Monthly Archives: October 2023

Summer of 2015 was hard on us, but WE’RE BACK!!

I hope you missed us.

In today’s podcast we talk about how the wheels fell off for both of us this summer.  Some good, some bad.  This lead to a great discussion about managing a small business:  do you work on your business or in your business…OR both!  John has decided to take a step out, and let his team run the business without his constant input.  Nick has had to go the other direction and be more integral in the day-to-day due to his field manager leaving.  Both have experienced some new and interesting dynamics in their businesses.

Then we went on to talk about minimum wage and how to best compensate employees.  Some think raising the minimum wage to a liveable level is better, but we disagree.  We believe that it is better to pay someone more based on the value they bring to the business.  But businesses like Costco and The Container Store have have raised the bar, and have higher expectations on their employees, and so they just pay those team members more.  You get what you pay for I always say.

Look for a new podcast every OTHER week, as we are trying to set a feasible rhythm for the podcast moving forward.

We have some good stuff planned (and we talk about a little of it), so stay tuned the the Fall Season of Small Business Naked.

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I’ve been so busy lately.  What about you?  How do we get so busy?  Why do we let our calendars fill up so much.  It is great that as a business owner you can work whatever 80 hours you want, but why don’t we stop at 70, or 60?  And are we taking time for ourselves?

We run from meeting to meeting, task to task, and there never seems to be a moment when I feel caught up.  Right now, as I sit at my desk, there are three TOP priorities on my To Do list and a full calendar of things waiting for me.  I decided to NOT go to my 7:30 meeting.  It wasn’t with a client or to network, but it was to go to a meeting that will help me do things better.  The problem is, I always feel busy.  So I decided to miss that meeting, slow down, and reflect on what is going on…so I thought blogging about it would be helpful…for me and for you.

As an owner of a small business, there seems to be a constant urgency of the now.  I have to do this.  I have to meet with him.  I need to get that done.  There is never enough time in the day.  I was listening to a podcast (imagine that) in the car yesterday, and the guy being interviewed was talking about meditation.  No, this is not a typical topic for me.  He was being interviewed because he has self-published over 20 books (or something crazy like that), and his topic just happened to be on meditation and spiritual practice.  They discussed mostly how he knocked out so many books (in the past two years by the way), and when given the opportunity to give a piece of advice to the audience, he suggested that everyone meditate each morning.

Coming from a Christian background, the idea of having a quiet time is not foreign, but the idea of meditation, now that kind of freaks me out.  But it does intrigue me a bit.  I have heard of a lot of very successful people that spend a chunk of time meditating each morning.  In fact, I just heard an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger with Tim Ferris, on his podcast, where Arnold talked about starting to do meditation when his career with acting and body building were at its peaks.  It helped him to calm down and make better decisions.

Another guy I like in the entertainment world is Jerry Seinfeld. I heard him interviewed as well, and he talked about meditating daily.  Many may just think of him as a comedian, but Jerry is one of the best at his craft.  SUPER focused and brilliant.

I have not resigned myself to meditating…yet.  But I am thinking there must be something to slowing down, blocking out the noise, and clearing the head.  If your calendar is anything like mine, that will not be easy.  But when you schedule a meeting, an appointment, or sign up to attend something, you should at least ask yourself, do I really need to do that right now?  Could I NOT do that, so I can focus on what is really important?  But before you do that, you might need to ask yourself:  What is really important to me?  And that, is a topic for another day.

For more ways to grow your business, to hear stories from successful small business owners, and more from Nick May,  listen to the #1 Small Business Podcast from Denver, Colorado, Small Business Naked

Tres Shannon – co-owner of Voodoo Doughnuts

If you have never heard of Voodoo Doughnuts, you must live under a pretty big rock, but if you haven’t, it is a super successful doughnut shop that was started in Portland, OR, that now boasts of four locations and a cart.  Yep, a food cart.  So we could say they have 4.25 locations.  Tres was in Denver, CO to visit their newest store when we were able to catch up with him.  We talked the whole story, but unfortunately, his partner,  Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson, was unable to join us, as he was back making doughnuts in Portland.

The interview is a long one, but one filled with lots of laughs and inappropriate talk, so lock the kids up on this one.

Tres and Cat Daddy were introduced to each other by Tres’ mom, and thought they would always start a business together.  They came up with the idea to start a funky doughnut shop, learned some from pastry chefs at doughnut camp, rented a little  whole-in-the-wall retail location in Portland, and the rest is history.  The two partners did not have any formal business training, but have seen consistent and incredible grown and success, ever since opening their doors 8 years ago.

They have taken a very different approach to business that has helped differentiate them from anything else out there; from performing wedding in their stores, accepting only cash, being open 24 hours, to having a “cock and balls” doughnut that has gotten them much attention…good and bad.

Expanding outside of the Northeast has been a calculated move, and they have been welcomed in Denver with open arms.  From the mayor performing the ribbon cutting, to business coverage in the Denver Post, to having great new neighbors.  Everyone has been excited to have Voodoo come to Denver.

Tres shared with us how they got started, what it was like opening the first shop, what success has allowed them to do, why they chose to call it Voodoo Doughnuts, and some hints into what might be coming down the track for Voodoo.  You are going to love this one.

For the full interview, go to smallbusinessnaked.com

Show Breakdown

1:24 – Opening Denver Johnny asked him why did he go to Denver, he answered that he have a lot of memories in Denver, he lived there in 1970’s, and used to see dead Kennedys somewhere around the 80’s and he said that there’s a lot of good reason that Denver is a good town, and at the same time Marijuana became legal. Then Tres talked about a lesbian bar, where it’s beside the dental office. And in the same street

they have everything they need in just one location.

We are very excited to share a really great interview with you today.  We speak with a lot of really  great entrepreneurs, but few achieve the kind of success that Brian Scudamore has achieved.  He owns three businesses, but the most well known is 1-800-GOT-JUNK.  It started as Rubbish Boys.  He idea for the  trash business came while Brian was in college, and the idea was born when he was sitting in a McDonald’s parking lot.  After doing about a million dollars in business, he realized that the name was not going to be a great long term play, especially because he knew he wanted to expand into the United States, and Rubbish just did not have the same ring in the States as it did in Canada.
Brian than added a second business concept called WOW 1 Day Painting after trying to hire a paint contractor for his own home.  They currently have franchises spread across Canada and the United States.

The most recent business model Brian has started is You Move Me.  A moving company focused on creating a fun and pain-free move experience.

When Brian starts a new franchise model, he looks for models that can scale to multi-millions.

“People don’t fail, systems do.”  Brian Scudamore

What they do different than their competition?  They take the ordinary, and do it exceptionally.  They look for the little things to blow the customers away; whether it is moving, painting, or removing junk.

We also interviewed Hugh McKee who owns a franchise of Wow 1 Day Painting.

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us on iTunes or Stitcher or at our website, smallbusinessnaked.com. Small Business Naked is one of the best free small business podcasts to listen to if you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner, or you are stuck working for The Man and are looking for small business ideas.  Please give us a review on iTunes and follow us on Facebook.

http://audioboom.com/boos/3093317-37-got-junk-with-brian-scudamore.mp3

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Listen in as Nick and Johnny chat about what could be, if they decided to re-launch the Small Business Naked podcast.  A little brain storming, a little yakity-yak but all Small Business Podcast!

Why did we stop?

Ran out of time.  Became an expensive hobby (but ended up producing over $500k in painting sales…who knew?).

Found Another Small Business Podcast.

Ran across Small Business Big Marketing with Timbo Reid while Nick was driving across country for Thanksgiving weekend.

“When we first turned off the mics, I was sad.” Nick

The Small Business Naked show was originally started on AM 560 KLZ radio in Denver to promote a consulting business Nick had started, but became so much more.  Interviewing guests, learning from business leaders, and sharing their business stories was more than just a side project for them.  The problem was buying the time on the radio station and getting sponsors to cover the costs.

Fast forward to 2014.  Let’s do a small business podcast!  We can cut our costs, and I bet we can get more traction.

So off we go.  We talk about our branding, about who are target listener is, what type of guests we want to get on the show, and so much more.  There are a lot of small business podcasts out there, but not many focused on brick and mortar businesses with employees, payroll, and services.

We want to tell the stories from small business owners that are growing it, doing it, and killing it!  We want to hear from businesses that are doing the same from around the world. Who would you want to hear from?  What type of businesses?  What do you struggle with in your business?  OR, are you trying to start one, and don’t know what to do?  We would LOVE to hear from you. Join our Small Business Podcast.

What is our format?

Talking to successful business owners like Tommy Philips, not through theory.

To read the complete transcription of the Small Business Podcast: Why Naked? show click here.

http://audioboom.com/boos/2504393-01-why-start-small-business-naked.mp3

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How to get PR for your small business

This week we have another episode of What’s Up!  But, it is a little bit all over the board.  Nick throws Johnny several curve balls, but as always, they keep talking about growing a small business.

Big news this week, Small Business Naked hit the top 15 under “small business” in iTunes, and hit #1 under Management and Marketing in iTunes in Australia.  But maybe more importantly, we got an email!  So excited.  Paul from Australia about his lawn care business.  Johnny, with a little bit of Nick’s help, answers this great question about firing an employee.  Scary ground for the uninitiated, but vital if you want to grow your business bigger than just you.

When running a small business, PR or a press release can be an effective addition to your marketing mix.  Nick and Johnny have both had some success with submitting articles and getting business for each of their businesses. As a part of trying to reach more people with the Small Business Naked message, we reached out to the folks at eReleases to help get out a press release.  In doing so, we felt that an interview with the owner, Mickie Kennedy, and had a bit of a chat about PR and small business.

Three takeaways from our talk with Mickie:

1. Have something to share that is note worthy
2. Don’t be afraid to stand out
3. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to know what to talk about.

Depending on what kind of business you have, will determine what kids of releases would work, and what kinds of publications would help.  If you want some help with creating a little PR for your business, give Mickie a call or just check out their website.  ereleases.org.

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us oniTunes or Stitcher or at our website atsmallbusinessnaked.com 

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John Dicker, owner of Geeks who Drink, joined us for another interview…4 years later.  It was really fun to see how John’s business has grown, what his new roll in the company is, and how he has stayed true to what he believes his business is about, and who is ideal customer is. We tried to give John a hard time with some trivia of our own, but in the end John made us look bad once again.

In the new economy, one of interesting things that we see is the ability to work from anywhere.  John manages a managerial staff of just under 10, but a production team of several hundred…all without the overhead of an office.  Remote working is not just for the big companies.  Through the use of VOiP phone systems, cell phones, cloud computing, and many other tech resources now at your fingertips, you too can run a virtual office like John and his team.

Sales!  How do you get more sales?  

Huge question for most entrepreneurs.  We talked about how John is doing it all over the country.  What once started in a few bars around Denver, has blossomed into a national business, which brings national problems.  Could your business scale like this?

Click here for entire transcript.

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Today on the show, we interview a super interesting entrepreneur who got his start by selling Chameleons online.  He sold so many chameleons on Screameleons.com, he was ablet to afford to buy a Lamborghini and a house!  Vincent Wong may have started out with lizards, but soon graduated to a super-successful online software company that he co-founded with a friend called

Vincent Wong may have started out with lizards, but soon graduated to a super-successful online software company that he co-founded with a friend called Mhelpdesk.com . Mhelpdesk is field service software for small to medium size businesses.  Nick has been using Mhelpdesk almost since their inception.

Vincent shared some great nuggets of wisdom in our chat.  Everything from lessons on how to become an entrepreneur to some great advise on how to manage a company and what to look for.  Another amazing entrepreneur.

To listen to the entire interview, please visit us on iTunes or Stitcher or at our website, smallbusinessnaked.com. Small Business Naked is one of the best free small business podcasts to listen to if you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner, or you are stuck working for The Man and are looking for small business ideas.  Please give us a review on iTunes and follow us on Facebook.

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George Ryan – Learning to do more with less in your business

Have you ever wanted to grow a business, but not wanted to manage any employees?  On this episode of Small Business Naked, Nick and Johnny interview George Ryan, a former lumber yard worker, turned internet marketer.  His company Hatchwise leverages the power of the world wide web of designers from around the world with a smoking hot website that connects designers to mostly small business owners.  Because he has leveraged the power of his website, he has been able to build a business that only requires himself and one other subcontractor…his brother.

George has decided to keep his life and his business simple.  His business allows him to spend a lot of time with his family.

Hatchwise was one of the first design contests sites that connects individuals needing design services with thousands of graphic designers from around the world.  Once a design contest is started on the site, over 16,000 designers have the option of submitting a design given the design brief.  Depending on the length of the contest, a winning design can be selected with two days or a week.  The person creating the design contest chooses how much prize money will be awarded, and Hatchwise makes sure that the customer his happy with the end result, and that the designer is paid.

Both Nick and Johnny have hosted design contests with some great results.  If you are interested in hosting a design contest, visit their website at hatchwise.com.

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Jayla Siciliano – Bon Affair

You would never imagine that this nice, and sweet lady would be so bold, but what may have landed her a spot on the hit TV show Shark Tank, was the idea to lead with, “We have fucking bubbles” as her headline or attention-getter in her application video that she sent in.  It was just enough to get the much needed attention she needed, and then to land a $150,000 investment from Mark Cuban.

Jayla started a wine business based on her own needs and likes.  After noticing that others also wanted some of her concoction, she thought she might have found a business worth pursuing. Jayla was having a hard time keeping up with the big boys when she worked at Burton.  With the problem solved, she then had her jock guy friends asking for a her spritzer.  It was at that point that she knew she might just have something.

While Jayla did come from corporate America, she had been looking for just the right thing to go start.  She had attempted a few time, but nothing stuck.  Until this.  

Jayla fought had in the tank, and even had received four NOs from the other sharks before getting the one yes that mattered. Mark Cuban stepped up, offered her exactly what she had asked for, and invested into Bon Affair, taking a 35% stake in the company.  She was just grateful for getting the opportunity, and now it is off to the races.  She knows that, that was just the beginning, and she is pressing hard to grow her company.  She is not in Costco, as Mr. Wonderful had suggested, but is selling in Whole Foods, and other retailers with plans to expand across the nation.

If you would like to try Bon Affair, Jayla can ship it to most states across the US.  Here is a link to the Shark Tank Special.  If you are interested in viewing Jayla on Shark Tank, I have posted the video down below.  For more information on Jayla and Bon Affair, go to their website at www.BonAffair.com

Items Covered

00:50 – Introducing Jayla Siciliano, business owner.

01:10 – Getting Naked Questions for Jayla

05:28 – Putting the idea into a bottle

06:30 – Jayla talks about her product

07:21 – Who makes the wine?

07:40 – How the formula came up

09:20 – Jayla shares the next morning experiences of drinking a bottle of her product and the others

10:48 – Product distribution coverage and shipping

11:49 – Jayla talks about what she learned from previous companies

14:22 – When Jayla decided to go to Shark Tank

15:55 – What she sent to Shark Tank

17:43 – Jayla talks about her journey with Shark Tank

21:00 – Jayla talks about what it was like after the show aired

22:28 – Jayla talks about her experience during the show

23:35 – What advice Jayla followed from Mark

27:25 – Work relationship with Mark Cuban and Shark Tank

30:47 – Jayla talks about her investors

31:58 – Role change since the show

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