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PODCAST

21 Hats Podcast

The 21 Hats Podcast presents an authentic weekly conversation with small business owners who are remarkably willing to share what’s working for them and what isn’t. Unlike many business podcasts, which tend to talk to highly successful entrepreneurs whose struggles are in the past, the 21 Hats Podcast features a rotating cast of business owners who are still very much in the trenches fighting the good fight. Every week, our regulars gather to talk about the kinds of important issues many owners

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

22:54

Dashboard: So You Think Building a Business in the...

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/02/06

Well, it is, but after spending a month in London, Gene Marks says inflation, regulation, and entitled employees make it even worse there. In fact, Gene says he’s going to stop complaining about conditions in the U.S. (We’ll see.) Plus: why Gene thinks even small businesses should offer unlimited PTO, how to make sure you don’t fall prey to one of the Employee Retention Tax Credit scams, and Gene’s list of things a small business can do with ChatGPT.

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49:43

How Much Profit Should Your Business Make?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/31

This week, in episode 141, Shawn Busse, Paul Downs, and Jay Goltz go right to the bottom line. Shawn points out how easy it is for businesses to fool themselves into thinking they’re more profitable than they really are. Paul talks about how margins can vary from year to year, especially if an owner decides to invest in improving the business—as Paul’s doing right now. Jay says he’s long sought a 10-percent profit margin, but so far, he hasn’t managed to get there. Plus: Shawn explains how he solved

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19:31

Dashboard: Getting an SBA Loan With No Down Payment

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/30

This week, 21 Hats columnist and finance expert Ami Kassar assesses the state of small business lending with Loren Feldman. Among other things, they discuss why it’s important to manage your EIDL loan carefully, how much of a line of credit every business should have, how to get a zero-percent-down loan from the SBA, and how much progress Ami has made toward firing himself.

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48:57

Why Isn’t This Product Selling?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/24

This week, in episode 140, Shawn Busse, Liz Picarazzi, and Sarah Segal talk about how long to keep trying when a product isn’t selling the way you expected. For Liz, the problem product is her package locker, which is designed to defeat porch pirates but hasn’t really taken off—especially considering how widespread the concern is. Could the glitter-bomb guy be the answer to Liz’s marketing challenge? Or is it time for her to back off? Plus: In the age of Zoom and remote workers, what have the owners

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22:18

Dashboard: ChatGPT, Salesforce CRM, and the...

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/23

This week, Gene Marks and Loren Feldman discuss an “inconvenient truth” about Salesforce CRM, which is that it’s probably not right for most non-corporate businesses. Already using it? Gene explains how to assess whether it’s worth making the switch to a more affordable platform. Plus: Gene thinks the Department of Labor’s new worker-classification law will be a disaster but suggests some fixes. Gene also has some thoughts about ChatGPT: real potential, not there yet.

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43:16

Bonus Episode: A New Way to Sell Your Business

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/20

This week, in a special bonus episode, Michael Brown, co-founder of an innovative company called Teamshares, explains how he and his co-founders are bringing a fresh approach to a big challenge. Teamshares is buying the businesses of Boomer owners who are ready to retire but, in many cases, struggling to sell. Once the business is bought, Teamshares is turning the employees of those businesses into employee-owners, which is intended to strengthen the businesses while also addressing income

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50:04

I’ve Always Been Afraid to Raise Prices

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/17

This week, in episode 139, Jay Goltz, Dana White, and Laura Zander have a wide-ranging conversation that starts with the challenge of pricing. Do you set prices based on what you think the market will bear? Or do you set prices based on your own rising costs and what you need to charge to make a profit? And how much profit should a business expect to make? Along the way, the owners also discuss why Laura wants to keep buying businesses (don’t tell her husband, Doug), what Dana needs to do to get her

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25:54

Dashboard: The State of Small Business, 2023

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/16

John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, an advocacy group for entrepreneurs and businesses, talks to Loren Feldman about how businesses are faring, what issues they are most concerned about, and where his organization is focusing its energy. Among other things, they discuss access to capital, the need for immigration reform, who benefits from non-compete agreements, California’s experiment in fast food regulation, and the Labor Department’s approach to independent

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50:04

How’s Your Compensation Plan Holding Up?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/10

This week, in episode 138, Shawn Busse, Liz Picarazzi, and William Vanderbloemen discuss what it’s been like trying to make sense of employee compensation in a time of COVID, the Great Resignation, inflation, and a looming recession. Shawn’s business model is evolving, and he’s trying to adjust his mix of employees to fit the new model with as little disruption as possible. Liz is expecting a year of big growth and is assessing how that will affect her staffing needs—especially as she introduces new

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20:31

Dashboard: Check Out the New Retirement Rules

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/09

This week, Gene Marks tells Loren Feldman that the politicians behind Secure 2.0 are smarter than you think. The omnibus spending bill that recently became law includes a slew of changes to the rules that govern retirement benefits. The changes are designed to encourage both employees and owners to sock away more money, and they include a $1,000 tax credit per employee for owners who match employee savings. Plus: are non-compete clauses of any value to small businesses? And the IRS blinks on its

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56:53

The Hard-Nosed Business Case for Employee Ownership

21 Hats Podcast ·

2023/01/03

This week, in episode 137, Jay Goltz explains how he got interested in selling a percentage of his business to his employees and why he quickly lost interest once he started reading books, attending seminars, and talking to accountants and lawyers who specialize in employee stock ownership plans. To Jay’s ear, they all made ESOPs sound expensive, complicated, and risky. This was not something he needed to do. So why go to the trouble? Why take the risk? But he kept asking questions, and over time,

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23:00

Dashboard: Business Regulation Even Business Owners...

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/12/19

In our last episode of the year, Gene Marks tells Loren Feldman he actually thinks business owners will like the new law in California that will create councils to regulate the fast food industry. In fact, Gene thinks there’s a chance it will succeed and spread to other regions and other industries. He also explains why he thinks businesses should be on Yelp, why he’s still excited about what Elon Musk is doing with Twitter, and why he thinks interest rates will be the small business story of

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47:28

Jay Goltz’s 12-Step Business Check-Up

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/12/13

This week, in episode 136, Shawn Busse, Jay Goltz, and Sarah Segal talk about what they hope to accomplish in 2023. Sarah’s moving into new offices, aiming for 20-percent growth, and hoping to land a chocolate company as a client. Shawn’s looking for new space, too, and attempting to reposition his business to shake the corrosive effects of the pandemic. And Jay’s employing a methodical 12-step process to assess how his business is performing: Hiring? Check. Pricing? Needs work. Inventory levels

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20:51

Dashboard: The Problem with Charging by the Hour

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/12/12

This week, Gene Marks and Loren Feldman talk about how charging by the hour actually punishes you for being good at your job—but there’s a good reason Gene does it anyway. Plus: Gene also discusses his one concern about hiring ex-offenders and issues a warning to business owners about their remote employees. Gene thinks they’re probably stealing from you.

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50:03

I Want to Double Sales Again Next Year

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/12/06

This week, in episode 135, Shawn Busse, Paul Downs, and Liz Picarazzi talk about their plans and goals for 2023. Shawn, whose marketing efforts still haven’t recovered from the pandemic, is hoping to build on the success of a recent event. Paul, coming off his best year ever, is investing $150,000 in a marketing campaign, including a new website targeting a different set of customers. And Liz, too, is attempting to shift her customer base, in her case from residential to municipal work. More

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24:52

Dashboard: Okay, Boomer, What's Your Succession Plan?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/12/05

Gene Marks tells Loren Feldman that he’s concerned that not enough business owners are thinking about the future and preparing for succession. Which leads to an obvious question: Does Gene have a succession plan? Hmmm. Plus: Gene has some suggestions for how businesses can better manage their relationships with vendors and suppliers. And what lessons should we take from the rampant fraud being revealed in the PPP program?

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45:40

Should We Tell the Employees?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/11/29

This week, in episode 134, Shawn Busse, Jay Goltz, and Laura Zander talk about the buying and selling of businesses. Laura thinks her recent purchase of a small distribution business could change the trajectory of her whole company, helping her finesse the challenge of selling wholesale products to her retail competitors. Jay, meanwhile, has been trying to help an aging business owner sell the kind of business that too often just fades away. Underlying both discussions is an intriguing question:

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48:08

Are You a Good Negotiator?

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/11/22

This week, in episode 133, Paul Downs and Sarah Segal talk about their experiences negotiating, what they’ve learned and where they’ve struggled. One key factor, of course, is defining what constitutes a successful negotiation. As Paul points out, one definition is squeezing every last penny out of the other side. That is not Paul’s definition, especially when negotiating salary with a new employee. Sarah, meanwhile, discusses the tactics she uses to try to guide potential clients to the price and

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23:59

Dashboard: Zip It And Do Your Job!

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/11/21

This week, Gene Marks tells Loren Feldman that he’s had it with “quiet quitting,” side hustles, and employees who won’t go the extra mile. It’s time, he says, for them to get to work. And if they don’t? Gene says they’re going to be looking for work, and it could happen much sooner than they realize. On a related note, Gene is also very excited about the “hardcore” changes Elon Musk is bringing to Twitter. We’ll see how that works out!

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45:19

For Richer, For Poorer

21 Hats Podcast ·

2022/11/15

This week, in episode 132, Liz Picarazzi, Hans Schrei, and Laura Zander talk about something they have in common: They all own and run their business with a partner who also happens to be a spouse. Which suggests some interesting questions: Is someone in charge? How do they divvy up responsibilities? What do they talk about? What do they fight about? Do they fight in front of the employees? How do they make decisions? Who does the dishes? Do they ever wish they were not in business with their

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527 results

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