On this episode of Business Insanity Talk Radio, we are celebrating show #350! We first talk to Scott Jordan who was the first guest on the very first show seven years ago. He has a new book out called Shark Bites which reveals the secrets of the TV show Shark Tank. My next guest thinks everyone should have experience starting a business before they graduate high school; hear how he is doing more than anyone to promote this idea. Then, learn about the state of the small business workforce. After, we’ll talk to the founder and CEO of FuzziBunz Diapers about her experience starting the company. Finally, we’ll show you how to form a company culture that rocks!
Listen and enjoy:
Segment 1: Scott Jordan is the CEO of Travelwear company SCOTTeVEST. He appeared on Season 3 of Shark Tank and has since gone on to building his company into a tech apparel powerhouse.
3:30 – How SCOTTeVEST has evolved since 2000.
6:30 – What does Scott wish he knew when he started his business?
7:45 – Scott’s advice for entrepreneurs: learn how to become a manager.
8:30 – Scott’s new book Shark Bites interviews past entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank.
9:30 – One of the most memorable stories in Shark Bites.
Segment 2: Steve Mariotti left a successful business career in 1982 to become a public high school teacher in New York City’s roughest neighborhoods. Steve discovered he could reach even his most troubled students by teaching them to run small businesses. In 1987, he founded the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to bring entrepreneurship education to low-income youth. NFTE has worked with over 600,000 young people from low-income communities, and has programs in 17 U.S. communities and 10 countries.
15:30 – Why should kids learn entrepreneurship at an early age?
16:30 – Steve’s experience founding NFTE.
17:45 – Is a lemonade stand a good way to teach kids entrepreneurship?
18:45 – Why Steve wrote An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto and why he believes everyone should learn how to start a business before leaving high school.
20:30 – The hurdles facing first-time entrepreneurs and how we can fix them.
22:45 – What are the key elements of entrepreneurship education?
Segment 3: Matthew Owenby has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services/HR industry and is senior vice president, chief human resources officer at Aflac, a company with more than 9,500 employees. He is responsible for providing strategic direction for the Human Resources function and executing global initiatives for the corporation. Matthew joined Aflac in 2012 as vice president of HR Business Partners, bringing with him more than a decade of HR experience from his former Fortune 500 employers.
31:00 – The highlights of the 2015 Aflac WorkForces Report for Small Businesses.
32:45 – What are the most popular employee benefits?
33:45 – What are supplemental/voluntary health insurance plans?
34:30 – What benefits are Millennials looking for?
35:45 – How popular is short term and long term disability insurance?
Segment 4: Tereson Dupuy is the founder and CEO of FuzziBunz Diapers. The FuzziBunz story begins in 1999 when a young mom’s pediatrician insisted that chemical laden disposable diapers caused her son’s diaper rash. Tereson was disappointed with her search for a reusable diaper system that would fit into her busy life as a new mom. Cloth diapers were hard to use and a mess to launder, so Tereson invented the original FuzziBunz cloth diapers and that was the catalyst to her success.
40:45 – What’s wrong with disposable diapers?
42:00 – Why did Tereson decide to take this business on as a young mom?
43:00 – How Tereson started her business with only $5.
45:00 – How do entrepreneurs protect themselves and their ideas? When is protecting patents worth it?
46:30 – How Tereson dealt with her first competitor.
Segment 5: Jim Knight is a leading training and development expert with more than 20 years with Hard Rock International where he led the renowned school of rock. He is the author of the new book “Culture that Rocks”.
49:45 – Why is culture so critical to the success of organizations?
50:30 – How to surround yourself with Rockstars.
51:30 – How avoid the “lipsyncers” – look for the 3 C’s.
