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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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This week Johnny and Nick talk to Donnie Shelton from Triangle Pest Control in North Carolina.  Donnie has a unique story on getting into business ownership…the MBA cost too much and he thought killing bugs sounded better.  Now Donnie is a smart guy and a hard worker.

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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Getting naked with other people is not always easy… in fact it is terribly difficult.  Even with people you know really well. Getting NAKED is about getting personal, and taking away all the layers of stuff we hide behind.   Nowhere to hide.  People will see your flaws.  But we no that no entrepreneur is perfect.

Not only do we strip down our guest, but we take it all off too.  Each week Nick and Johnny talk about real issues they have dealt with as they have run their businesses over the past 15 and 30 years (respectively).

Each week on the podcast, we’ll interview business owners from around the world with a few things in common:

1. They are successful.  Each will have different levels of success, and different kinds of success, but they will each have something to share.
2. They will be an owner or founder of their business.
3. They will have employees.  There are a lot of internet marketing and consulting gurus out there, and there are plenty of places to hear about them…just not on our show.
4. They will be fun.  Life is too short to be too serious.  We want to interview people that are fun and engaging.  Let have some fun and a laugh.

Owning a small business is fun and exciting, but it can also be the most difficult thing in the world. If you don’t build it correctly, it can be all consuming.  When you start a business, it should be something you are passionate about. When you are passionate, you will be willing to put in the time it takes to become successful.  As Sir Richard Branson says concerning being an entrepreneur, “There is not business vs. personal…There is only LIFE.”  That is what we talk about in being Naked:  LIFE…the life of an entrepreneur, because it’s not just business, it’s personal.

Have you ever found yourself asking “What am I doing?”  It’s a great question.  A lot of times as a small business owner, we keep doing a list of things, and we keep trying to stay busy for busy sake.  Does it ever feel like you’re banging your head against the wall and getting nowhere fast?  I know, I have days like that and we all will; but how do you avoid it on a regular basis? How do you get ahead in small business?  How do you create a successful small business?

I met with a guy last week that looks like this on a daily.  He is staying busy and working seven days a week.  He’s working to please customers with no clear understanding or process, and making hardly any money.  Many of us have all been there.  The problem is, if you don’t open your eyes, and see the futility of it, you will continue to do the same things, and continue to get the same results.

 How do you break out of it?  If you are in this place right now, I want to give you a few things that will hopefully get you out of the rut, and back on track.

1.  You need to know where you are going at all times.  You need to set a ONE year plan, and commit to it for the entire year. Small business owners need to have a bigger vision for what they are doing and where they are going, but spending too much time on a fancy business plan can be a HUGE waste of time.  I don’t know about you, but my strategic plan has a tendency to shift from year to year, especially in the first 5 years.  You must have a clear idea about where you want to go over the next 12 months, how you get there will certainly change along the way.
2. Your plan must be based and grounded in reality.  Do you really think you can grow at a 300% rate, month over month for six months?  If you have only been adding one new customer a week for the last 2 months, what makes you think that all of a sudden you will be able to add 5 per week?  Be realistic.  Don’t set yourself up for failure which leads to frustration and burn out.  Look at past history; figure out how you achieved those numbers.  Do less of what did not work.  Do more of what produced good results.  Follow the 80/20 rule.  More on that later.
3. Meet with a group of like minded business owners that can give you feedback and accountability.  The best thing about being a business owner is that we don’t have a boss.  The worst thing about being a small business owner is that no one is telling us what we need to do.  It’s a double edge sword.  If you meet with a peer group you will be able to stay on track and get good feedback on the steps you are planning on taking.
4.  You must be receptive to the advice of others.  Most successful people realize their limitations and that they may not have all the answers.  We all have room for improvement.  I have a friend that is more organized than just about anyone.  He has a place for everything, and nothing is EVER out of place.  The great thing is that he always tells me, “I have to get more organized I can do better.”  If we all had this understanding, and acted on it, we would all continually improve and make our business better.

My friend and I were talking the other day, he going on a cruise in 3 weeks, at the time we spoke, I was leaving for a vacation the next day.  He had already packed for his vacation, and I had not packed.  He is far more intentional about the things he does, and it doesn’t matter if we are talking about business or personal.  I need to be more like him and be more organized.

If you become involved with a peer group: be open.  Listen to the advice of others and don’t think you know it all.  You may just need the perspective of an impartial person to help you see the pitfall you are about to drop into, or the gold rush that awaits you right around the corner.  If two minds are better than one, than what do you think 8 or 10 can do?

So what ARE you doing?  Are you being strategic?  Are you setting goals?  Are you moving your business forward?  Take steps right now to make this a priority.

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

“There has never been a better time to market a small business.”  Timbo Reid of the Small Business Big Marketing podcast, Australia’s #1 marketing podcast (and pretty high up in the rest of the world as well).

It may be a little strange that we are interviewing another podcaster, but there is a good reason…Timbo is the inspiration for Nick to re-start the Small Business Naked podcast.  After finding Tim’s podcast while on a family trip to Portland, Nick was hooked, and has been a loyal listener ever since;  “Listening to Timbo has helped me find focus in my marketing efforts for my painting business, and made me realize that podcasting is a great way to become an influencer and to build my personal brand.”

Tim, or Timbo as he likes to be called, started his career in a big ad agency, working for the man…like many of us.  After several years, he realized that  he liked to teach, and loved talking to small business owners about their marketing.  So after finding one bigger client, he launched out on his own to do marketing consulting under his own name.  Soon he started Small Business Big Marketing, which helped to launch his personal brand.  Now he spends most of his time speaking around the world, consulting with a few clients, and producing his very popular podcast.

We had a blast talking about small business, marketing, and podcasting with Tim.  Here are a few of the key take-a-ways from our time with him:

1. Be yourself.  Don’t try to be something your not.  Be who you are, and portray that in your business, and your marketing.
2. Marketing is everything and everything is marketing.  Weather you are talking about your logo, your business card, answering your phones, or how your team interacts with your customers.  IT IS ALL MARKETING.
3. Find your WHY, then communicate it through great marketing.

We talked about several of Tim’s guests, but one example of a small business owner doing great marketing was Tom Dickson of Will it Blend?  He takes the most rediculous things possible, puts them in his blender, and mashes them up.  Take this video of him blending iPhones.  Rediculous.

For more information on Timbo, click here for his bio page, click here for his forum, to book him for speaking, and click here form his favorite interview with Melissa Maker (who we also interviewed), which was his favorite interview.

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

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For a small business podcast, it is a good thing that we have the explicit rating, because I will warn you…there is a TON of great stuff in this episode.  You are going to learn what it really takes to kill it, and make a fantastic business.  Matt is not your ordinary small business owner.  He started his business to pay for school by stealing his brother’s identity and getting a credit card, he didn’t know he actually had to bill clients to get paid,  almost had a nervous breakdown because he was too successful, sold the business, and started  a new one.

Lawn care.  He has a $7 Million dollar lawn care business.  Holy Crap!

We talk a lot about focus on our show, and after building a successful lawn care and landscaping business with the help of his brother, Matt thought that he needed to niche down and focus on a small percentage of their business:  fertilization.  Now, it is mainly what they do.  At Noon Turf Care they fertilize and do pest control.

For more information on Matt and Noon Turf Care, check out their website at NoonTurfCare.com

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.

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Before you we go any further, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.  Call us on our new phone number, (775) Fi NAKED or 775-346-2533.  You can tell us anything.  What do you like about the best small business podcast: Small Business Naked?  What kind of business do you have?  What has been you favorite episode of the Small Business Naked podcast?  Who do you think is better looking?

Today, Johnny and Nick interview maybe the most successful plumber in the world.  Charlie Mullins bunked off school at age 9 and dropped out of school by 15, started working for himself by 19, and never looked back. They run over 120 trucks on the road and over 150 staff, doing around 20 million pounds a year.  Charlie’s company, Pimlico Plumbers clears drains for James bond and the Prime minister.

Pimlico Plumbers:  The UK’s largest independent plumbing company and the most recognized plumbing company in the world.  They have expanded into all sorts of services for the home and work around the clock…24 hours a day.

Best small business tip from his book Bog-Standard Business:  Give someone the best service you can give them.  You can buy it on Amazon!

Charlie likes to employ a great mix of people.  He had Buster working for him at 104 cleaning vans.  Charlie knows the value of having older team members and younger people.  Charlie thinks we can learn something from older and younger people.

Business is like making a cake:  a bit of this and a bit of that.  Eventually, you will find the right mix.  When you get the right mix, stick with it.

Charlie like to say that he runs his business on common sense and hard work.

Charlie has a fantastic small business, and is a wonderful guy.  Charlie gave us, and our listeners an open invitation to come see their offices if you find yourself in London.

If you want to hear the full story, sign up on the right to join our mailing list and you will get access for exclusive content.  We have at least another 30 minutes of juicy content to share with you.  This is new, but you will also get access to all the additional edited content from our interviews.

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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