the second or third stage of growth, Jon says.

"The third level is really when they start to dial it up. You are spending money to drive traffic, it's working. Now you want to get a better return on that ad spend. Those are the folks who really will get the most out of that book," he said.

While his company primarily works with large companies like Nike, Adobe and Xerox, he started a new wing called The Good Ventures which provides products for small businesses, such as the UserInput tool.

The Portland, Oregon company's name, The Good, derived out if its "mission is to remove all of the bad online experiences until only the good remain," Jon says.

While doing good by its customers, the company also does good by its employees and the community as it is a certified B Corporation.

"We put a lot of emphasis on culture, making sure that we have the right teammates, who embody and are attracted to that benefit corporation where we're putting people and planet before profits," he explains.

Listen here to learn how Jon's larger-than-average shoe size prompted him to delve into ecommerce optimization, how Obama's first presidential campaign changed digital optimization, and how The Good was prepared for what was coming when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit China.

Recorded 04/11/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Chris Earley, an ex-franchisee, founder and president of Liberty Inspection Group, based in Media, Pennsylvania. Chris tells us how he started his own home inspection company after getting his feet wet with a franchise. He also talks about diversifying his business to make it through the fluctuating real estate market. If your business is or isn't experiencing shifts because of economic factors, let Chris' story inspire you on how to navigate economic landmines.

"The franchise was good for us for a couple years; the business-in-the-box was really, really good – kind of got me going faster than I would have ordinarily," he explained. "But after a few years, it was just kind of like a waste of my royalties. I'm giving them 11% of everything I make, and I'm not getting any value in return."

He was one of the first franchisees to leave the company and was only in year eight of a 10-year non-compete agreement. So, he switched the name and kept the number and kept all the same clients. Although the franchisor came after him and he had to pay their attorney fees, it was worth it for him as he made back the money that he would have paid in royalties within a year.

Although the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 took its toll as he didn't have any income coming in, people began to "buy houses like crazy" and everybody was getting an inspection. But for the past 12-18 months, not only has the volume of sales down, but people are waiving inspections.

To compensate, he decided to start a handyman division, Canopy Building Services, with a separate C corporation and separate employees from the inspection side. Both companies share resources and have the same leadership team. The business model is also similar to Liberty's as they both incorporate Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and operate on traction.

Listen here as Chris also discusses what people should be aware of before selling their house, how his peer groups helped him through tough times, and the possibility of franchising his business.

Recorded 04/10/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Marissa Levin, a five-time, 30-year entrepreneur, speaker, best-selling author, mindset expert, and globally recognized growth and spiritual strategist. In today's episode, she tells us about her latest venture, I5 Conscious Leadership, a leadership education and consulting firm guided by a mission to elevate the consciousness of the world through leadership.

"At the heart of all of us is a beautiful spirit, and my spirit is definitely one that is here to uplift and empower others," she said. "My lifetime legacy mission – LLM – is to empower 1 billion people to live their most joyful lives. And I do that through the work that I do, through 30 years of entrepreneurship of helping people move past their self limiting beliefs, their deeply ingrained patterns that hold them back, and really step into their highest potential and remember who they are."

The impetus for this mission goes back 30 years to when she branched out on her own after working for a man who capped her value way below her worth, despite her education and how much money she was bringing into the company. She started her first business, Information Experts, a strategic communications and education firm. She launched the firm as a solopreneur with a $35,000 contract and grew the organization to approximately $14 million in revenue and 75 employees until she exited in 2012.

The model for her latest business, I5 Conscious Leadership, is intention, identity, integrity, insight, and inspiration.

"The first thing is you have to create a baseline, you have to know what you're working with," she said. "We start with an assessment of the organization in terms of where they are with their leadership. So many of the problems that can be avoided come from having the courage and the awareness to do the work to bridge the gap between how the leaders see themselves and how the employees see themselves."

The gap leads to disengagement, which according to research through Gallup and other sources, is high. The research finds that only 21% of employees are engaged at work, 90% of employees are fully miserable and 60% of employees are emotionally detached.

Listen here to learn more about the types of businesses I5 serves (hint: all types and sizes), how Marissa's public speaking boosts her business, and the importance of building a trusted team around you.

Recorded 04/07/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Joe Torres, CEO and president of Developmental Therapy Associates, based in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. He also runs a software development company and a real estate group and holding company. In this episode, Joe tells us how a near-fatal incident changed the trajectory of not only his career but also his life.

In 2012, he was riding his motorcycle to the gym when he was hit head-on by another vehicle, changing his life forever. He spent a month in the hospital and three months in a wheelchair and was introduced to the industries of physical, speech, and occupational therapy and rehab.

"I didn't know anything about it because up to that point, I never broke a single bone, and in that one accident, I broke over 22 of them. Both femurs, which I now have titanium rods and screws everywhere," he said. "I was introduced to this amazing industry that I would argue till I'm blue in the face helped me live whatever my normal, my new normal, would be."

A year later, he met his wife, who was, incidentally, a speech therapist.

"I immediately was enamored with her even more so because of her profession, and what it just did for me a year prior to even meeting her," he said.

A few years after that, the company his wife worked for went up for sale, and he put in the sweat equity to explore ways of making it happen.

"It was a multitude of different things. One, I took some of my other investments that I had and liquidated them and put that towards the purchase. The other was an SBA loan," he said.

While learning the ins and outs of an SBA loan and business acquisition was a challenging experience, he was comfortable in the decision because of his wife's experience and knowledge of the company.

While he is not a clinician, he believes that actually helps in running the business.

"What happens is a clinician, whether it be a medical doctor, primary care, dentist, it doesn't matter, they're actually clinical first, their mind is not business. Their first thought is, 'I want to help people.' And then what starts to happen is they find themselves in the middle of this business that they have no real earthly idea of running," he said.

Although the company is growing with four locations in North Carolina, hiring licensed practitioners continues to be the biggest headwind.

Listen here to learn more about how Joe and his wife divide the business duties based on their individual strengths and how a strong leadership team allows him to balance all of his business interests, as well as a few hobbies, too.

Recorded 04/04/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Tom Bronson, founder and president of the Business Transition Summit, as well as Mastery Partners and Mastering Mergers and Acquisitions. All three companies empower business owners to maximize business value and serve business owners in different capacities to help them achieve their dream exit. In this episode, we focus on what every business owner needs to know about business exit strategies for business success.

"I am what most people call a serial entrepreneur. I have owned, operated, and sold 100 businesses in my career," he said.

For every business that comes on the market, only 17% of them actually reach a closing table, meaning there's an 83% failure rate for businesses that attempt a transaction.

"My team and I started thinking about the things that we did in our businesses to make them more attractive and more valuable and prepared them for going on the market," he said. "And so we developed our own intellectual property around this where we do an assessment of the business, then we build a roadmap to get the business from where they are today to where they want to be, then we help that business owner and team execute that roadmap and ultimately reach a transaction."

His theory is that entrepreneurs should be thinking about their exit strategy when they first start up or buy a business, if not before.

"I have never gotten into a business without first thinking through what my exit strategy is going to be because I know that I'm not going to own this business forever," he said. "Every business on the planet will eventually transition, because we have an expiration date."

In order to be ready for a successful exit, a business must avoid owner dependency at all costs. He advises owners to document the tasks that only they know how to do, then teach somebody else how to do them and watch somebody else do some of those things.

"I get rid of all of those non-strategic things that I'm doing so I can spend more time thinking about strategy, and the business just starts improving," he said. "If you can't take time out of your business, then your business is owner-dependent, and you need to find a way to solve that. That is deal killer number one."

Listen here to learn what Bronson believes are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make, who makes a good candidate to sell your business to, and how to transition the leadership team.

Recorded 03/28/2023.

In today's podcast, I talk to Rich Trotter, a U.S. Army veteran-turned-entrepreneur who has led Rosati Ice for over 25 years. We talk about the catastrophic consequences caused by the pandemic shutdowns and how his employees pulled together to keep the company afloat. By having such loyal and dedicated employees, Rich has been able to continue his legacy and stay true to his value of "Mission First, People Always."

After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point and serving five years as an artillery officer, Rich eventually joined his dad's soft pretzel business. When the company was sold, Rich bought Rosati Ice – the "best Italian ice company" – in 1997 and adjusted the business model.

Instead of making the highest profits of the year just during the three or four months of summer, he focused on selling to K-12 schools to give him steady profits throughout the year. That model worked fabulously – making up 70% of the company's sales – until schools were suddenly shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"When the pandemic hit, it dropped our revenue by more than 50%," he said. "On paper, the company became bankrupt very quickly."

Support from his friends, family, and peer group kept him going during tough times. But it was his dedicated employees who saved the business. In December 2020, after asking the bank not to foreclose on the company, he laid off the entire staff, including himself. Half of the employees arrived the next day knowing they wouldn't be paid.

"They knew that if they stayed away, the business would certainly not stay in business. And they did whatever they needed to to help keep us afloat," he said. "And to them, I'll be forever indebted."

He also is forever grateful to his wife of 41 years, Debbie, who provided a respite at home from the grueling days at work.

"The support and space she gave me were off the charts," he said. "It allowed me to catch my breath when I did come home. She allowed me to stay completely focused on the business. And when it came to the family, all she wanted me to do was enjoy it, my kids and grandkids."

Now that schools are back in session, Rosati Ice still has a big hole to climb, but sales are inching toward pre-pandemic levels.

Rich is entirely hands-on, tracking the business' cash daily and constantly traveling to reconnect with customers he hasn't seen in a few years due to the pandemic.

Recorded 03/31/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Kent Gregoire, Co-Founder of Stakeholder Business, which is on a mission to help entrepreneurs transform their companies for maximum impact. In addition to his work with Stakeholder Business, he is also the Founder and CEO of Symphony Advantage. Being one of seven certified conscious capitalism consultants around the world, Kent wants to create more opportunities and solve more problems for stakeholders. The main topics of today's discussion will be conscious capitalism and stakeholder capitalism.

"Conscious capitalism is a way of being able to express, through business, how to elevate humanity to solve worthy problems for society and the planet," he explains. "Conscious capitalism itself is also a theory where stakeholder capitalism becomes the practice around creating companies that not only just say they do good, but their representation of what is happening is also doing well for other people."

While it may seem that conscious capitalism consists simply of giving a percentage of profits to a particular charity or creating a foundation, Kent says it goes deeper than that. It is a deliberate operating model set in place from the get-go rather than waiting to see if the business turns a profit. And it doesn't just have to relate to sharing profits.

"You can engage your stakeholders to help them innovate, find out what their purpose is, help your stakeholders be successful," he said. "If your stakeholders are successful, it's going to help you innovate in your organization, help you get access to products from other organizations faster, and help you with retention."

Learn more as Kent explains the five elements of stakeholder capitalism and how it changes business for good.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to serial entrepreneur Celeste Trapp, who has started an exciting new venture after nearly 20 years in the salon business. Celeste has begun her next venture as the CEO and Founder of Whoz, a SaaS social invite and engagement app to help companies and associations engage and retain their valued employees and members.

After working more than 10 years in marketing, Celeste founded Hair M – one of the first high-end men's grooming salons – in October 2003. Based in Portland, Hair M had seven salons at its peak. The pandemic, combined with social unrest in downtown Portland, took its toll on the operation, cutting her locations to five.

Her new venture, a SaaS social invite and engagement app called Whoz, has been nine years in the making.

"In life, I think that people are either an organizer, a joiner, or a no-goer," she explained. "I'm an organizer. I love bringing people together doing all kinds of things. And I get a lot of joy out of seeing those connections happen. What I realized over the years is there's just not a good tool to do that."

Sure, Facebook groups and Slack channels help people connect. But often, they end up creating a lot of noise for some who aren't interested in the conversations that don't align with their interests. The Whoz app will allow users with specific interests, like golf or travel, to connect at specific times and places.

We ask Celeste about the differences between launching a brick-and-mortar business and a tech app. Obviously, she says, an online-based business doesn't have to deal with building maintenance and rising rents, but also doesn't need as many employees, thus greatly reducing overhead.

But the same "creative problem solving I just get so jazzed up about" remains constant in any venture.

Celeste also shares how she plans to make money with her new app and what she plans to do with her salons when she hits it big with Whoz.

Recorded 03/27/2023.

In today's podcast, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka SBA Queen, and I talk to Donya Gordon, a contract attorney who focuses on commercial contracts, eCommerce M & A transactions, contract dispute resolution, distress business sales, and escrow services. The main focus of today's conversation is what an entrepreneur should do to prepare for a successful transaction before the deal arrives on the attorney's desk.

After working with prominent law firms and as a judicial clerk for several years, Donya went out alone a couple of years ago without any outside financing. As a result, she is a one-woman show, except for contractors who help with heavy loads.

E-commerce is especially hot now, coming off the pandemic, with much movement in buying and selling businesses. Donya explains the importance of having an attorney specializing in e-commerce to guide entrepreneurs through the process.

"You don't want just to do this blindly," she says. "If your car breaks down, you're not fixing it yourself. And if you need a root canal, you're not doing it yourself. So why do you think you can be the attorney in a transaction? I encourage people to have a lawyer, but encourage you to get an e-commerce lawyer instead of just a lawyer."

We ask Donya what buyers and sellers can do well in advance to prepare for negotiations.

For buyers, make sure you have the money, she says. For sellers, make sure your financials are in order. You don't want poor bookkeeping or debts hampering the sale. And make sure you continue to put your foot on the gas. Just because you have an interested buyer doesn't mean you can give up. Deals can fall through at the last minute; ensure you have done your due diligence until the papers are signed.

Recorded 03/23/2023.

Welcome back to the AmiSights Podcast! Today we welcome our new Co-Host, MultiFunding President Lynn Ozer, aka the SBA Queen. On this episode, we talk to Josh Watson, founder of EIS Automation, a Las Vegas-based manufacturing automation company focusing on product handling and end-of-line solutions. This is a must see episode for entrepreneurs in exponential growth mode. We discuss how to finance growth and how saying no can lead to success.

Josh, who grew up in the printing industry, worked for a larger company when he decided to go out on his own in 2012. However, he maintained a consulting contract with his former employer until 2017. Since then, he has seen steady growth, including a big bump during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when he was considered an essential service catering to the medical space.

Although he has considered adding angel investors, he realizes that comes with risk, especially since he is in the hardware world, which is very capital-intensive and has much longer build times than just a software business.

He reached his "aha moment" last year when he realized he was in a position to pick and choose his customers rather than accepting every bid that came across his desk.

"You have to look at where you want to go and not get distracted by the shiny things on the side of the road," he said. "Not every opportunity should be taken, especially if you have a goal in mind in the direction you want to go."

He is weighing his immediate and long-term needs with higher interest rates. After all, interest rates can go down, and the monthly payment is the point to worry about.

Looking back, he realizes he needs to trust the process and not sweat the small stuff.

"You always cook it hotter than you eat it. So a lot of situations resolved themselves," he said. "It requires a lot of personal growth."

We learned a lot from Josh, and we're sure you will too.

Recorded 02/22/2023.