AmiSights: Financing the Future For Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recorded 03/23/2023.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recorded 02/22/2023.

In today’s podcast, I talk to Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief of Amplify Publishing Group and former CEO of Inc. and Fast Company.

After a long and successful career as a writer and editor, Eric manages a "concierge book publishing company." The opportunity was created, he says, by the "broken state of traditional book publishing in which book publishers are no longer able to fulfill the model of being the impresario for your book." Instead, in the hybrid model, the author is the client and can make most of the decisions and keep most of the money.

Eric is also heading the Newsroom Trust Project, a not-for-profit startup he describes as a "boot camp for working journalists to help them engage with…the declining state of trust in the profession."

We discussed media integrity, which is leading to our divided country. With all the information and the opportunity for anyone to be a "reporter" on the internet, who do you trust?

Whether it is a self-published subscription-based platform like Substack or a large organization with ample resources like the New York Times, news organizations need to control how they are seen out in the world and how they can deliver information worthy of people's trust, Eric says. And remember, those in the middle are responsible for keeping checks and balances on local and state government.

It’s a fascinating topic that has no easy answers. Listen to our conversation here.

Recorded 02/10/2023. 

In today’s podcast, I sat down with Scott Empringham, CEO and Owner of Empringham Media. We talked about what an entrepreneur should know about embracing A.I. technology and how to explode their business in 90 days or less with his 8-step social media framework.

Much has changed in the marketing world over the past 20 years, and Scott has seen it all, including almost losing everything a couple of years ago when two of his largest clients went out of business.

He picked up the pieces quickly and started over using his own 8-step framework, and now he is busier than ever teaching his clients how to win using digital marketing.

“It was a horrible thing I went through, but the best thing I went through to help small businesses and rebuild my own business,” he said. “I shifted my focus from big car companies to working with small businesses.”

He explains the process he takes businesses through to build and maintain their marketing strategy.

The first question that needs to be asked is, "who is my ideal customer, and what problems can I solve for them?"

He also discusses how to use AI intelligently and shares his favorite success story, which involves a mom-and-pop restaurant that adapted and thrived during the pandemic.

Scott is a recognized digital marketing and social media expert with 20+ years of expertise helping over 1,000 entrepreneurs, small businesses, and Fortune 50 companies (Ford, HomeDepot, etc.).

His services include providing step-by-step growth strategies via an on-demand social media course, VIP mastermind coaching for CEOs and marketers, and full-service agency support.

Scott’s committed to helping small businesses and offers a complimentary monthly workshop to help businesses answer three key questions: “Where do I start?”, “What do I say?”, “How do I get it all done in less time and less money?”

Recorded 01/24/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Seth Barnes, Co-Founder and CMO of Raddish, on building a business with your spouse - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Seth is the Co-Founder and CMO of Raddish, a cooking club for kids! Each month tens of thousands of kids learn to cook with Raddish's thematic kits, activities, and tools discovering that the kitchen is the tastiest place to learn. In his role, he oversees marketing, product, technology, and customer service. Before Raddish Seth held senior marketing roles at Savings.com, Edmunds.com and United Online. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Raddish Founder Samantha Barnes and their two children.

Recorded 01/25/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Seth Barnes, Co-Founder and CMO of Raddish, on building a business with your spouse - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Seth is the Co-Founder and CMO of Raddish, a cooking club for kids! Each month tens of thousands of kids learn to cook with Raddish's thematic kits, activities, and tools discovering that the kitchen is the tastiest place to learn. In his role, he oversees marketing, product, technology, and customer service. Before Raddish Seth held senior marketing roles at Savings.com, Edmunds.com and United Online. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Raddish Founder Samantha Barnes and their two children.

Recorded 01/25/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Josh Linkner, Author & Speaker, to discuss how the pandemic grounded him as a speaker - but did it change his life forever? 

Josh Linkner is a Creative Troublemaker. He has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He’s an internationally recognized expert on innovation and is the author of four books on the subject including the New York Times Bestsellers, Disciplined Dreaming, and The Road to Reinvention.

Josh is passionate about starting and building companies. He’s the co-founder and Managing Partner of Muditā Venture Partners - an early-stage venture capital firm - and was previously the CEO and founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners. Over the last 30 years, he's helped over 100 startups launch and scale.

Today, Josh serves as Chairman and co-founder of Platypus Labs, an innovation research, training, and consulting firm. He has twice been named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is a recipient of the United States Presidential Champion of Change Award.

Josh is also a passionate Detroiter, the father of four, a professional-level jazz guitarist, and has a slightly odd obsession for greasy pizza.

Recorded 01/20/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Stephan Aarstol, Founder of Tower Paddle Boards, on if he had to do it all over again, would he have gone on Shark Tank?

With over two decades of Internet experience at the executive level, Stephan is an Internet industry veteran. He has founded a number of ventures including the No Middleman Project, Tower Electric Bikes, Tower Paddle Boards, the Tower Beach Club, Sidepot Gaming, and more.

Founded in 2010 and funded by billionaire Mark Cuban, Tower Paddle Boards is one of the biggest success stories in Shark Tank history. With only $100K in lifetime sales at the time of the 2011 pitch, Cuban invested just $150K, and since then Tower has done well over $40M in sales. In 2014 with a staff of just 5 people and revenues of $5M, Tower was named the #1 fastest growing private company in San Diego by the San Diego Business Journal. A year later Tower was #239 on the INC 500 list of America's fastest growing companies. Tower was the #1 brand out of over 2 million 3rd party sellers signed up for the pilot Amazon Exclusives program, and he and his company were mentioned by name in Jeff Bezos’ 2015 annual letter to stockholders. Tower was named to Internet Retailer's 2016 "Hot 100" list of the world's most innovative e-retailers.

Stephan holds an MBA in New Venture Management from the University of San Diego. He is a widely published entrepreneurial thought leader and he speaks regularly at Harvard Business School on the recently published HBS case study, “Selling on Amazon at Tower Paddle Boards”.

In 2015, to challenge long held delusions about unhealthy start-up work culture, Stephan moved his whole company to a 5-hour workday and would later write a book titled “The Five Hour Workday” about the experience, which would spread the idea to tens of millions of people worldwide, and get press in over 20 countries (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and more). He was subsequently hailed, "The World's Best Boss" by Hamburg Germany's #2 newspaper, MorgenPost, and "America's Best Boss" by the UK's Daily Mail.

Recorded 01/18/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Josh Nickell, VP of the American Rental Association (ARA), on the biggest challenges ahead for businesses in the equipment rental industry. 

Josh is a rental industry specialist focused on helping businesses get more out of less. Businesses, like rental, face new challenges and increased complexity and have the potential to reshape our economy.

Josh grew up in the rental industry as a 3rd generation rental entrepreneur. Over the last 20+ years, Josh has had the opportunity to run one of the fastest-growing rental companies in the country (4x Inc. Magazine — Inc. 5000 winner). In addition, he’s spent time at a national rental company, consulted with local rental companies, served as a board advisor for startups and rental marketplaces, and worked in rental-specific software for companies worldwide.

Recorded 01/17/2023. 

On this episode, Ami Kassar interviews Michael Caito, owner and CEO of Management Action Programs (MAP), to discuss what MAP is, how it works, and how it compares to EOS or Scaling Up. 

Michael’s entrepreneurial roots date back to the early 1990s when he and two partners launched Restaurants on the Run with a mere $6,000. Michael spent the next 20 years building that business. When the company sold in 2015, it was valued at 12x EBITDA and scaled 10 markets, 600 people, and $40 million in revenue. Michael contributes much of that growth and success to his implementation of the MAP Management System™. In December 2017, Michael purchased MAP, the very company that helped him so much over the years.

A member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization for 20+ years, he’s served as a past Global Chairman and traveled to over 25 countries, engaging with countless company owners and organizations. Michael is also active in the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Recorded 01/13/2023.