082: What We Can Learn from 20,000 Small Businesses

1. Make the decision to constantly educate yourself.

The old saying “leaders are readers” is true. Absorb as much information as you can and then put it into practice. Look for opportunities to learn, like listening to audiobooks while in traffic.

2. Small businesses are currently struggling with a lack of community.

Because of the pandemic, people haven’t been getting together as much and that has definitely affected small business owners who need support.  Find other ways to stay connected and communicate through social platforms while still seeking opportunities to get in person when you can.

3. Small businesses owners should always know what resources are available to them.

Reach out to your accountant or business manager to learn about and get access to any capital that is available. When windows are open, you have to take advantage of them because eventually that window will close. Take the time to know what’s out there.

J.R. McNair on LinkedIn, Facebook and official site

Tricia Sciortino on Instagram and LinkedIn

Lisa Zeeveld on Instagram and LinkedIn

BELAY’s Accounting service

The Lifelong Learner – Ted Talk by Bernie Dunlap

Velocity Accelerator

(01:43) J.R. talks about the one day where he spoke to an auditorium of college recruits, played in a college football game, and led a featured solo in the school choir.
(02:58) J.R. was offered a recording contract at age 11.

(03:40) How J.R. became the small business “guru” that he is today.

(10:16) Leaders are readers.

(11:44) Listen to audiobooks while you sit in traffic. Always look for opportunities to learn.

(14:10) J.R. explains his company, The Velocity Accelerator and how they work with small businesses.

(15:47) Many small businesses are struggling with access to resources and staff right now.

(18:55) Small businesses are also struggling with a lack of community.

(20:31) What are some actionable tips that small businesses owners can do to overcome current challenges?

(24:00) Find alternative ways of staffing if the traditional methods aren’t working for you.

(26:50) How can our audience get in touch with J.R. and his business?

(28:17) This week, we’re offering our resource, the Top 10 Business Books for New Entrepreneurs, to help you learn best practices in starting a business.

JR McNair:

Find those customers and make as much money as you can from the customers that you already have. And that is something that I’ve taken with me, is how can I serve my customers more? What are some other things that I can offer to my existing customer base so that I don’t necessarily, in this time where there may not be as much community, that I can go out and offer additional things to help my existing customer base?

Intro:

Welcome to One Next Step, the most practical business podcast in the world, helping you get more done, grow your business and lead your team with confidence with tips and tools you didn’t get in business school. Here are your hosts, Tricia Sciortino and Lisa Zeeveld.

Tricia Sciortino:

Hey guys! Welcome to the One Next Step, the practical business podcast that helps you run your business so it stops running you. I’m Tricia, and today we are going to talk about some of the challenges and opportunities currently facing small businesses. And this is such a great topic, and there is no one more qualified to talk about this than JR McNair.

Tricia Sciortino:

JR is a small business expert and international speaker who is considered to be one of the nation’s foremost experts when it comes to startup businesses. He’s also the founder of the Velocity Accelerator and Small Business Day, the nation’s largest startup launch event. When it comes to the world of small business, he knows everything, so I couldn’t be more excited to talk to JR today about small business. Welcome to the podcast, JR.

JR McNair:

Thank you so much, Tricia. So excited to be here and talk about small businesses, the world and everything else.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yes, yes, yes. Let’s start by talking about you. So I have heard some very interesting fun facts about you. You have, on your bio, one of them says, and I just can’t even believe this, in literally one day you spoke to an auditorium of college recruits, played in a college football game and led a featured solo in the school choir. In one day?

JR McNair:

That’s right.

Tricia Sciortino:

In one day.

JR McNair:

Yeah, that was a jampacked day. I went to Wofford College and I was student body president there. And the one thing when you ask to be a part of something, they definitely involve you. So they said, “JR, we need you come speak to our freshman class.” So I had to prepare a speech and I spoke, and I said, “All right, y’all.”

JR McNair:

I shook some hands and then I ran to the locker room and all the guys were getting ready. And so I had to throw on the stuff, played in a full football game, scored a couple touchdowns, showered up, and then I was like, “Oh man.” And I had to sing, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from The Lion King in the musical, such a scenario. That all happened in one day. Real story. Real story.

Tricia Sciortino:

That is a day. Okay, so you sing. Is it also true that you were offered a recording contract at the age 11?

JR McNair:

Yeah. Me and my best friend at the time and his older brother, they wanted us to sing. Most people don’t know, a lot of singers, they will have you want to stop school full time, get tutors so you can sing and travel, but my parents were not having it. They were like, “That’s great, but no.”

Tricia Sciortino:

But no. You are a man of very many talents.

JR McNair:

Well, I appreciate it. It’s been a journey

Tricia Sciortino:

Athlete, singer, educated, man, it’s an honor to have you. So how is it that you have this fascinating journey and story and things that you’ve accomplished in your life? So tell me about what it is that led you to really, truly becoming the guru of all things small business. How do you wind up where you are today?

JR McNair:

Well, it wasn’t something I just went out to do. When I was a kid, I think what started me in entrepreneurship was just not having enough. I remember going to my mom at 10 years old and I said, “Mom…” I went to school on the south side of Atlanta. You get joned out for not having the right shoes.

JR McNair:

I was the kid that went to school with the Adidas with the four stripes, the K-Swiss with the six, the Payless specials as they used to call them back in the day. And growing up in South Atlanta, people would jones on you pretty bad. So I just went to my mom, and I didn’t have a crazy request.

JR McNair:

I said, mom, “Can I just get some regular tennis shoes like some of the other kids so I wouldn’t feel out of place?” And she was like, “Baby, I love you, but you are not the only child.” And it was at a young age where I had to say, “Well, dang, if I want some stuff, I need to do it.”

JR McNair:

So I started printing flyers and I went out and I scanned the neighborhood with these flyers saying, “I will cut your grass for $25.” And I cut all of these yards. I remember one weekend I made $200, and I was 10. And that’s what got me bit with the bug.

JR McNair:

And so fast forward, going into college, I was in college and being student body president of my college, I had an opportunity to have some great job offers. I had three six-figure job offers when I was getting ready to graduate from college, but I’m wanted to play football. I went to college to play football. That was the only reason why I went. I ended up being good at everything else that college had to offer, but it was just to play football.

JR McNair:

So I was like, “You know what?” I thought I was going to go a fifth round in the draft, that didn’t quite happen, but all during that time, I had founded this little organization in college, my junior year, it was supposed to be a real estate development company. But my mentor, he said, “JR, maybe you should start building up some capital first before you go in and start getting really big in development of real estate.” And I said, “Okay.”

JR McNair:

But when I turned on those three six-figure job offers, the thing was, one was for a company called Cousins Properties, a huge real estate development company here in the Southeast, another one was for BMW, I got offered at my junior year, and this was 20 plus years ago, and then I got another one from Waffle House, believe it or not. And so people, they say Waffle House, they say, “Waffle House got some money.”

Tricia Sciortino:

Waffle House has taken over the world, I don’t know.

JR McNair:

Scattered, smothered and covered all the way.

Tricia Sciortino:

All day and all night.

JR McNair:

And so I turned down those job offers and everybody thought I was flat crazy. And in a sense I was, but I knew I wanted to play football, and if I was going to play, this is my chance. So I was training four or five hours a day. I was waiting tables at Olive Garden, as a matter of fact, and training five hours a day, trying to get ready.

JR McNair:

And then somebody came to me said, “JR can you help me incorporate this business?” And I said, “Yeah, I know how to incorporate businesses.” My mom taught me how to do that, she used to be a paralegal, so I learned how to do that when I was like 17, 18. Then somebody else said, “JR, can you help me to actually do my 501(c)3?” I said, “Yeah, I know how to do that.”

JR McNair:

Somebody said, “How about my website?” I said, “I used to do websites in college for the webmaster.” And then somebody else said, “What about a business plan?” I said, “Well, I can go down to Staples and get a program and figure it out.” And when the smoke cleared, I had a business.

JR McNair:

And I went overseas to play, I came back and I ended up scoring about five touchdowns in a game over there, led into the championship, but I cracked my ribs. I just had got engaged to my wife. I flew her over, we got engaged at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and I did it before Tom Cruise.

Tricia Sciortino:

You made it cool for Tom Cruise.

JR McNair:

Yeah, right? Look, I had to do so. I came back and I had bought these raggedy venting machines, I came back home. And I remember taking $600, bartering first and last month with the landlord, and to make the long story short, I took that $600 and we ended up turning into a quarter of a million dollars before they ended that 10-month period.

JR McNair:

And then fast forward to today, we’ve helped over 10,000 small businesses on a one-on-one basis, and we’ve helped over 12,000 through events. But all of my development happened through trial and error. I will say one secret that really helped me with my development was going to Barnes & Noble.

JR McNair:

It was going to Barnes & Noble and being in there, I would go in there for hours when I was first finishing college. Four or five hours a day, reading all the books on the bookshelf in and around the business entrepreneurship section. And then I would buy the ones that I really liked, and then I would go and try some of the techniques with my clients to see what worked and what didn’t.

JR McNair:

And then over the years, just being in the trenches, almost 20 years, 20 will be next year, I’ve just seen a lot of stuff. And so I always tell people, “You can’t really Google experience.” And I think that’s really what’s happened over the years. So that’s how I came to be what I am. I guess it was a necessity scenario, right?

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. God, there’s so many good little tips for so many people listening. First and foremost, I love that very organically, life found you in this pocket. There was never really this defined plan that you were going to go in this direction.

Tricia Sciortino:

I love seeing divine intervention just show up in people’s lives and land them in a place that maybe they didn’t even know they were meant to be in, but let alone here you are. It sounds like that’s the story of your life, is that maybe in your mind it was all football, but God had a different plan for you, and look where you are now. Gosh, I love it.

Tricia Sciortino:

And then the other thing that really sticks out to me, which I absolutely believe in too, is leaders are readers. Reading, gosh, reading is so important. Self-educating and reading, absorbing all the things. I love how you just had a passion for knowledge. That’s a life changing decision, I think, for people is deciding that they want to constantly educate themselves.

JR McNair:

You make a strong, valid point. And one of my mentors is president Dunlap. So when I was student body president, he was president of Wofford College. He was the one that actually recommended that I go for the Rhode scholarship. But he’s always been just a strong voice in those years that I was in college.

JR McNair:

He has a phenomenal Ted Talk, so if you ever go… It’s probably the best Ted Talk that’s out there. It’s president Dunlap, you put Wofford College, called “Being a Lifelong Learner.” And he just talks about that. One of my secrets now, and I’m going to give one of my secrets away on how I’m continuously digesting information, being in Atlanta y’all know, it’s a lot of traffic, right?

Tricia Sciortino:

There’s a lot of traffic.

JR McNair:

There’s a lot of traffic, it’s everywhere. But that’s a beautiful thing. I love actually sitting in traffic a lot of times. People say, “JR, you love sitting in traffic.” No, because that is my roll university, or what I consider my roll U. I have my audio books, so I be on audible, all these other things. I listen to music on occasion, but the majority of the time, I am listening, I’m reading these books.

JR McNair:

If I’m going on trips, road trips, I’ll pop in a book, digest that information, because we’re always in a car. And so with that, you could absorb that information and continuously be learning something that you could apply in your everyday life. And I’ve read some of my favorite books over the past couple years, it’s been real good.

Tricia Sciortino:

I love it. It’s such a great idea for all the frustrated drivers out there, is to really get into the audio book. I have not yet. I’m actually going to take that as a takeaway for myself, so thank you for the tip. I get to work from home remotely, so I have the luxury of not having to sit in traffic every day, bless it, but I am certainly in for the road trip, so awesome, awesome, tip. I love it.

JR McNair:

Totally. Try it out. Even if you don’t catch all of it, if you can catch 90% of it, 80% of it, you still got a good grasp of the book.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. That’s very good. That’s very, very good.

Tricia Sciortino:

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Tricia Sciortino:

So tell us a little bit about the Velocity Accelerator and how you work with small businesses and what are some of the major changes you’re seeing right now in small business?

JR McNair:

So the Velocity Accelerator is an accelerator, we take startup companies, these are companies that are scalable companies, through in a three-month process, or we do the same thing with small businesses that are just maybe your local traditional small businesses, but we work with them in a way to where they pretty much have a whole team behind them for three months, helping them work in their companies.

JR McNair:

But the Velocity company, which is our parent company, we have a mix between… We have a media events and a consulting side of our business. And so the media side, we’ve made it our business specifically. Before, we were primarily business services and consulting. But in the pandemic, we just were like, “We need to reach more people.”

JR McNair:

And so we were doing media before and producing content, but we just really just went totally into the direction, because what we saw is that a lot of the small businesses did not know what to do when things were going. They didn’t even know how to apply for stuff, they didn’t know where to apply, they didn’t know what things to get into, opportunities that were out here. It was so much information that it was almost like information overload.

JR McNair:

And so what we were doing was just being that conduit to help get them to the places that they needed to go from a media side of things. But I have seen right now in the market, to answer your other question, what’s really going on, is that some small businesses have taken advantage of some of the resources that are out and available, certain small businesses have not been able to.

JR McNair:

It’s been very hard for a lot of these small businesses to even get certain things like the EIDL loan from the SBA, that has been a difficult… We’ve had people get declined. We had one client that we were helping that got declined seven times before they got approved. And I think that was because the SBA at one point in time, there were so many people applying who did not have businesses.

JR McNair:

So it put the SBA in a point to where they were overcorrecting. And by the overcorrecting, what ended up happening is that a lot of the businesses that should have got funding didn’t get funded. And so now what you see is there’s a lot of money that’s still available and out there for small businesses to take advantage of, but because of a lot of the small businesses having issues getting the funding, they just have given up.

Tricia Sciortino:

Such a frustrating process.

JR McNair:

I’m saying, listen, we have several companies and some of our companies went through very easily, but other ones, it was a process and you have to be very resilient, very persistent at making sure you’re communicating.

JR McNair:

And the SBA, they really are overwhelmed because they’ve never been in a position like this before, having this many people apply. So it’s been very interesting. I think that was one thing that I saw that’s very big, the businesses who probably needed the stuff the most had the hardest time accessing the stuff that the government spent all of this money trying to get the small businesses.

JR McNair:

And then I would say the second thing, it’s just staffing. And that just comes really down in a long year line, straight there, because people not finding good people that can help them carry out stuff and what they call the great recession, resignation, I guess, all of these people that were once, I guess, in certain positions in companies, they just said, “You know what, I’m going to go out and start a company, or I’m going to just go and look for better potential opportunities.”

JR McNair:

So it’s left a gap in the market in a lot of areas. And I think even what we’re looking at simply in the supply chain, just not even having certain things like basic drivers that can drive 18-wheelers. I think they said, just with 18-wheelers, they needed a million drivers. And that’s not even considered the box trucks and other transportation. And now coming into Christmas, that’s a big thing. People don’t have access to the staff to really carry out what needs to be carried out.

JR McNair:

So those are some of the things that have happened. I think another thing that I saw is the lack of community that we’ve seen. People are in their islands, because one thing that the pandemic has done, people typically are not congregating in churches, people are not going out in the same spaces where they usually are, and so then it’s a lack of community.

JR McNair:

So the support that we usually have as small businesses is not there. So you’d have to create other support mechanisms and other forms of community. And I think those are good avenues through certain platforms like Clubhouse, through certain other things, and finding those opportunities in person that you can get and start talking to people and actually letting them meet you in person, because there’s a difference when you’re in person, it’s a big difference.

JR McNair:

So I think it’s just building that community, I think it’s been a lack that’s going on right now. And so I would say a myriad of all those three things, the fact that people, it’s been hard for them to access capital as far as the capital that was specifically designated for the small businesses, the fact that the staffing on that end has been an issue and the fact that people have not been able to really a part of a true community because of a lack of interaction in person and things of that nature, I think all of those three things are some of the biggest things that I’ve seen.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. And those are three very large things. Those are huge proponents for any individual or organization to be successful. So do you have any tips? If we want somebody to listen to this podcast and really walk away with one or two actionable items, is there anything you can think of that you would recommend to any small business who’s maybe sitting at any three of those categories that could help them overcome? Or a small step they can take in the right direction for one of those things, to help them overcome these truly overwhelming challenges that we’re in the midst of.

JR McNair:

Yeah, I’ll go down to three. I would say number one, in forms of access to capital, you need to call your accountant and say, “Hey, walk me through this.” You need to call your business consultant. If you don’t have one, get one.

JR McNair:

You need all of these people that are supposed to be there as those points of reference or resources in those areas, this is the time to take advantage of it because there’s windows. I was a running back, and so when that window opened, that hole opened up, you either hit it or it was a busted play. Play’s over. Done deal.

Tricia Sciortino:

Timing matters.

JR McNair:

Totally. When these windows are open, you have to take advantage of them. So if you don’t take advantage of these resources now, they won’t be here later. So I would say the biggest thing is, any place, everywhere, take some time and actually look and see, “Okay, what is there available to me?”

JR McNair:

I’ve never been a person looking for capital or things like that. That was never my thing. I went out and let the sales of my customers play that place as far as in the funding that we’ve needed in our company. But if this is stuff we paid taxes in for, and this is stuff that they’re making available in various areas, you got companies that are out here that are putting forth billions of dollars to help fund things, anything that’s available, you need to be out there-

Tricia Sciortino:

Take advantage.

JR McNair:

And applying for them now. And anybody on your team that can help you do that, if you don’t know, get somebody. Find somebody that can help you. Go to various areas, different community support areas in there and say, “Listen, I just want to get this in place.” And that’s one thing in terms of the funding.

JR McNair:

And of course, as I mentioned, figure out ways to get to your customers and get those sales, and figure out. In terms of funding, a way that I’ve always funded my company is through the sales of my customers. So if you have existing customers, we had come on one of our events last year, and he said, “Find those customers and make as much money as you can from the customers that you already have.

JR McNair:

And that is something that I’ve taken with me. It’s like, how can I serve my customers more? What are some other things that I can offer to my existing customer base so that I don’t necessarily, in this time where there may not be as much community, that I can go out and offer additional things to help my existing customer base?

JR McNair:

And that’s going to help you with those revenue things there.And just start looking at things from angles that you may not have previously looked at before. And that’s in terms of pivoting and all these things in this particular pandemic. So I would say that would be the number one thing.

JR McNair:

I would say number two, in terms of staffing, find alternative ways of staffing. For example, through BELAY, looking at opportunities to find people that you can staff on right now and help you with your company so that you can get out here and make things happen because you can’t do everything yourself.

JR McNair:

I think one of the things that’s very important right now is the internal brand of a company. I think so much, we focus on the external brands of our companies like what customers see that we have maybe not focused as much on the internal brand, what our employees see.

JR McNair:

And I think more than ever, this is the time for us to make sure we are putting out content, that we are really focusing on what our brand looks like internally to our employees. And that is something big as far as on that end. So that would be a way that I would say on how to attract those people to help with this current need on that end.

JR McNair:

And then thirdly, in regards to the community, figure out some in-person things to go to. We just had a grand opening of one of our customers locations last night that we were help planning for on Saturday. We did a pitch event for one of our accelerators at our office. And we did things safe, things on that end, but we got in person. And it was something, people were like, “Oh my goodness. This was…” I always say in person is a new online.

Tricia Sciortino:

Go figure.

JR McNair:

Right? So I would just say getting in there, figure out other places where you can build community online. This is something, it’s relationships as we know, Tricia, this is everything. So building those relationships.

JR McNair:

And don’t wait until later. Build them now, figure out a way, get on the phone, call some people, call some of your past people, even find some people from college that you maybe hadn’t talked to in 25 years, “Hey, what’s up, man? How you doing? Hey, what’s going on?” These are some ways to develop those relationships. So those are some tips that I would say.

Tricia Sciortino:

Those are tremendous tips. I think connections, we need it for our souls, we need it for our business, our community needs it, so I love your point. Doing things that we haven’t done in a long time, as simple as picking up a phone. It sounds crazy that we’re in a culture now where picking up a phone isn’t even something that people think to do.

Tricia Sciortino:

So I love the advice, I appreciate, I think there’s some really great actionable tips in all three of those areas, honestly. And so I really do appreciate you sharing that with us. How can somebody listening get in touch with you or your organization if they want to learn more about what it is you offer to small business?

JR McNair:

Yeah, most definitely. You can reach me at my personal website, which is jrmcnair.com, or you can go… One of our biggest events that we do is an event called Small Business Day, you can go to smallbusinessday.com. We go through cities all across the country helping people start companies. Or you can go to the velocitycode.com to actually inquire about some of our brands and some of the things that we have going on.

Tricia Sciortino:

Awesome. Well, thank you, JR. I’ve truly enjoyed this conversation. I would love it, if you wouldn’t mind, if you would stay on for one more bonus question. I want to ask you about helpful software and technologies for small business, if you don’t mind.

JR McNair:

Okay. Yeah.

Tricia Sciortino:

Yeah. Guys, listeners, if you don’t want to miss this, to hear the clip, subscribe to our email list and we’ll send you a link to the bonus content or visit onenextsteppodcast.com where you’ll find the link to all of our show notes. Thanks guys.

Tricia Sciortino:

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed that amazing interview and that energy from JR. He was packed, full of vibrancy and amazing tips for the small business out there. And guys, as always, we have a one next step for you to take. This week, we’re offering our resource, the top 10 business books for new entrepreneurs to help you learn best practices in starting a business. And until next time, own your journey. Join us next week for more practical tips and actionable tools to advance your business one step at a time.

Tricia Sciortino:

Next week I get the honor of putting Lisa in the hot seat to chat all about how you can be better prepared for tax season in your business. She’s going to help us understand some of the common stressors business owners face, and how having a bookkeeper on your team can help you get a jump start on how you can prepare your business. Here is a sneak peak….

Lisa Zeeveld:

You are not your business. You need to learn how to delegate. You need to learn how to get out of the way. Hire phenomenal people to run your business so you can have a personal life, and so all this makes more sense to you. But working with a bookkeeper can help you have that freedom in your personal finances as well, and I don’t want to miss that piece because that’s big.