Podcasts about house small business committee

Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez is serving her sixteenth term as Representative for New York's 7th Congressional District. In the 118th Congress, she is the Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, and a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. As a fighter for the equal rights of the underrepresented and a proponent of economic opportunity for the working class and poor, Congresswoman Velázquez combines sensibility and compassion as she works to encourage economic development, protect community health and the environment, combat crime and worker abuses, and secure access to affordable housing, quality education, and health care for all New York City families. Katharine Pichardo-Erskine is a trailblazer who has melded political organizing expertise and executive leadership to become a widely recognized change-maker in the governmental, political, and civic arena. She took charge as Executive Director at Latino Victory with a mission perfectly suited to her 25 years of experience as a successful leader and passionate advocate: building political power within the Latino community and ensuring that Latino voices are included in the nation's policy and fiscal agenda.  Most recently, Katharine served as Senior Vice President at the MirRam Group, a top-tier New York-based strategic consulting firm where she has managed some of the firm's most prominent portfolios. Between 2018 and 2022, Katharine also led the firm's political arm, as President of the Hamilton Campaign Network (HCN). In this week's episode, we discuss Nydia's twenty-five political career and how her contributions have improved our country. Nydia shares stories about the man who tried to sabotage her career, her spearheaded policies, and all the amazing ways she's supported our community. And you can help support her, too! Latino representation in politics has always been an issue, but now is an amazing time for Latinas to join the cause. Tune in to this week's episode to learn how.  Keep up with Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez on her Instagram and her official website.  Keep up with Katherine on her LinkedIn and the Latino Victory website.  For all Hella Latin@ updates, follow @hellalatinopodcast on Instagram and connect on LinkedIn. More at odalysjasmine.com. To learn more about your ad choices visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Elaine Parker, Chief Communications Officer, Job Creators Network (JCN). JCNF to Testify Before House Small Business Committee on SBA Politicization

Agencies, once again, set new records almost across the board for contracting with small businesses in fiscal 2023. New data from the Small Business Administration shows agencies awarded an all-time high of 28.4% of all eligible federal contract dollars to small businesses. At the same time, SBA's new small business scorecard data shows agencies met or surpassed governmentwide goals in three of five socio-economic category, including service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. In all, agencies awarded $178.6 billion to small businesses last year, which is an increase of $15.7 billion from 2022. The governmentwide small business contracting goal is 23%. House Small Business Committee lawmakers recently passed a bill to increase that goal to 25%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election season is in full effect!Join us for a special afternoon fireside chat with Congressman Dean Phillips as he discusses his decision to run for President in 2024.This will be an oppertunity to meet one of the many candidates running for office in 2024 and ask Congressman Phillips questions.Manny's never turns away anyone for lack of funds. To receive a complementary ticket just email the word "grapefruit" and the title of this event to luis@welcometomannys.com.Want to support community members? By purchasing a "Pay It Forward" ticket you will allow us to provide free tickets to those who may not be able to afford entry otherwise and ensure we can create a diverse socio-economic audience that represents San Francisco. About Congressman Dean Phillips:Dean Phillips is a father, businessman, civic leader, eternal optimist, and Representative for Minnesota's Third Congressional District in Congress.A Gold Star Son who lost his birth father, Artie, in the Vietnam War, Dean was adopted into the Phillips family when his mother DeeDee married Eddie Phillips, who raised Dean to work hard and always share success.Dean was raised in Edina, attended Brown University, and returned to Minnesota to earn his MBA from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business. After working at a variety of small startups, he worked his way up and eventually led his family's business, Phillips Distilling. He later went on to help build Talenti Gelato into one of the top-selling ice cream brands in the country and opened Penny's Coffee, a small business in the Twin Cities. Dean is active in the philanthropic community in Minnesota through the Phillips Family Foundation.In Congress, Dean is focused on restoring Americans' faith in our government. He's on a mission to inspire a new era of collaboration in Washington, pursue common ground for the common good, and end the corrupting influence of special interest money in our politics. Dean is Vice Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Middle East, Northern Africa, and Central Asia Subcommittee.Dean has shown leadership and a commitment to working across the aisle during the COVID-19 pandemic. After hearing from struggling small business owners in the summer of 2020, Dean wrote the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act with Texas Republican Chip Roy. Signed into law by President Trump, this critical piece of legislation helped small businesses keep their doors open and saved thousands of American jobs. Dean has also been a voice for oversight and transparency of trillions of pandemic-related stimulus dollars, and has led the Problem Solvers Caucus in negotiations with the White House and Congressional leadership to deliver bipartisan solutions for the American people

On this Salcedo Storm Podcast:Roger Williams represents the 25th congressional district of Texas. He is the Chairman of House Small Business Committee. He also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

On this Salcedo Storm Podcast:Roger Williams represents the 25th congressional district of Texas. He is the Chairman of House Small Business Committee. He also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

In this episode, Alfredo & Elaine interview Congressman Roger Williams, the chairman of the House Small Business Committee, the topics discussed include the electric vehicles, consumer pushback, the war on domestic energy, and the challenges of the joint employer rule. Williams emphasizes the importance of letting the consumer decide and the negative impact of government intervention on small businesses. Main Street Matters is part of the Salem Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Wednesday & Friday. For more information visit JobCreatorsNetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Arizona veteran who started a string of Prescott businesses after his military service ended told lawmakers Wednesday that reducing barriers and streamlining federal loan applications are essential to helping other vets become business owners. “While we appreciate the well-intentioned government programs such as the Small Business Administration and the Office of Veterans Business Development, it is disheartening to find that these programs often present barriers, red tape, and bureaucratic hurdles when seeking assistance,” said Grant Quezada, owner of Founding Fathers Collective. Quezada's comments to the House Small Business Committee hearing were echoed by other veterans on the panel as... For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/prescott-resident-decries-hurdles-veterans-face-trying-to-start-a-business/Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

On this Salcedo Storm Podcast:Congressman Williams represents Texas' 25th Congressional District. Congressman Williams is the Chairman of the House Small Business Committee and sits on the House Financial Services Committee.

Fresh off of her triumphant visit to Capitol Hill we're joined by Lynn Mucenski-Keck, an S-CORP Advisor and Principal at top-25 public accounting firm Withum. Lynn recaps her appearance before the House Small Business Committee, including the specific tax provisions discussed, her back and forth with some of the panel's members, and her thoughts on the whole experience. Later we discuss IRS funding, advice for aspiring CPAs, and how Artificial Intelligence might shape the accounting profession in the years to come. 

On this Salcedo Storm Podcast:Congressman Roger Williams represents Texas' 25th Congressional in North Texas. Congressman Williams is the Chairman of the House Small Business Committee and sits on the House Financial Services Committee.

Support Us Here! --> https://anchor.fm/politicana/support Hello and welcome to the Politicana Podcast, where Tyler, Prateek, and Nick keep you up-to-date on all things Politics! New episodes will be uploaded at the beginning of every week (Typically Monday), so stay tuned and follow us on your favorite podcasting platform to be notified when new episodes are available. We will be releasing Part 2 on Wednesday of this week. Please email Backofthemob@gmail.com with any comments, questions, or inquiries. -- Topics And Timestamps -- 0:45 - Joe Biden named in 2017 email to Hunter seeking China natural gas deal Joe Biden's name was mentioned throughout an October 2017 email found within Hunter Biden's laptop seeking to firm up a controversial, multimillion-dollar deal to ship natural gas from the US to China, This entire revelation is a new blow to Hunter and Joe Biden after Hunter has been revealed to have access to Joe Biden's corvette in the same garage where classified documents were improperly stored. 15:45 - FBI searches Biden's Wilmington home and finds more classified materials FBI investigators on Friday found additional classified material while conducting a search of President Joe Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home. 31:40 - What are Americans looking for in presidential candidates 38:00 - Updates on the recent Harvard—Harris Poll for GOP and Dem Candidates on January 18th 48:00 - George Santos gets two committee assignments The House GOP Steering Committee on Tuesday recommended that embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) sit on the House Small Business Committee and House Science, Space and Technology Committee, according to sources familiar with the assignments. 1:05:45 - Many Powerful spending committees are now led by women for the first time in the Senate --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/politicana/support

Robert J. Weiner is professor of international business, public policy & public administration, and international affairs, at the George Washington University School of Business, Washington DC. He serves concurrently as Director of the Master of Science in International Business (MSIB) program. He has been a member of the Editorial Board, Area Editor (Energy, Environment & Natural Resources), and Consulting Editor for the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS). Prof. Weiner's research interests and projects focus on economic, financial, and managerial aspects of energy, including resource nationalism & political risk; oil, transparency, & corruption; petroleum fiscal vulnerability; dynamics of energy crises; foreign investment; oil speculation and market turbulence; and privatization & the behavior of state-owned enterprises in the world petroleum market. Prof. Weiner served twice as Chairman of the GW Department of International Business, building its research-oriented faculty and national ranking. He was a research fellow in the International Energy Program, JFK School, Harvard University and consultant to companies, NGOs, IGOs, and governments. Before joining the professoriat, he was an energy and environment consultant at ICF Inc. Prof. Weiner testified before the U.S. Congress (Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade of the House Small Business Committee, 2011), and U.K. Parliament, Commons Treasury Select Committee, Panel on Regulation of Oil Markets (2008). He served as an eminent person on commodities for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2003).Prof. Weiner received his Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics, and Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Business Economics, all from Harvard University. He has coauthored four books and many articles, focusing on natural resources, especially petroleum. Visit https://www.aib.world/frontline-ib/robert-weiner/ for the original video interview.

Veteran U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth) is about to start his eighth term on Capitol Hill, after winning re-election to his east-central Missouri district in November. The district includes parts of Columbia, Ashland, Fulton and O'Fallon. Congressman Luetkemeyer is in line to become the powerful chairman of the U.S. House Small Business Committee in January. He joined us live on 939 the Eagle's "Wake Up Mid-Missouri" to preview the new Congress and to reflect on the 75th anniversary of a program the congressman has touted for years: Toys for Tots:

On Episode 8 of the GOPAC Podcast, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-NY) joins us to discuss the upcoming midterm elections, foreign affairs, and a little bit of New York sports. Congresswoman Tenney previously served on the New York State Assembly and got elected for Congress in 2014. She currently sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Small Business Committee.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Chrissy Wozniak gains some insight into the upcoming Farm Bill with Women in Agribusiness Summit Speaker Brooke Appleton Vice President of Public Policy for the National Corn Growers Association.The 11th annual Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit will take place this year September 26-28 in Dallas, Texas. The event is renowned for annually convening more than 800 of the country's female agribusiness decision-makers, and for building a year-round community of career-minded women. WIA initiatives have grown to include WIA Membership, WIA Career Connector, WIA Demeter Award of Excellence, Scholarships, and the WIA Today blog. The 2022 Women in Agribusiness Summit will feature nearly 40 industry expert speakers and cover topics such as supply chain disruption, the impact of the war in Ukraine, immigration challenges, price volatility in the ag market, and animal agriculture. It also will feature an update on what's to come for the 2023 Farm Bill, which will be covered by speaker Brooke Appleton of the National Corn Growers Association, who is today's guest.Brooke Appleton works in concert with the board and leadership to develop and implement the organization's policy priorities and manages all outreach to Congress, the administration, and government agencies.With close to two-decades of experience in Washington, Brooke has served in senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Capitol Hill, and with some of the nation's leading commodity groups.Prior to heading NCGA's Washington office, Brooke served as chief of staff for the deputy secretary at USDA, managing the office's day-to-day operations and serving as the deputy secretary's lead advisor.She also served as a chief advisor on agricultural and environmental issues to Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri) as he chaired the House Small Business Committee. Prior to her committee work, Brooke served as an agricultural advisor in Graves' congressional office.Thanks to her upbringing on a multi-generation row crop and cattle farm in northwest Missouri, Brooke is able to couple her deep understanding of agriculture with her extensive knowledge of the policy process to effect change for America's corn growers.Brooke holds a B.A. in agribusiness management with a minor in international agriculture and political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.Don't miss Brooke's presentation along with many other ag professionals live in Dallas at the Women In Agribusiness Summit September 26-28. Register at - https://agr.fyi/wia_register. For more information visit - https://wia.highquestevents.com/website/34360/The Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit annually convenes over 800 of the country's female agribusiness decision-makers. The 2022 WIA Summit, September 26-28 in Dallas, TX includes presentations from Cargill's Corporate Senior Vice President, Animal Health & Nutrition, Ruth Kimmelshue; Marco Orioli, VP of Global Grain & Processing for EMEA, CHS; and Brooke Appleton of the NCGA. Learn more at https://agr.fyi/wia_register. FIRA USA 18-20 OCT. 2022 (FRESNO-CA): The only 3-day event dedicated to the California and North America market for autonomous agriculture and agricultural robotics solutions.Learn More at https://agr.fyi/fira

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Bridget Weston, CEO of the SCORE Association, about SCORE: How can people sign up to mentor, how people can find help, and how mentoring and SCORE have changed as a result of the pandemic. Bridget is the CEO of the SCORE Association, which provides free mentoring and education to current and aspiring small business owners through its network of 10,000 volunteers. A respected thought leader in the small business landscape, Ms. Weston has testified before the House Small Business Committee and appeared on MSNBC. Ms. Weston earned her MBA from Temple University and a BS in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Recorded 09/30/2021.

In this episode we discuss several updates; House Small Business Committee holds discussion with SBA Administrator; announces official COVID-19 EIDL program closing; two years to apply for EIDL increase ; infrastructure bill signed by Pres. Biden; ; PPP forgiveness updates, EIDL approvals increase as it comes to a close with $billions remaining; EIDL reconsideration tips; ERTC up to $30,000 per employee ended Sept 30, 2021 (can still file amended 941); Federal Broadband Benefit, state relief. Several grants available. Let's talk about what this means for small business. Connect and watch live on Facebook: http://bit.ly/SheBossTalkShow Subscribe to our YouTube Channel http://bit.ly/SheBossTalkYouTube Subscribe to our Podcast https://anchor.fm/shebosstalk Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/shebosstalk Follow us on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/shebosstalk Opportunities to be Part of the Show She Boss Talk Show Guest - Apply bit.ly/SBTShowGuests She Boss Talk Ambassador - Apply bit.ly/SBTAmbassador She Boss Talk Author Spotlight - Apply bit.ly/SBTAuthorSpotlight She Boss Talk Product Reviews - Apply bit.ly/SBTPRoductReview She Boss Sponsorship - Submit http://bit.ly/SBTSponsors Visit us at www.shebosstalk.com. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shebosstalk/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/shebosstalk/support

In Kansas, small business owners, new and old, struggle to adapt to the changing economy and modernization needed to survive during COVID-19. Congresswoman Sharice Davids, of the House Small Business Committee, is working to support these entrepreneurs through community lending, grant funding, and tech resources. Tune in as she speaks with Gene Marks about the 4 bills she's sponsoring to help local small businesses navigate during the pandemic. Resources: Learn more about how the pandemic has changed small business with our article, Top 6 Small Business Trends to Know for 2021 at www.paychex.com/articles/management/small-business-trends. DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this podcast, and that is further provided by the presenter, should not be considered legal or accounting advice, and should not substitute for legal, accounting, or other professional advice in which the facts and circumstances may warrant. We encourage you to consult legal counsel as it pertains to your own unique situation(s) and/or with any specific legal questions you may have.

Karen Kerrigan, SBE Council, on tax proposals such as the STEP Act (a new "death tax") & changes to 20% deduction for small biz; the latest Supreme Court Obamacare decision; this week's House Small Business Committee hearing on access to broadband.

Karen Kerrigan, SBE Council, on Treas. Secretary Yellen's refusal to testify before House Small Business Committee, and SBA Admin. Isabella Guzman's testimony; how Biden tax increases will hurt small business; update on Innovation Act & INFORM Act.

On this week's Radically Pragmatic Podcast, Crystal Swann, Senior Policy Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and Mosaic Economic Project lead and Hilary Abell, Mosaic Economic Project Cohort member and co-founder of Project Equity, sit down with Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), a trained engineer, entrepreneur and veteran. Congresswoman Houlahan serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Small Business Committee. Additionally, she is the Chair and Founder of the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, is Co-Chair of the Women in STEM Caucus, and is a Whip in the New Democrat Coalition. They discuss the role of women in the new post-COVID economy, removing barriers to childcare, supporting access to capital for women of color seeking to become entrepreneurs, expanding access to affordable health care and more. This podcast was in partnership with PPI's Mosaic Economic Project. The Mosaic Economic Project is a network of diverse and highly credentialed women in fields of economics and technology. Mosaic programming focuses on upskilling, connecting, and advocating for cohort participants' meaningful engagement in public policy debates, with a particular focus on engaging Congress and the media. Learn more about the Mosaic Economic Project here: https://progressivepolicy.org/project/mosaic/ Learn more about the Progressive Policy Institute here: https://progressivepolicy.org/

On today's Government Affairs Update, we re-cap the provisions of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and discuss the rescheduling of the House Small Business Committee hearing on the PPP FAR credits clause now set for March 23rd. 

In this episode, Max Cook, President & CEO of MBA, interviews Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer who represents Missouri's 3rd Congressional District. Congressman Luetkemeyer is the Ranking Member on the House Small Business Committee and the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Congressman Luetkemeyer shares his priorities serving in both roles as well as his perspective on what to expect in the years ahead for the financial services industry.

Steve Hall and Matt Reiffer joined the program to provide an update on the PPP FAR Credits Clause and to announce ACEC's participation in a House Small Business Committee hearing on the 9th focused on that very issue.  More information about the hearing can be found here.

Karen Kerrigan, SBE Council (SBECouncil.org), discusses her testimony before the House Small Business Committee on the COVID-19 economy and the need for smart policy for small businesses, their employees, their communities, and their customers.

Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO of SBE Council (SBECouncil.org), on the "Buy American" EO, the "Raise the Wage" Act, the lastest GDP data, the "GameStop situation" and her upcoming testimony before the House Small Business Committee next week.

For twenty-five years Karen Kerrigan’s leadership, advocacy and training work has helped foster U.S. entrepreneurship and global business growth.  She is  president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and is the group’s chief advocate for its members. Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs, investment and the economy, most recently before the House Small Business Committee and Financial Services Committee in 2020 on access to capital issues for small businesses and how newly implemented programs during the COVID-19 pandemic (like PPP and EIDL) can be improved to help more small businesses, and reach those with limited access to traditional financial institutions. She has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards including the National Women’s Business Council, the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialog, the U.S. Treasury’s Taxpayer Advisory Panel, and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan regularly engages with the President’s cabinet and key advisors, and has spoken or led roundtables at several White House economic summits, scores of events hosted by the Small Business Administration, U.S. Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal government agencies and departments. Kerrigan is a collaborative and well-respected individual within the business community who has led numerous coalitions and initiatives with diverse partners and organizations.  Kerrigan chairs the newly formed Small Business Roundtable, a coalition of leading small business and entrepreneurship organizations dedicated to advancing policy, securing access and promoting inclusion to benefit the businesses at the heart of the American economy.  She has written hundreds of Op-Eds and newspaper columns, and regularly appears on national television and talk radio programs. Kerrigan regularly appears on Fox Business to provide analysis and commentary on the latest economic data, what’s driving the markets, and the outlook for the economy, entrepreneurship and small business growth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we start the CONGRESSIONAL COVIDCalls discussions with my guest United States House Representative Chrissy Houlahan.Chrissy Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, an engineer, a serial entrepreneur, an educator, and a nonprofit leader. She’s in her second term representing Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Chester County and southern Berks County. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Small Business Committee.

New parameters around Paycheck Protection Program funding. COVID-19 liability protection. Potential increases to the minimum wage. The importance of affordable health care for small business owners. The challenges of big tech and need to establish a level playing field for small business owners to succeed, not only during these trying times, but also into the future. Listen in as we discuss these issues and more with Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, Chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee. If you want a feel for what Congress plans to do to address the most pressing business challenges of today, and what to expect from them in 2021, this episode is for you. Want to hear what else 2021 may bring for taxes, health care, regulations, and more? Watch a recording of our special digital event, The Business Impacts of the 2020 Elections: A National Perspective. DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this podcast, and that is further provided by the presenter, should not be considered legal or accounting advice, and should not substitute for legal, accounting, or other professional advice in which the facts and circumstances may warrant. We encourage you to consult legal counsel as it pertains to your own unique situation(s) and/or with any specific legal questions you may have.

Craig Willett: This is Craig Willett, The Biz Sherpa. I’d like to welcome you to our three-part series on starting a business. What I hope to accomplish in our first part of this series is to give you some questions to think about to see your readiness to start a business. This is not meant to discourage you from starting a business, but actually to help you do what is best for you and give you a greater chance to succeed in business. People have asked me, “Well, why are you doing this podcast?” And I think to myself, “Well, that’s a great question.” But it’s really an opportunity for me to give back. A number of years ago when I had my real estate development business going full steam ahead, I told my assistant one day, “I’m trying to find another president to this company so that I can step back and do what I really want to do.” And she said, “Well, Craig, what’s that?” And I said to her, “Terry, I really just want to give back and help the next generation of entrepreneurs.” This is my opportunity to help launch the next generation of entrepreneurs. Small business—it means a lot to me. Not only did I have 700 small business clients as a CPA, but I also testified in Congress on tax legislation that benefits small businesses even to today, back in 1994. And so, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Congress and testify in the House Small Business Committee, as well as the House Ways and Means Committee. And then showing you how naive I am, at one point I was testifying in the Senate Finance Committee and I was on the panel with three former IRS commissioners, and I didn’t even know it. I think had I known, I would have been really nervous that day. So I really have had a life of blessings and benefits from being a small business owner. My businesses have grown, have been wildly successful, and have rewarded me in great ways. But the most important way is that I built a number of relationships with a number of people that I cherish and will cherish for the rest of my life. One of the first things I want you to think about is, what are the virtues and benefits to business ownership? So if you could answer that question to yourself, I think that’s one place to start. As I consider that question, one answer to this could be—and there’s a million answers, so none of them are right and none are wrong, but it employs other people. You have the opportunity to be able to change the neighborhood where you live. When I was a business owner—a real estate developer—I had the opportunity to employ a lot of people. Not only those that worked for my development company, but the general contractors that we employed, the architecture firms, the engineering firms, and the cities that we got approvals, and we paid a lot of fees to employ people there as well. It was far reaching and had a great economic impact. Another thing to think of is an opportunity to express your creativity. Someone once said, “Creativity is the highest form of expression.” And I would like to have you think about what is unique to you? How can you come up with the product or service and deliver it in a way that is unique and that will bring about that expression of your creativity? You’ll be more successful as you can carve out that niche. The other part of it is, it can be emotionally rewarding. You have the opportunity to develop your own emotional currency. I’ve talked about that in my second episode of The Biz Sherpa podcast. And I really find that is a lifeblood of being a business owner. Many people will tell you, “You don’t need to start a business.” In fact, I had some people tell me, “Craig, this won’t be successful.” The business grew to be over a $700 million business when I had a few neighbors tell me that they didn’t think it would work, mainly because I think one of them had tried it a number of years earlier than I did, but did it at a time where probably the economic circumstances weren’t right for it. That emotional reward can bring benefit to you throughout your life. It will boost your confidence. Not only will it boost your confidence, but it will bring joy and happiness that go beyond the dollars and cents of business. The other thing that I really like about small business is that it’s the engine that drives the free enterprise system in our country. Small businesses employ over 47 and a half percent of the workforce. That would be businesses under 500 employees. In addition, they create 64 percent of all new jobs every year. I think this makes it the lifeblood of our economy. I want to encourage successful startups that have the best chance for success, so some of the things we’re going to talk about today will help you assess your readiness to start a business. Again, I don’t want this to be discouraging if you don’t pass the test. In fact, one of the tests that I’m going to recommend today—and our special guest that we’re going to host, she’ll tell you—I’ll tell you right now, I didn’t pass the test at a high enough level for me. I had to cheat to kind of get above average. So you want to ask yourself the question, “Why do I want to start a business?” Now, you may answer that question by saying, “Well, gee, I want freedom and flexibility. I get tired of the 9:00 to 5:00 job.” And while I think that’s a great answer that you’re tired of your 9:00 to 5:00 job, and that you want to do something more, I don’t think on its surface it’s sufficient enough. Because quite frankly, as a business owner, the business owns you for the first several years anyway, and you’ll be working much more than 9:00 to 5:00. Now, you may find that that’s okay. You may say, “That’s okay with me, Craig. I don’t mind working at midnight. I don’t mind having long hours on certain days, as long as I have the flexibility to do some of the other things that I like.” If that’s the kind of freedom and flexibility you’re thinking about, then you’re going down the right path. Some of you may say, “Well, gee, I have a creative idea, Craig.” And I think of Steve Jobs going out into his garage. And he had worked on a farm where they picked apples. And that’s where he came up with the idea of the Apple computer. Most of you today have been influenced by a lot of the products that came from that ingenuity and the innovative idea. So I would encourage you to continue down that path of figuring out how you can be innovative and how you can be unique. You may have industry experience, you may be working in a career that you’ve had for 10, 15 years, and you find that there’s a niche market that’s not being served. You’ve come up with an idea or a product that might fill that niche that other big companies don’t have the time to pursue. This is a great opportunity and a great reason to start a business. Some of you may say, “I really just want to control my future.” I think at the end of the day, that’s where I was. I wanted the ability to be in control and in charge, in charge of when I retire, even though that didn’t happen at the end of the day. Economic circumstances led me to wind down one of my businesses prematurely. But controlling your future allows you to eat what you kill. A lot of people say, “Gee, I just don’t get paid enough for what I do.” Well, go ahead and start a business and you’ll find out whether you get paid enough or not. Be careful. You could end up, with all the hours you work, getting minimum wage or less. But I would look at really, seriously how you can reap what you sow. That was a great desire of mine when I started my business. I wanted my extra effort, my hard work of going above and beyond, to really pay off for me and for my family and to get that extra reward. And I think that’s a valid reason to start a business, but not the only reason to start a business. Some of you may want to just have a second career. You’re coming to the end of your career, you’re looking at retirement and saying, “Gee, what am I going to do sitting around all day?” And you really want to ask yourself, “What would it be like? How long into retirement do I want to work? And what would this career look like?” I think it’s a valid reason, among many other reasons, to start a business. Another one is to create financial security. Well, that may sound a bit like an oxymoron in starting a business because quite frankly, when you start a business, you’re really starting financial insecurity for a little while. And we’ll talk a little bit about that today and how to manage through that. In the other two parts of my series, we’ll also touch on this in depth to help you with that very concern that you have. But financial security can be created as you build wealth independent of your business. And you’ve heard me talk about that in my third episode about building enduring wealth. And I think that’s an important aspect to follow. But you can create wealth inside the business too, have an asset to sell, you can create a unique set of circumstances that’s rewarding for you. So now I want to talk about some reasons why not to start a business. Now, we’re going to have a little bit of fun today on the podcast and on our YouTube channel. If you’ll bear with me, I’m going to change clothes a couple of times and come in and we’re going to role act or play act for you, some reasons not to start a business. And this is meant to be light and it’s not meant to discourage you, but it’s to help to put into perspective some things that I’ve observed through the years from people that have come to me with ideas to start a business, and I’ve been able to help them put that into proper perspective. So hopefully you’ll bear with me. Is it alright if I kick off my sandals? You don’t mind joining me for a cold one on the beach, do you? Starting your own business is not something you really can do on the beach. Yes, I’ve read The 4-Hour Workweek, but I’m not sure that it symbolizes all that it’s cracked out to be. There is the freedom and the flexibility in owning your business. But let me tell you, in the first couple of years of any successful business, it’s going to eat your lunch and require more of your time than you can imagine. So the number two reason not to start a business is freedom and flexibility. Don’t think you’re going to be on vacation all the time, or that you can go where you want when you want to. You may have control over some of the things that you do, like working till midnight on certain days so that you can make up for it by having fun doing something else, but freedom and flexibility by being at the beach every day—unless you’re a surfboard maker—probably not the idea of success. I’m so excited to have you join me on this podcast, especially about making money. A lot of times people ask me, “What’s the number one reason to start a business?” I usually turn it on them: “Why would you start a business?” And the answer I usually get is, “To make money.” I think that’s absolutely the wrong answer. The answer should be that you start a business to enhance the lives of others by delivering a product or service in a way that changes their life. When you do that, the money will take care of itself. So get rid of the dollars and cents and focus on the people and making a difference in their lives. Another word about the dollar signs. One time, I went to meet with a potential lender, and this was an unconventional lender—it was an owner of an insurance company. We had a rather unique project that we were trying to finance in the development business. And my CFO introduced me to this company. We went to interview them to talk to them about our project and their funding it. The owner of the insurance company came in wearing a pair of glasses, just like these. And it was funny at first and I kind of laughed, and then he took them off and we had a serious discussion about our project. But I could tell he was more interested in his return than he was interested in our success. And I think people sense that. When people know that you’re after their money more than you’re after making them happy and providing them a quality product or service and making a difference in their life, they’ll make the right choice too. So if you want your business to be successful, do like I did. Avoid the person that’s wearing these. And I also don’t think that we should run our businesses as if they’re hobbies. We’re there to make a profit, and so we need to be serious about it. And if it’s just a casual approach, it will be tough to be successful. There’s two reasons. Don’t make your hobby your business, and don’t make your business your hobby. Hopefully, you’re laughing with me and not at me, as you share some of those goofy vignettes with your friends. Now to get more serious, what does it take to start a business? What can I expect as a first time business owner? Well, I think one of the aspects that it takes is sacrifice. If you haven’t learned to sacrifice, you will soon learn as you start your business. But let’s talk about it. What kinds of things do you sacrifice? One of the sacrifices that comes first to my mind is time. A sacrifice of time, meaning you don’t control the hours in your day, if your customers or clients need you, you need to be there. Especially in the early days before you have a lot of employees, it’s going to take a lot and consume a lot of your time. And you need to be able to set aside maybe some other hobbies, or pursuits, or some of your other recreation to be able to do what it takes to invest in your future because that’s what I view it as. It’s an investment in your future to spend that time. The other sacrifice—and let me tell you, the sacrifice of time is rewarding in the future, but you have to pay the price today. The other sacrifice you may make is cash flow. Some of the initial cash flow from the business is going to be reinvested in other products, services, marketing that will help enhance the success and create long-term viability for your business. So you need to be prepared to live on less money. I remember the days when Carol and I lived on $25 a week in groceries. Of course, that was over 30 years ago. But you need to be willing to make those kinds of sacrifices if you really have a passion for your business, your product, your service, and for your customers. The other thing that you need to be prepared for as you start a business is ask yourself, “Do I have the confidence?” Often, we get beat up. I told you I had some friends tell me, “Craig, what you’re going to do won’t work.” And it ended up being a very successful business, my development business. And I really took it to heart for two reasons. One, when they told me that, it made me want to step up and prove them wrong. So you have to be able to have the inner confidence to reach inside yourself. Believe in what you’re doing and have a reasonable chance of success. And then put all your energies into it. But without that confidence, any first easy setback could make you fold the tent. And I don’t think you want to do that when you’re going to really step aside from a full-time job, a well paying job to go and sacrifice your time, and your commitment, and your efforts, and your energies. You need to also have the confidence that it will work out. It requires patience to do that. And so I want to talk about a list of questions you can ask yourself now of how well prepared you might be. One of the questions I think you should ask yourself is, “How much debt do I have?” Now, why would I ask that question? Aside from maybe the obvious, if I have a huge debt burden that the cash flow from the business isn’t able to sustain it, I might find myself having to deal with restructuring my personal finances all in the midst of having to spend the early days of my business focused on my clients. Something’s got to give. And in most cases it’ll probably detract from the business. What savings do I have? Or, how am I going to live during the initial months of my startup? Another question you may ask is, “What is my financial support? Do I have an investor? Do I have family money that I can turn to and rely on in the early days to help me get started?” When I started my CPA firm, I was lucky. I was very fortunate that even though Carol and I had put our last savings down on a new home, I was able to use some of the resources I had having painted houses during the summertime while I went to college, and I was able to use the money. That saved me to help me get started. I was able to buy a phone and a desk, second hand and cheaply. But instead of having a security deposit, I was able to paint at the first office. And I think you have to look at those resources and be willing to sacrifice and really dig deep into how you are going to be financially supported. You may ask yourself the question, “Where do I get emotional support? Do I have family or friends who believe in what I’m doing?” I still remember the day that my father-in-law when I told him why I was selling my CPA practice and going to move to Arizona, and my wife was by my side—his daughter. And he said to me, he goes, “Craig, you’re making a mistake.” And you know what? While I knew at that point in time I didn’t have his total buy-in, it gave me again the motivation to probably prove him wrong, although I love the man and I don’t really hold it against him. But, I knew I could turn to my wife because she had given me emotional support up to that point in the other business that I had started. My father-in-law is a good man, and I don’t blame him. Looking back at his age at the time, he was in his mid-60s, he was retired from a long banking career, having risen to the top as the chairman and president of the bank. I could see him looking at me as a young 30-something-year-old and saying, “You’re crazy. You have everything you want. You have a good business and your family’s comfortable. Why would you mix it up now?” But I think you have to have that passion, but certainly look at where you get your emotional support. Then you have to ask yourself, “What doubts do I have?” Have you ever considered what are the inner demons that haunt you in your mind? You may have been criticized by others over your lifetime and you know you have some habits that maybe aren’t the best. And so will those cause doubts and fears to creep into the equation? You need to have some strong, inner-emotional resiliency to do that. I’d like to introduce you to Kristin Harper. She will be our guest for Episode 9. So now we’re going to have a sneak peek. But before we do, let me share a bit of her bio. She’s a third-generation entrepreneur and has spent more than 30 years in business with brand and leadership experience from grassroots startups to global and iconic brands. After spending over 20 years in corporate America successfully leading brands like Crest, Oral-B, and Hershey’s Kisses, Kristin ventured into entrepreneurship. She is the CEO of Driven to Succeed, LLC, a leadership development company that provides brand strategy consulting, market research, keynotes, and leadership emotional intelligence and career coaching for Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, and rising leaders. I found Kristin recently on a CNBC article where she spoke about part of her book, which is The Heart of a Leader, and you can get that on her website or at Amazon, and her website, driventosucceedllc.com. Kristin has a 20-question test on emotional resiliency. I took that test and you know, I’m quite embarrassed to say, I barely got an above-average score. She’ll give you the ratings. She was kind enough to let us use this resource for our episode on starting a business. Now, mind you, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from starting a business. I think we should have all the tools at our disposal. I found her 20 questions very enlightening. It helped point out some areas that I need to work on to strengthen my leadership skills and strengthen my emotional resiliency as I press forward in my ventures each and every day. I find the tool very useful and we’re grateful for Kristin and sharing it. And now have a sneak peak with Kristin Harper. Kristin Harper: Thank you. Craig Willett: In fact, what brought us together was this emotional resiliency quiz. Like I said, I probably fared just barely above average. I thought usually on most quizzes that I do, I do pretty well. But on this one, in being all honest with myself, I really identified some areas that I could work on. So how do you see being emotionally resilient as being helpful when starting a business? Kristin Harper: Entrepreneurship and starting a business is full of optimism and uncertainty. It’s full of plans and disruptions. It’s full of potential and it’s also full of challenge. And so resilience is critical when you’re starting a business and when you’re operating a business, because challenges will come. One of the biggest things that I’ve found as a leader—and it’s especially important for entrepreneurs—is to know your strengths and to know your areas of opportunity, and to hire and/or create a support system around what your areas of opportunity are. Because as a business owner, you probably believe like I do—that I can do, or I can learn how to do anything. Craig Willett: Sometimes it’s a big mistake. Kristin Harper: That time is so precious. And the definition of leverage is hiring experts so you can get to your destination faster. You stay in your lane where you’re an expert; hire other experts and you can get to your destination faster. So resilience is critical because there will be bumps and detours along the way. But if you have that strong belief that you have the work ethic to serve your clients or your customers, and you’re willing to pivot when necessary, that’s the definition of resilience for entrepreneurs and why it’s so important. Craig Willett: Well, I think that’s great. I’d never want to discourage anyone from starting a business. I think it represents the ultimate freedom of the founding fathers of our country. I think it represents all that America is based upon because it allows us to be individuals and to express our own worth to the world. And so I appreciate what you say. Now, when disappointment comes to a business owner, what do you recommend they do? Because sometimes you may have hired the experts to help, but sometimes you’re going to face disappointment or even failure and you may start looking at yourself and get discouraged. What do you recommend to help build some resiliency so that when those moments of disappointment or reality checks hit—how to bounce back and respond? Kristin Harper: Absolutely. I have lots of different strategies around how to not only bounce back, but also bounce forward. And I refer to it in my book as post-traumatic growth. That you can actually come out better than you were before. One is just mindfulness, being self-aware. How do you feel? Another is taking time to breathe, and taking time to slow down. As entrepreneurs and as business owners, we’re often so busy chasing that next deal, servicing our clients and customers. It’s important to stop and take a pulse check. So taking those moments to just think about things is really important. I would also say, when you identify one emotion, it can reduce that emotion’s power over you. So that’s another mindfulness strategy, and I call it emotional granularity. Like being granular with the emotion that you feel. I would also say that there is no such thing as failure, as long as you learn from it. So the example I just gave about saying yes to the invite, afterwards, I was like, “Oh duh, I should’ve said yes right away.” But I learned from it. So there is no failure if you’re able to learn from it. I would also say— Craig Willett: And you bounced forward with it because you accepted it— Kristin Harper: Exactly. Craig Willett: And now it’s leading to other opportunities. Kristin Harper: A better outcome. Absolutely. I would also say that sometimes the goals we’re pursuing, at some point, it may not make sense to continue to pursue those goals if we keep running into challenge and roadblock. And so you’ve got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. And I call that goal disengagement. Sometimes you have to disengage from a goal, create a new goal, and that new goal will bring that additional sense of optimism. The last thing I would share is gratitude—expressing gratitude. Because when you shift your mindset from what’s going wrong and what challenges you’re experiencing to what you’re grateful for or what you’ve learned, when you shift your focus, that’s what magnifies. Whatever you focus on is going to magnify. So those are a few strategies, and there are so many business owners who have faced substantial challenges, but they didn’t give up. They pivoted when it was necessary and they didn’t give up. Craig Willett: So I think it takes that. It takes some gut, it takes some fortitude to fight through that. But how do you know when you’re fighting against a losing cause? Because you said sometimes if you keep going up in bumping up against the same roadblocks, sometimes you can be deceived and think that maybe I should give up when maybe fighting through might be the best thing. So do you have a way you recommend people take that gut check and step back? Kristin Harper: Yeah. So I would say, look at the scoreboard. Whatever is the scoreboard for your business, look at that. Whether it’s the revenue, whether it’s the profit, whether it’s your margin, whether it’s the number of people who have said “yes” to a capabilities presentation. So look at the scoreboard. And it’s important that we keep metrics, especially as business owners, because we could easily be deceived by a lot of activity, but activity doesn’t always produce results. So I would say, look at the scoreboard, number one. Number two, I would say solicit customer feedback—whether it’s your existing customers or clients, or whether it’s prospective customers or clients. And that takes a level of humility to ask for honest feedback, and then to put our guard down and our defenses down so that we can receive that honest feedback without being defensive. So those are the two ways that I would suggest determining if it’s worth moving forward or if you need to pivot. Craig Willett: Now, I know why we get along so well. You’ve just described to me what I call The Biz Sherpa scorecard. I suggest that people set a goal and objective, whatever it is for their business, and they spend 80% of their time—delegate the rest. In other words, the things that you can’t do well, give to someone else and focus on what you can do well. And the second thing is, measure every day your customers’ responses. And if you’re not getting anything, get on the phone and call them. And it gives you that opportunity to see, am I hitting my goals and objectives of my services, is my product resonating the way I would expect it to? Because that brings in and of itself an emotional reward to you that you’re not frustrated doing something that you could have delegated, number one. And then in the second instance on the scorecard that I say is to get the customer feedback. If you’re not getting it, you need to go out and get it. And that can be very rewarding in and of itself, or it can help you set the objectives you need to do so that you can score better with your customers. And I think that brings the success. The dollars and cents will take care of themselves after that, because you’ll be happy, you’ll be fulfilled, and your customers will be happy. So I’m glad that you and I can totally relate. And so when I read your 20 questions, I thought, “This is great. I can do better in a lot of areas,” which I’m grateful for because it identified what you call areas of opportunity. I’ll call them weaknesses for me, because I’m okay saying that. I recognize that I have them, and I need to recognize them probably more often. Now, let’s talk about some other questions now that we’ve had a good time with Kristin. And we appreciate her being here today and joining us on The Biz Sherpa podcast. I love having guests and especially guests as knowledgeable and as resourceful as she is. Something else I think each of us need to look at and consider, and it’s really relevant in today’s environment, and that is, “How is my health?” Now, some of you may say, “Well, if my health is poor, does that make me not a good candidate to be a business owner?” And I say no. In some circumstances that can play to your benefit. It may be the only other option you have. You may have employers who don’t tell you they’re not willing to hire you, but you don’t make yourself a good candidate for an employee. And so you’re able to have the freedom, the flexibility to work around your conditions and maybe some of your disabilities. So I wouldn’t say that that’s a gating factor, but you have to look at it. You have to look at, what do I do to engender good health? I’m fortunate. I think you heard my story about how I started my development business. It started one day when I got in a car accident and I had to really look at where I was going in my life and I started to get in better shape. And it taught me that I needed to really take care of my health. I was fortunate that I survived the accident, really. It was a very inconsequential accident, but it made me step back and start looking at what do I do on a daily basis to maintain my health. And so I think you have to look at eating habits, because when you start a business, you’re going to be grabbing the fast food, you’re going to be going for drinks that may be the energy drinks. I think you need to be able to have some discipline in those areas. I have a routine of running, or swimming, or yoga. And I recommend that you figure out what that routine is and you stick to it, even though the demands of business are going to be taxing demands on your time. It’s not an area you can afford to sacrifice. As you build up that health, you’ll have the resilience to withstand all the pressures of business, I promise you. You might want to ask yourself, how good am I at creating and organizing a structure, and being able to organize without a lot of direction? When you start a business, you’re starting from scratch. It’s a blank piece of paper. So you have to be able to have a vision. You have to be able to sell that vision. You have to be able to help others see that vision. You have to be able to paint it. You have to be able to take from thin air and create and organize a structure that will work for you and that will be a framework for your business. You might want to ask yourself, “What’s my tolerance for stress?” And I refer back to Kristin’s emotional resiliency, but I’d like to add a couple of things to that. What do I do to control my stress? And I would say, you should have a plan. You may say, “I have no stress.” And I’d like to meet you if you go around having no stress, because I’ve always been a ball of stress my whole life. And poor Carol, she’s had to deal with it every time that I’ve had to de-stress. So let’s talk about what I’ve found. I had a client early in my CPA career who said to me, he goes, “Craig, you’re going to burn out as a CPA someday.” And he was a house painter, so I don’t know how he knew I was going to burn out or could predict that. But he said, “You have to have a hobby.” And I said, “Well, what are your hobbies?” And he said, “Bowling, and I go golfing.” And Carol had been bugging me to join the country club and to learn to golf. She was a golfer. And so I actually took up the hobby of golfing and I didn’t take up bowling though, but I did take up golfing. And then I took up traveling. I do like to travel. And we’ll talk about that in a little bit. Before I started my CPA firm, I was working with another CPA firm and I had an experience one day that left a mark on me. A guy came in, he was a retired CPA. And here’s a great lesson. I’m finally hiring someone else to do my own taxes after all these years of owning other businesses and having retired from the CPA business in 1999. So that’s been a long time. He came in to pick up his tax return that our firm had prepared. And I was the one that got to take it out and sit down and meet with him. I hadn’t talked to him before. And as I handed him his tax return, he said to me, he said, “Let me tell you a story.” He said, “When I started my CPA firm—” And so this was a long time ago. So he was probably 40 years into his career. He said, “I went in and wanted to get a loan from a bank to help me so I had a line of credit to help me during the slower months, because when you do tax returns, you’d get a lot of cash flow during the months of March and April, typically.” He said, “I went in to the bank and I took out my business plan and I left it with them. And then I went back a couple days later to meet with the banker. And the banker told me, he says, I’m not going to make you the loan.” And he looked at him frustrated and he goes, “I had a great business plan. What’s wrong with it?” He said, “You had no line in there for expenses to take a vacation.” He said, “I’m not going to lend to you as a banker unless you as a CPA are going to take a vacation every year so that I know that you have the sharpness and that you’re not burning out.” And I thought to myself, “What a great lesson.” I don’t know why he shared it with me till today, but I took that to heart and I would always go on vacation. In fact, one of the last years of being a CPA, I did something I always wanted to do: go on vacation before April 15th. And I left a few days before. And it just so happens that when I went, the IRS showed up to do a surprise audit, but I was out on the golf course in Arizona, and they were at my office in Utah. I allowed them to proceed to do it, but I didn’t have to be there to put up with the pain of their surprise audit in my office. So I thought I actually scored on that one. So I do recommend that you have a plan. And my plan is to have a hobby and that you do it regularly, and to take vacation time. There’ll be certain times where you can’t because of the rigors and the demands of the business, but you need to set it aside. If you don’t, I promise you, you’ll struggle later on. And then the other question you need to ask, what is my tolerance for risk? If you can’t tolerate a lot of risk, you may do—There are some businesses that don’t require a lot of risk. In fact, I had one. It’s the CPA. It didn’t take a lot of risk. I didn’t have a huge capital investment and all I had was my education and my experience. And so the risk I was taking is that people didn’t like my personality, couldn’t find my office, or didn’t think I was competent to do their tax returns. But other businesses may be more complex. And you need to look at the type of risk tolerance it’s going to take, not only to be able to take the naysayers on, but also to be able to take on the inherent rigors of certain business types. And we’ll go into that more in another part of our series. And then probably last of all, something I want to talk about is plan B. I’ve never been one to have a plan B. So I can’t even believe I put this on my list today. But sometimes I think it’s good to have a plan B. What are you going to do if things aren’t quite working out with your business, or maybe your product? Maybe you have a different product or a different service that you’re gearing up so that you have something else to boost the potential for your success. I think it’s wise to always look for a plan B, not as a quick escape, but as a prudent step to ensure success of your business. Now, I hope that today, the questions that we’ve talked about will make a difference for you. And I hope you had fun with our little vignette and that you’re still laughing about that. And I hope you’re smiling because of Kristin Harper and the dimension that she added to it. I really recommend using her resource to test your emotional resiliency. And as you do, look at where you can build it up. Through my life, I’ve experienced greater success as I’ve looked at my weaknesses and tried to help them become my strengths. And I think that’s what it takes as a business owner. You’re not going to be without weakness. You’re not going to be without your failures. You’re not going to be without mistakes. If you’re a fan of my podcast and you’ve listened to it, you know what I mean. I’ve shared with you my failures. I’ve shared with you what I’ve learned from them. I’ve shared with you some of my successes. And in each one of them, we can gain strengths, both from our successes and from our failures. What we don’t want to do is that our failures are so big that they put us out of business. We can make small mistakes. You just want to have more successes than failures. So I look forward to you joining us for Episode 2. In Episode 2, we’re going to talk about pricing your product, marketing your product, finding your first customers. We’re going to talk about this cash flow versus profitability. We’re going to talk about finding your first customers. We’re going to talk about your cost structure. And we’re going to talk about financing your startup. I hope you’ll join me for the second episode and that you’ll share with others today’s video and audio podcast, that it may benefit somebody who’s looking to start a business. This is why I started this podcast. During the financial crisis, I sat back and my phone was ringing. A lot of people were calling me for help. They’re asking me if I could come help them. And I didn’t want to charge anyone. So I didn’t. I went and helped people get their PPP loans. I helped people stay encouraged to stay in business and figure out some plans, because I think no one plans for a pandemic and no one plans for a financial crisis, but we can plan for difficulties in that. And I hope today you’ve had some thoughts of what you can do. But during that time during the pandemic, I thought to myself, “How can I best help other people?” And I thought back to my dream that I had before it crashed down when I had to deal with the financial crisis, when I told my assistant, when I said, “Terry, I really want to help the next generation.” And I’ve done that by helping some of them start their business. But I want to have a more far reaching impact, not for me and not for notoriety for myself, but I want to go to bed each night knowing that maybe someone somewhere heard something that I said and it changed their perspective, gave them motivation, and gave them the courage to take the next step to start a business, and to experience the freedom and the rewards and the wealth-building potential that that has. That’s my dream. This is Craig Willett, The Biz Sherpa. See you for our second part in our “Starting Your Business” series next week. Speaker 1: Be sure to go to our website to access the resources related to this episode at www.BizSherpa.co. If you enjoyed this show, tell your friends about us and be sure to rate our podcast. Craig would like to hear from you. So share your thoughts in the Facebook community at BizSherpa.co. Follow us on Twitter @BizSherpa_co, and on Instagram @BizSherpa.co.

Welcome to our third annual EO/ESOP Podcast Summer School series. We've selected some of our favorite episodes over the past year to bring you all summer long. We're going to spend the summer catching our breath and recharging our batteries. We're also going to be wearing masks and practicing social distancing. In this episode, we looked at an exemplar of how to present the benefits of EO. Four passionate advocates for EO testified in February 2020, before a US House Small Business Committee hearing on the "Challenges and Benefits of Employee-owned Small Businesses." We shared some of the testimony from the advocates, including Daniel Goldstein, President and CEO of employee-owned Folience; R. L. Condra, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Programs, National Cooperative Bank; John Abrams, CEO and Co-owner of worker-owned cooperative South Mountain Company; and Mark Gillming, Senior Vice President, Messer Construction Company, an employee owned company headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, as well as comments from the committee chair and several members. The video of the testimony quoted in today's podcast is available on our website page for this episode: https://www.theesoppodcast.com/post/esop-summer-school-12-benefits-of-eo-the-us-house-small-business-committee

Dan Bishop, U.S. Representative for the 9th district of North Carolina and member of the House Small Business Committee, on 43 Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally obtaining funds from the Paycheck Protection Program. Todd Gilbert, Delegate representing the 15th district in the Virginia House of Delegates, on Virginia officials ordering the removal of an American flag from a construction site ahead of the Fourth of July. Bob Fu, Founder and President of the ChinaAid Association, on the U.S. House of Representatives voting to restrict Chinese companies' access to American infrastructure projects if those Chinese companies commit human rights abuses, and also on the deteriorating situation in Hong Kong. David Closson, FRC's Director of Christian Ethics and Biblical Worldview, on why the future of our nation depends on followers of Jesus raising the light of the gospel. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support

Today's show features: Dan Bishop, U.S. Representative for the 9th district of North Carolina and member of the House Small Business Committee, on 43 Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally obtaining funds from the Paycheck Protection Program; Todd

Our attention shifts from PPP to EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program); Karen Kerrigan, President/CEO of SBE Council (SBECouncil.org), talks EIDL shortcomings after testifying about EIDL this week before the House Small Business Committee.

Today’s show features: Ted Yoho, U.S. Representative for the 3rd district of Florida, on Joe Biden’s pledge to reverse the Trump administration’s Israel policies and also on the brewing war between Israel and Hezbollah. Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, on Justice Department officials warning California Governor Gavin Newsom that his plan for gradually easing the state’s coronavirus lockdown could disfavor religious groups. Kevin Hern, U.S. Representative for the 1st district of Oklahoma and Member of the House Small Business Committee, on Planned Parenthood affiliates that applied for and received a total of $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program being required to return the money. Rich Lowry, Editor of National Review and Author of “The Case for Nationalism,” on how the media has largely ignored President Trump’s massive coronavirus supply effort. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support

How to present the benefits of EO? The same way four passionate advocates for EO testified in February 2020, before a US House Small Business Committee hearing on the "Challenges and Benefits of Employee-owned Small Businesses." Today we share some of the testimony from the advocates, including Daniel Goldstein, President and CEO of employee-owned Folience (www.folience.com); R. L. Condra, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Programs, National Cooperative Bank (www.ncb.coop); John Abrams, CEO and Co-owner of worker-owned cooperative South Mountain Company (www.southmountain.com); and Mark Gillming, Senior Vice President, Messer Construction Company (www.messer.com), an employee owned company headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, as well as comments from the committee chair and several members. The audio clips in this episode were quoted from the US House Committee on Small Business hearing held at 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and are used per 17 U.S.C. § 107: Fair Use. The full original of the source we quoted can be viewed on the House Small Business Committee channel in the public domain, link provided on our website: https://www.theesoppodcast.com/post/104-benefits-of-eo-the-us-house-small-business-committee

Host of Your Business on MSNBC & Co-Founder of GoodShop- JJ Ramberg is on the Positive Phil Podcast.Host of Your Business on MSNBC & Co-Founder of GoodShop- JJ Ramberg is on the Positive Phil PodcastJANUARY 31, 2019 1SONJAAGUILAR11954UNCATEGORIZEDCOMMENTS OFFJJ Ramberg is the co-founder of Goodshop and the host of Your Business on MSNBCGoodShop (formerly Goodsearch) provides a database of digital coupons from more than 32,000 merchants including Amazon, Target, Staples, Best Buy, etc. The company has partnered with 113,000 nonprofits and schools and shares commissions earned from purchases at participating stores with the shoppers chosen cause. As of September, 2015 more than $12 million has been donated.GoodShop was founded in November 2005 by siblings Ken Ramberg (Co-Founder of JOBTRAK, purchased by Monster.com and operating today as MonsterCollege) and JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC’s weekend show Your Business.[1] In 2011, Scott Garell, former President of Ask Networks, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com, joined GoodSearch as CEO.www.goodshop.comSocial Media Linkstwitter: @jjrambergfacebook: @jjrambergmsnbcinstagram: jj.rambergwww.goodshop.comwww.msnbc.com/your-businessLOVE HELPING PEOPLE!www.positivephil.comJJ Ramberg is the host of msnbc’s “Your Business,” the only television show dedicated to issues affecting small business owners and co-author of It’s Your Business: 183 Essential Tips that Will Transform Your Small Business, available October 16th. Now in its seventh season, the program has profiled hundreds of small business owners and offered advice from countless small business experts and investors. In addition, Your Business guests have included Senate and House Small Business Committee members, the head of the Small Business Administration, and members of the Cabinet.Before joining msnbc, Ramberg was a reporter at CNN, where she covered a wide range of topics, ranging from breaking news to profiles of the country’s top business leaders. Her extensive field experience includes reporting from Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. She also hosted the daytime talk program “The Flipside” on CNNfn and was a producer on CNN’s profile program “Pinnacle.” She began her television career at NBC News, where she was an associate producer at Dateline NBC.

Host of Your Business on MSNBC & Co-Founder of GoodShop- JJ Ramberg is on the Positive Phil Podcast.Host of Your Business on MSNBC & Co-Founder of GoodShop- JJ Ramberg is on the Positive Phil PodcastJANUARY 31, 2019 1SONJAAGUILAR11954UNCATEGORIZEDCOMMENTS OFFJJ Ramberg is the co-founder of Goodshop and the host of Your Business on MSNBCGoodShop (formerly Goodsearch) provides a database of digital coupons from more than 32,000 merchants including Amazon, Target, Staples, Best Buy, etc. The company has partnered with 113,000 nonprofits and schools and shares commissions earned from purchases at participating stores with the shoppers chosen cause. As of September, 2015 more than $12 million has been donated.GoodShop was founded in November 2005 by siblings Ken Ramberg (Co-Founder of JOBTRAK, purchased by Monster.com and operating today as MonsterCollege) and JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC’s weekend show Your Business.[1] In 2011, Scott Garell, former President of Ask Networks, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com, joined GoodSearch as CEO.www.goodshop.comSocial Media Linkstwitter: @jjrambergfacebook: @jjrambergmsnbcinstagram: jj.rambergwww.goodshop.comwww.msnbc.com/your-businessLOVE HELPING PEOPLE!www.positivephil.comJJ Ramberg is the host of msnbc’s “Your Business,” the only television show dedicated to issues affecting small business owners and co-author of It’s Your Business: 183 Essential Tips that Will Transform Your Small Business, available October 16th. Now in its seventh season, the program has profiled hundreds of small business owners and offered advice from countless small business experts and investors. In addition, Your Business guests have included Senate and House Small Business Committee members, the head of the Small Business Administration, and members of the Cabinet.Before joining msnbc, Ramberg was a reporter at CNN, where she covered a wide range of topics, ranging from breaking news to profiles of the country’s top business leaders. Her extensive field experience includes reporting from Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. She also hosted the daytime talk program “The Flipside” on CNNfn and was a producer on CNN’s profile program “Pinnacle.” She began her television career at NBC News, where she was an associate producer at Dateline NBC.

Frank Cullen, VP of US Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center (TheGlobalIPCenter.com), talks about his recent testimony before the House Small Business Committee about IP and small businesses in our digital economy. by SBE Council on ForbesBooks Radio

-West Virginia Senator muses about voting for Trump in 2020 -President commutes life sentence of 63-year-old who dealt drugs in 1996, after Kim Kardashian clemency plea -New Facebook privacy issues prompt questions about Zuckerberg Congressional testimony -Please don’t throw up, but today the House Small Business Committee heard that app workers are actually “solopreneurs” -Worm Deployed: Dennis Rodman to be in Singapore for NK-US Summit, whether ordered or not -Trump can’t stop taking L’s against the City of Philadelphia Broadcasted from Washington, DC Music courtesy of Adam Fligsten (adamfligsten.com/) Contribute to our Patreon, and you’ll get to see the show recorded live: www.patreon.com/DistrictSentinel/ www.districtsentinel.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/DistrictSentinel/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheDCSentinel

House Small Business Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Chabot explains how the recent tax legislation and federal efforts to roll back regulations are putting American businesses on a much stronger footing both at home and abroad.  Chabot also admits what could have been done better in the the tax bill and details what his committee is doing to beef up cybersecurity and what services the government offers to help businesses guard against cyber attacks.

Lamont Banks, Cliff Stewart, and Lisa Stewart of the Colorado exoneration firm A Just Cause, discuss what happens when the wheels of justice trample unbridled over the rights of innocent Americans.  Tonight our Hosts will be Shining a Spotlight on Capitol Hill and U.S. Congressman Dwight Evans, who was elected to represent the 2nd Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives. Congressman Evans also serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Small Business Committee where he is the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Economic Growth. A Just Cause is currently campaigning for "FreeTheIRP6," who have been wrongly imprisoned in Florence, CO for a crime they didn't commit. Read full story: www.freetheirp6.org.  For more information, about A Just Cause and to Donate to the IRP6 legal defense fund, visit www.a-justcause.com. Follow us on Twitter: @AJCRadio, @A_JustCause, @FreeTheeIRP6, @FreeeTheIRP6 and Like our Facebook Pages: https://www.facebook.com/AJustCauseCoast2Coast, https://www.facebook.com/AJustCauseCO, and https://www.facebook.com/FreetheIRP6 Thank you for your support!

The U.S. House Small Business Committee listened to small-business truckers about the effect regulations have on their operations, and how to help those businesses cope. Mark Reddig talks with Collin Long of OOIDA’s Washington, D.C., office, and Monte Wiederhold, a member of the OOIDA Board who testified at the hearing.

Next week, members of the U.S. House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing titled: Highway to Headache: Federal Regulations on the Small Trucking Industry. If that’s music to your ears, just wait till you hear who’s going to speak. Mark Reddig gets a rundown from Collin Long of OOIDA’s Washington, D.C., office.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Chairman and Subcommittee Chairmen of the House Small Business Committee appeared before a Small Business Policy luncheon of The Ripon Society to talk about job creation in the United States and the effort they are leading in the House of Representatives to make sure that the small business engine of our economy is running on all cylinders.

An in-depth conversation with JJ Ramberg, host of msnbc’s “Your Business”, a television show dedicated to the issues affecting small business owners. JJ Ramberg is the host of msnbc’s “Your Business,” the only television show dedicated to issues affecting small business owners and co-author of It’s Your Business: 183 Essential Tips that Will Transform Your Small Business, available October 16th. Now in its seventh season, the program has profiled hundreds of small business owners and offered advice from countless small business experts and investors. In addition, Your Business guests have included Senate and House Small Business Committee members, the head of the Small Business Administration, and members of the Cabinet. As a leader in this field, Ramberg has been called upon to moderate town halls, including one during Washington D.C.’s Small Business Week. Ramberg is a regular contributor to the TODAY Show on small business and financial issues. She is also msnbc’s small business expert and occasional on-air anchor. In addition, she is a financial columnist for Cookie Magazine, Conde Nast’s parenting magazine. She has also written columns on social entrepreneurship for Entrepreneur Magazine. Sponsored by Drexel University’s Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies, LeBow College of Business, Close School of Entrepreneurship and the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.

Our guest this week is Missouri 6th District Representative Sam Graves. As chair of the House Small Business Committee and member of the Transportation Committee, Graves is anxious for a long term resolution to finding resources for the Highway Trust Fund. He has introduced legislation to reign in EPA regulations on farms and small businesses. Graves wants a solution to the nation's immigration policy, but says the administration should do more to enforce the country's existing immigration policy. SELECT NOW FOR DAILY AUDIORep. Sam Graves, MO-6