Most of us create businesses to support our lifestyle, but there’s some people that live a lifestyle that seems to lend itself to starting businesses. Today we’re going to talk to Jeff Anderlite, a serial business owner that has travelled the world, in what looks like to us, like a pursuit of living a “non-boring” life. Along the way, Jeff has started a hostel in Nicaragua, a Spice company, a clothing brand and naturally, a business to help other businesses succeed. We’re sure you are as eager as we are to hear the backstory here…

Join us and you’ll hear Jeff talk about starting his first business when he was in High School, how he knew early on in his life that in order to be true to himself, he would need to create and be an Entrepreneur and how his experiences working with different partners has taught him so much.

You’ll hear about Jeff’s travels around the world and how he has combined his love of travel with marketing for his apparel business, Baja Llama and how his latest business, Ignite360 is helping other companies with their marketing and growth.

After you hear the show, click over to Baja Llama and use coupon code Bajallama30 to take 30% anything through Dec 31, 2018.

Listen in and then come talk with us at the Small Business Support Group!

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #201 for Wednesday, December 12, 2018
• 00:00:56 Jeff Anderlite, Journeyman Businessman
• 00:03:06 Creating Rockets and Electric Erasers
• 00:03:45 Started with Bottle Buddy
• 00:05:40 “Weird Stuff” Sells
• 00:08:33 Be true to yourself
• 00:11:28 Selling vs. Stopping
• 00:12:56 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year.
• 00:15:11 Baja Llama … Travel funding turned into a business?
• 00:17:35 Business partners need to have the same ideology and vision
• 00:20:11 Write it down!
• 00:25:48 Know who you are and what your actions communicate
• 00:28:46 Ignite360
• 00:31:56 Read, Listen, Learn & Take a step back and process
• 00:33:18 SBS 201 Outtro
  • anderlitej@gmail.com

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Join us today for the 200th episode of the *Award Winning* Small Business Show! We’re thrilled to have been ranked as the #1 Small Business Podcast by Feedspot for 2018 and we couldn’t have done it without our listeners. Your Co-Hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean thank you!

Today we are focusing on Collaboration – why it’s important for you personally, your Small Business, your partners and employees. You’ll hear why Collaboration is good for your own well being, allows you to share your knowledge with other people and learn from specialists in other fields.

We discuss the power of bringing together different viewpoints and experiences to help come up with and refine ideas, to offer suggestions, make changes and corrections in a two-way flow of knowledge that will dramatically improve your output. Collaboration also helps keep you accountable because it’s easy to let yourself down, but much more difficult to let other people down.

Shannon discusses the concept of Collaboration as a tool to bring together different business concepts and to apply ideas from a completely different product or service to your own Small Business – sometimes a completely different take on things can be the differentiator that you need for success.

There’s a few more tips about why Collaboration matters so much before we jump into ways to get yourself and your team to Collaborate. We’ve got a one-word solution for your team that you don’t want to miss. Join us today and then visit the Small Business Support Group to Collaborate with other Small Business owners.

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #200 for Wednesday, December 5, 2018
• 00:01:23 A major award: Top Feedspot Small Business Podcast
• 00:03:11 Collaboration is good for the soul
• 00:07:37 You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
• 00:10:19 It’s much easier to let yourself down than it is a partner
  • How I Built This Method Co-Founders Episode
• 00:14:02 “I never thought of that!”
• 00:20:28 How does a completely different business solve this problem?
  • The Purple Cow
  • Crack pie
• 00:25:33 Create a safe environment for ideas
• 00:27:50 Leverage Serendipity
  • Jay Gentile and BoosterBots on Small Business Show
  • And now… Peak Social Apps
• 00:31:57 Be OK with both Yes and No
• 00:35:49 Food is Collaboration
• 00:39:16 The value of Flex Time and Recognition
  • Move employees around
• 00:41:32 SBS 200 Outtro

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Technology changes quickly and one of the problems we all deal with is finding a home for your old laptop, phone or tablet when you upgrade. How many of us have an old iPhone in a drawer or MacBook sitting on a shelf somewhere? Today we get a chance to learn more about the business opportunity that this situation creates with our guest Brian Burke, owner of SellYourMac.com

You’ll hear the story about how not getting the job of his dreams pushed Brian into creating the company of his dreams. Join us today for episode 199 of the Small Business Show and then join the conversation on the Small Business Support Group!

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #199 for Wednesday, November 28, 2018
• 00:00:55 Brian Burke from SellYourMac
• 00:02:40 Didn’t get the job I wanted out of college
• 00:04:20 Didn’t have enough product to sell!
• 00:04:41 Selling convenience first
• 00:06:40 Rely on yourself as your backup plan
• 00:09:32 Where else to sell your Mac?
• 00:10:56 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year.
• 00:12:31 SPONSOR: Go to LinkedIn.com/SBS and get $50 OFF toward your first job post!
• 00:14:30 Buy where you want to sell
• 00:17:35 Let eBay do half your marketing for you
• 00:19:03 Managing your SEO from the core of your website
• 00:20:05 Managing by learning your people
  • Culture Index
• 00:22:19 Beware the fraudsters
• 00:25:21 The (in)efficiencies of addressing fraud
• 00:27:42 Unintentional fraud
• 00:29:10 Never happy with current size. Always Be Growing.
• 00:30:14 Be prepared to work.
• 00:31:59 SBS 199 Outtro

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We hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends! That’s what Dave and Shannon are doing this week, so we bring you one of our favorite interviews from last year with Gurjit Sing and Kevin Chou from the Gentleman’s Garage, a Turo based Small Business that focuses on renting exotic cars.

Enjoy the show and we will be back with you next week!

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #198 for Wednesday, November 21, 2018
• 00:01:22 Small Business Show #141 October 18, 2017
• 00:02:58 Gurjit Singh & Kevin Chou – Using Turo as a Small Business platform
• 00:05:03 It all starts with two Mustangs … and a BMW
• 00:05:42 Turo covered the repair!
  • Shift – online car buying and selling
• 00:06:53 Beware the damage claims
• 00:08:04 Think about how people will drive your vehicles
• 00:09:15 Turo manages the risk
• 00:10:03 Turo valet service
• 00:10:37 Each car makes 2-3x monthly payment
• 00:12:48 The logistics of management
• 00:14:51 One-way fee
• 00:15:58 With affluent customers, you’re managing an experience
• 00:18:34 If you’re going to rent it out, don’t buy new!
  • Certified Pre-Owned works very well for Turo
• 00:21:40 Managing the fleet – new cars, selling cars, registrations
• 00:22:55 The bankers slow you down!
• 00:26:03 Did making it a business ruin your hobby?
• 00:27:01 “The cars are still a thrill to drive”
  • Converting to a membership business
• 00:29:02 Visit Gurjit and Kevin’s The Gentleman’s Garage on Turo… and Facebook
• 00:30:15 SBS 141 Outtro

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Let’s face it, not every decision you’ll make for your Small Business is going to be a good one. What can you do to avoid bad decisions in the first place and how can you quickly recover from the ones that slip through? Join us today on episode 197 of the Small Business Show where your hosts share their own bad decisions and tips for minimizing yours!

Bad decisions can hurt your Small Business, kill your cashflow or destroy your reputation. The first step we discuss on today’s show to minimize the destructiveness of bad decisions is making sure you have enough information to make an informed decision. Shannon uses an example from his super-bad decision to get into the TV business of how not having enough info in hand should have stopped him from make that decision.

We then move onto to a discussion about timeliness and being sure you don’t get suckered in to a “limited time offer” situation, being sure that the data you are using is not out of date, not letting your emotions obscure the facts and the pitfall of being overly optimistic and letting best-case scenarios obscure reality.

You’ll also hear us talk about Dave’s “Fallacy of Sunk Costs” and not letting invested money and time obscure your ability to make good decisions about projects, not letting so-called experts change your gut instincts about a decision.

Join us for all this and more and then share your own story at the Small Business Support Group!

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #197 for Wednesday, November 14, 2018
• 00:01:41 Good decision: Nearly 200 Episodes of SBS!
• 00:03:01 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year.
• 00:05:38 Bad Decisions can devastate your business.
• 00:07:38 Shannon’s “no-manifest” story
• 00:09:53 The confidence conundrum
• 00:11:35 The most expensive TV on the planet!
• 00:13:23 Next time you can walk away.
• 00:16:42 Watch the things that slow you down
• 00:18:25 Don’t be afraid of saying no.
• 00:20:30 Get current info!
• 00:21:23 SPONSOR: Visit TryHopsy.com/SBS to get the SUB home draft machine, 2 mini-kegs of beer (equivalent to 2 six packs), 2 Hopsy glasses and free membership in the monthly beer Club for $99.
• 00:26:26 Don’t look for the best case scenario
• 00:27:48 Avoid complacency
• 00:28:56 Consider opportunity cost
• 00:29:32 Acceptable risk
• 00:33:18 Acknowledge confirmation bias
• 00:36:57 SBS 197 Outtro

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From time to time we discuss the tools we use to run our own Small Businesses and why we couldn’t live without them. Join us today for our second installment of Tools for Small Businesses to hear from your hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton about their favorite business products.

We start out with a detailed discussion of Trello and how Dave’s team uses it for managing content creation on the MacObserver. while Shannon uses the Kanban style of project management that Trello visualizes to manage various projects throughout difference businesses. Then it’s on to Google Hangouts and how bringing your team together on video is a powerful way to keep everyone focused and connected.

The next set of tools comes from the good folks at Iwascoding with their GarageSale and GaragePay products – both essential tools for managing listing and product sales on eBay along with cashflow and reporting via Paypal.

Dave jumps in with his recommendation of Arlo Cameras and the Synergy Surveillance Station and then we’re on to some common sense tools like mini-breaks during your day and giant manilla envelopes to deal with the inevitable inflow of paperwork you need to hang onto for your Small Business.

Evernote rounds out our software list of essential tools along with a couple of other Podcasts you should be listening to and we wrap up the show with a call to always be carrying a pocket knife.

Listen in and share your own tools at the Small Business Support Group!

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #196 for Wednesday, November 7, 2018
  • Tools and Small Business Tips mentioned on SBS 172
• 00:02:36 Trello
• 00:06:18 Google Hangouts
• 00:08:33 GarageSale for managing eBay listings
• 00:11:16 GaragePay to manage your PayPal transactions
• 00:15:01 SPONSOR: Care/of. For 25% off your first month of personalized Care/of vitamins, visit TakeCareOf.com and enter code SBS.
• 00:18:56 Arlo Cameras
• 00:22:15 Synology Surveillance Station
• 00:23:37 Mini-breaks
• 00:24:53 Big manila envelopes
• 00:29:53 Evernote
• 00:32:15 Podcasts: How I Built This, Coffee with Scott Adams
• 00:35:19 Get a good pocket life: Gerber Paraframe
• 00:38:27 SBS 172

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We love answering listener questions. Not only does it make us feel much smarter than we actually are, it also allows us to connect with our listeners and help them solve problems. Send your questions to be featured on the Small Business Show!

On this episode, we hear from Louis with a question about setting up his website, selecting a domain name and getting help with both. We then talk about some options for your office software and how to keep older PC hardware running strong with alternative operating systems.

Carol then asks for help with a lawsuit caused by a dog being hurt at her boarding business. We discuss lawyers, insurance options and the best way to proceed to minimize the impact on her Small Business.

Then we’re on to a question from Jacob about options for selling his Small Business. His partner wants to pay a large up front fee to a business broker and Jacob is not as comfortable with that option.

Be sure to see the show notes for links to previous episodes where we discuss these situations in detail. There’s some great interviews with Small Business Owners about solving these types of problems. Join your co-hosts Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean as they answer these questions and more on this episode of the Small Business Show.

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #195 for Wednesday, October 31, 2018
• 00:02:17 feedback@businessshow.co
• 00:02:22 Louis-Setting up a business domain
  • GoDaddy
  • NameCheap
  • SmugMug
  • WordPress
  • BlueHost.com – One stop shop for domain registration, email, wordpress hosting
  • Fiverr.com
  • Upwork.com
  • Guru.com
• 00:13:20 Use LibreOffice instead of MSOffice
  • OpenOffice
• 00:18:05 Consider Ubuntu or Elementary.io to breathe new life into old computing hardware
• 00:22:22 SPONSOR: New Square Payroll App – Everything you can do on a desktop you can do in the app. Visit Square.com/Go/SBS for More
• 00:24:13 SPONSOR: Go to LinkedIn.com/SBS and get $50 OFF toward your first job post!
• 00:26:55 Carol-I’ve been sued, what do I do?
  • What to do when your small business has been sued – SBS 145
• 00:34:22 Jacob-What do you guys think about business brokers?
  • Selling your Small Business – Interview with Abbi Vakil – SBS 128
  • Thinking of selling your small business – SBS 127
  • Interview with Bob Grewal of Seapoint Business Advisors – SBS 61
  • SCORE
• 00:40:37 Domain ownership matters!
• 00:44:49 SBS 195 Outtro

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Change is coming for you and your Small Business! How you manage change and how you integrate change into your company culture is an important part of your long term success. Join us today for episode 194 of the Small Business Show as we take a deep dive into welcoming and benefiting from change.

We start the show with a discussion about SCORE Mentoring and your co-host Dave Hamilton’s decision to connect with his local SCORE representatives to discuss changes in his business and how having an accountability partner can dramatically increase your productivity. Then, it’s on to tips for using small changes in your personal life to get you comfortable with larger changes that are inevitable and eventually heading your way. Shannon’s premise is that these small changes help to “re-wire” your brain so you welcome larger changes and use them in a productive manner.

Once you find yourself embracing change, it’s time to work on your Small Business!

You’ll hear how to make change part of your Small Business story, how to use casual comments and frequent actions to get your employees used to and ready for change and how to use the Two Week Trial method to introduce changes in your business. We wrap up the show with a discussion of the new Small Business Show mailing list and why you should subscribe.

Join us, then click over to the Small Business Support Group to share your story, ask questions and more.

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #194 for Wednesday, October 24, 2018
• 00:01:46 Constant Change is here to Stay
• Small Business Show Episode 70 – Change!
• 00:02:41 SCORE Mentoring for Change!
• 00:08:15 Accountability matters!
• 00:09:26 SPONSOR: New Square Payroll App – Everything you can do on a desktop you can do in the app. Visit Square.com/Go/SBS for More
• 00:11:15 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year.
• 00:13:28 Tweak your systems to accept change that happens
• 00:14:37 Complacency kills
• 00:15:03 Small change conditions you!
  • Change the side of your bed
  • Change seats at the dinner table
  • Take a different route to the office
• 00:17:49 Dave faces the Comscore Gestapo
• 00:20:52 Get yourself comfortable with change first
• 00:21:44 Make change part of your company’s story
  • Manage to your audience
• 00:24:02 The casual mentions of change
  • “What side project would you like to work on here?”
  • “Your job is going to change all the time.”
  • “What do you want your next job to be?”
• 00:28:20 Try out change for two weeks!
• 00:32:32 Lose the past. Consider sunk costs!
• 00:34:06 Change is coming!
• 00:34:25 Change at SBS: Small Business Show Mailing List
• 00:35:20 SBS 194 Outtro

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How important is creating content to share with your existing and potential customers to your Small Business success? And what are some of the keys to being successful with a content marketing plan? Join us today for episode 193 of the Small Business Show to hear how your co-hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton have used relevant and timely content in their businesses to connect with followers, drive new business and keep in touch with their existing customers.

We jump right into what we believe is one of the most important aspects of getting the biggest impact with content marketing: consistency. Creating a plan and sticking to a publishing schedule will make your content marketing exponentially more successful than just posting random content every now and again.

You’ll hear more tips and real-world examples about tapping into your employees expertise, why newsletters and mailing lists are so powerful and why being authentic and sharing your personal stories are ways to fast track your success. Listen in for these topics and much more, then come join us at the Small Business Support Group to share your tips and comments. Cheers!

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #193 for Wednesday, October 17, 2018
• 00:01:13 Content requires a Commitment to Consistency
• 00:02:49 Every business is in the Content Business
• SBS Interview with Ben Schroeder from Santa Barbara Cider
• 00:05:27 Use content to highlight – and share – your expertise
  • SBS Interview with Cowboy Crickets
  • Small Dog Electronics
• 00:07:40 Tap your team’s expertise
• 00:09:57 Use the Newsletter
• 00:12:50 Later is now!
  • $Later = NOW()
• 00:15:22 SPONSOR: Timing, for anyone billing their hours. Visit timingapp.com/smallbusiness
• 00:18:15 SPONSOR: Gusto is refreshingly easy payroll, benefits, and HR for the modern small business. Visit Gusto.com/SBS for a free, 3-month trial.
• 00:20:11 Be authentic!
• 00:21:21 Share your personal brand
• 00:23:55 Balance your requests for information with shared value
• 00:26:47 Be honest about the perceived value of your content
• 00:28:10 “We lied”
• 00:29:14 Workshop: Start an email list
  • Shannon: Creates the content
  • Dave: Creates the form, Links the engine
• 00:34:39 Always be Creating!
• 00:35:20 SBS 193 Outtro

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• Ever thought of starting a Small Business from your hobby? We often hear about home beer brewers taking the leap and launching a company built around their love of beer, but what about Cider makers? Join us today as we talk with Ben Schroeder, founder of Santa Barbara Cider!

Many of us follow our interests and passion from hobbies to Small Business owner. Ben Schroeder spent 7-years perfecting his different cider flavors in his garage before opening the Santa Barbara Cider taproom with his sister, Twilight and close friend Niklas. Today they create over 60 flavors with 12 rotating taps at any one time. Ben shares how he made steady, methodical steps to get the business off the ground and to grow it to where it is today, serving a large community at their tap room and expanding into other local venues.

Listen in and you’ll hear about the importance of creating an experience your customers will love, how asking for help can get people on your side and how starting with your neighbors is the key to getting final approval when applying for a federal liquor license.

There’s a lot of great tips on this episode of the Small Business Show. Listen in, then ask your questions and comment at the Small Business Support Group. Cheers!

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Small Business Show #192 for Wednesday, October 10, 2018
• 00:00:44 Interview with Ben Schroeder from Santa Barbara Cider
• 00:01:29 Celiac disease points small business to Cider!
• 00:02:57 “This is great, where did you buy it?”
• 00:05:14 So many small steps and eventually it’s a business
• 00:07:02 How many hours means “full time” for this business?
• 00:07:41 Create an experience
• 00:09:33 Marching band supplies lead to Cider
• 00:10:53 Only 100 gallons per year
• 00:12:05 “Hey I need some help”
• 00:13:27 Are your neighbors comfortable with what you’re doing?
• 00:14:57 Time to distribute!
• 00:18:23 SPONSOR: Visit TextExpander.com/podcast for 20% off your first year.
• 00:20:31 SPONSOR: Gusto is refreshingly easy payroll, benefits, and HR for the modern small business. Visit Gusto.com/SBS for a free, 3-month trial.
• 00:22:07 Social media? Be social!
• 00:24:06 Relational not Transactional
• 00:24:59 Mistakes: Rushing, Doing too Much, or Completely Distracted
• 00:27:44 Find Santa Barbara Cider on Instagram or Facebook or at sbcider.com

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