Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com and it's featured guest time on the show and I'm very pleased to have a repeat guest on the show because with me this morning, I have Chuck Ashman, founder and CEO of Business Matchmaking. Chuck, welcome back The BusinessMakers Show.

Chuck: Thank you, Russ. Good to be here.

Russ: Let's start by you telling our audience, those who haven't heard it before, what is Business Matchmaking?

Chuck: Business Matchmaking is a solution for the fact that small business owners all over the country have been intimidated for too many years by the red tape it takes to try and sell something to Uncle Sam or for that matter even to a larger corporation. Seven years ago, a very wise administrator of the SBA, Hector Borretto, and I got together and I asked him if he could bring some of his folks on the road because small business wasn't gonna go to Washington and knock on the door at the Defense Department and say, "I hear you buy pencils, or software. Can I sell you somethin'?"

Russ: Right.

Chuck: And he went along with it. We took it on the road. That was then, this is now and Business Matchmaking is the result; 75,000 face-to-face appointments have taken place; $6 to $7 billion dollars in contracts. Basically it is a face-to-face speed dating, if you will, for small business to meet around the country with people who buy the products and services for the federal government, for state and city government and for major corporations and it's supported by an online network where they get their information and do the follow up meetings.

Russ: Wow, 75,000 face-to-face meetings. Now, as you and I know, I got to attend one, prob'ly about two years ago in Chicago.

Chuck: That's right.

Russ: And man, was it ever an event. Speed dating for business people is the best description I've ever seen but there was just a lotta buzz in that meeting as well.

Chuck: Well, if you think there was a buzz then, you can imagine what it's like now. You're dealing with a whole different environment for small business. You're dealing with companies - and there's 27 million of 'em around the country - who are finding it difficult to get credit, loans from bank, even when they deserve it -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - and they're worried about keepin' the doors open. Then if they have customers and clients, they're finding they don't always get paid. So one of the solutions is if I can sell to government, at least I'll get paid.

Russ: Right, right.

Chuck: They've got the money.

Russ: Well, not only that but there is, now, stimulus dollars directed towards small business.

Chuck: Huge and the President has made it very clear that a certain percentage of that has to go to small business. In fact, every federal agency, and most state agencies now, have set-aside dollars that have to be spent or they're lost on small business. Now, small business are also very often minority-owned.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: They're also very often women-owned.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: They're very often veteran owned. As a matter of fact, we've discovered a whole new economic class in this country. I call them the unexpected entrepreneur. I'll tell you who they are. First of all, you've got a million six veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan with a shameful, a shameful unemployment statistic.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: It's about three times the national average. Somebody comes back, wants to make a living, support his family, can't get a job. He or she may well become an entrepreneur, start a business.

Russ: Right. Right.

Chuck: Then you got another group. All those wives who thought, "Well, I'll be able to stay home, my husband's got a good job."

Russ: Right.

Chuck: May not have the good job anymore.

Russ: Right, right.

Chuck: She's goin' to work.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Then you have the category I can relate most to and that is the older folks who figured it's time to leave and go play golf and they go and find they haven't got any pension money left.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: So they start.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: So you've got all these people who didn't plan to become entrepreneurs becoming entrepreneurs to compete with those who did plan -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - to become entrepreneurs. So we have a growing organic universe and we're lucky, however, though, we have a federal administration and kind of a national mindset to help small business. Now years ago, when a Hewlett Packard or an American Airlines or any big company said, "Well do something with small business," it wasn't necessarily altruistic. It was politically correct.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Particularly if it's a minority or a woman or a veteran.

Russ: Right, right.

Chuck: Now they found out it's good business.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Small business delivers on time, on budget, they appreciate the opportunity and as a result, we are able to provide an environment in which they're quickly exposed to potential customers that they might, Russ, never have met.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Somebody in San Diego never would've been at the Pentagon -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - to meet somebody and people don't realize this. The Pentagon buys the most sophisticated software in the world and toilet paper.

Russ: Wow.

Chuck: And somebody's gotta sell it to 'em.

Russ: That makes sense. Well now, in fact just talking about political correctness made me think, "Well wait a minute, when you started Business Matchmaking, we had a Republican administration and now, obviously, we have a Democratic administration." What changed because of that?

Chuck: Well, I think there are very few areas where both parties, both philosophies come together. Hector Borretto was the first Hispanic appointee by President Bush -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - and he was - this is a stunner - he was unanimously ratified by the Senate. I think the last time the United States Senate unanimously agreed on anything was when Christmas is.

Russ: [Laughter] Right, right, right.

Chuck: But they did unanimously approve him.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: And the Bush Administration, while you can find people on both sides to argue on almost any issue -

Russ: Absolutely, you can.

Chuck: Not on this one because they were very supportive of small business under Hector's regime. They increased the amount of loans, the amount of support. They grew exponentially and the Obama Administration has picked up the ball, continued the same and maybe even more. This is a good time for small business. The problem we have is getting over the economic hump. It used to be that one out of every five small businesses that got started would fail after two years. Now it's one out of three because of the economics.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Even if you're a good company.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: If you can't get the loan and the credit, you can't survive. There seems to be a little light at the end of the tunnel, just a little. One big step, Russ, is that the SBA used to guarantee on an SBA guaranteed loan for a small business 75 percent.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: So the bank only had a 25 percent exposure. Well, with the current crisis, the SBA's increased that to 90.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: So the bank have less exposure, they're more willing to loan and that's what the President did.

Russ: Cool. We're talking with Chuck Ashman, founder and CEO of Business Matchmaking and we'll be back with more with Chuck after this. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com.

[Aflac Commercial]

Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. And continuing on with Chuck Ashman, founder and CEO of Business Matchmaking. Well, I really enjoyed that last topic when you talked about this is somethin' that Republicans and Democrats apparently agree on, and that's promoting small businesses but since you've been doin' this for awhile, you know, and I'm sure we have some new small companies tuning in right now, do those that have already sort of got hooked up with federal government or in large corporate buyers, do they have a huge advantage over people just now considering coming in?

Chuck: Well, I think everybody, whether it's a government or a corporation or an individual, likes a comfort level when they go shopping. You wanna deal with someone that you can count on -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - and I think that once you get a contract, if you do a good job, you have an easier time getting the second one.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: That's why we urge small businesses to not reach for the moon. Start small and everything else but there are opportunities for new companies and the biggest opportunity is through what we call "teaming." If one guy makes a red widget and he's trying to sell widgets to a government agency but they need blue ones as well, what we try to do is get the red widget maker and the blue widget maker together and they jointly go in and do what one small company may not be able to do.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: We also find situations where one company has a bit of a track record; another ones' getting started. So teaming has become a portal, a doorway if you will, for a lot of new companies to get the first contract. And the other thing, to me very interesting, are the new kinds of products that are out there. It's a never-ending imagination if you will in the competitive world for companies to wanna get some vendor to come up with somethin' a little different. As a result, we've now identified about 460 categories of small business that attend our meetings and we give 'em each a code. They have a sophisticated registration system so that the right buyers with the right seller - I'll give you an example. Used to be we have a buyer comin' in from the Commerce Department and she's buying apparel.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: And we got a seller from Houston, Texas, a small business who's selling apparel.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: And they sit down, isn't that great? No it's not, because she wants T-shirts and he's makin' shoes.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: So now we said, "We better get a little more detail."

Russ: Right.

Chuck: So we broke it down and now we have about a 98 percent hit rate where a buyer tells us after a meeting with a seller, 98 percent of the time, "I can do business with this person and I'll look to find a way to do it." That's why we've been able to get $6 to $7 billion in actual contracts granted.

Russ: Cool. Well what products and services have been most successful in Business Matchmaking?

Chuck: Well in the services end, staffing. In the services end, janitorial. In the services end, the specialist placement of people. In the product side, the manufacture of anything that goes onto anything else. Lockheed Martin is a giant believer in using small business and to their credit, they favor, whenever they can, veteran-owned small business and if you start with something like their multi-billion dollar F-35 project in development and you work your way down, you can find over 2,000 parts, 2,000 different aspects that they put out to bid for small businesses. So you're talking manufacturing; you're talking staffing. Food services. We have small businesses that come in and they end up pitching a food service contract for a military base. After Katrina, we had a very unusual situation. We had thousands of small businesses that were surviving but their customers were gone.

Russ: Wow, yeah.

Chuck: And we had to help them find new customers. Government agencies that they could sell their products to. In fact, one of 'em I remember was indeed food services and they lost everything and we finally were able to get the Army Corps of Engineers to start using 'em to take care of their PXs and they stayed in business.

Russ: That's so cool. Now lemme ask you this. When you mentioned Lockheed Martin, it dawned on me, you know, if someone were to attend one of your speed dating matchmaking sessions, would they both perhaps visit with somebody from the federal government and the big corporate buyer like Lockheed Martin?

Chuck: The average attendee at a Business Matchmaking event will have 7 to 10 15-minute meetings.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: They pick the meetings. We let the sellers, the small business, drive the action. We go out and get the federal government to send their buyers, major corporations and the motors are different. The federal government's there 'cause they have to be, it's mandated.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: To the large corporations, if they are a prime contractor, the government insists that they do a certain amount with small business and other corporations are there because they've just found out it's good business. So whatever the motivation, they come and yes, that average seller, small business, will have a group of appointments with federal buyers and with the procurement people from the private sector.

Russ: Okay, talking with Chuck Ashman, found and CEO of Business Matchmaking and definitely before we let him go, we're gonna find out for those of you that are interested in participating in this, how to do it. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com.

[Aflac Commercial]

Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com and continuing on with Chuck Ashman, founder and CEO of Business Matchmaking. Well, Chuck, I couldn't help but think when you start introducing all these people and they meet each other, they don't all go perfectly. What's a common mistake that small businesses make in trying to sell to the federal government or large corporation?

Chuck: The first and the biggest mistake is not being prepared. If you know you're gonna have a meeting with a buyer from Homeland Security because they're interested in buying paper products, and you're a paper products salesperson -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - you better do your homework.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: You shoulda looked at their site, found out what their process is; what they've done in the past; who they've done business with; what criteria they use. So we urge all of the small businesses that have an appointment scheduled whether they come to the event or whether they do it online, to really do a lotta homework.

Russ: Sure.

Chuck: That's the first thing.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: Another mistake is exaggerating to the point of jeopardizing the integrity of the situation.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: I'm trying to be delicate here.

Russ: [Laughter] I understand.

Chuck: Basically, let's assume that you have 5 employees but you've got 25 other people you know you can call on as independent contractors if you get this contract.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: It's a mistake to go in and identify yourself as having 30 employees.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: That's like saying, "Well I have the machinery to do this," when what you really mean is, "I know where it's at and I can lease it pretty quick."

Russ: Right.

Chuck: If you fudge too much, that can come back to bite you in the butt and it can actually cost you not only that contract, but the kinda confidence that the government needs if they're gonna wanna do business with you.

Russ: Okay.

Chuck: So number one, be prepared and that old Boy Scout, Cub Scout motto is -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - never truer.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: Number two, play it straight because they're gonna know if you don't.

Russ: Okay. Well let's say that we've got some people in our audience that are sold on Business Matchmaking and prob'ly the first thing they wanna know is how much does it cost to participate?

Chuck: Nothin'. As a result of the commitment by companies like American Express and American Airlines and HP and Lockheed Martin and others, all of these events, all of these activities are totally free. Nobody spends a penny. The government agents come in free. The corporate people come in free and if they want information on how to participate, the best thing to do is to go to the website. It's a simple one, it's a user-friendly one. It's called businessmatchmaking - one word, businessmatchmaking.com. If you go there, there's educational material there, information, access. You can register. They'll help you get started and if nothing else, it'll put you in touch with the people you're trying to sell.

Russ: Okay but you might go there and register for an event. Is participating in event the only way to participate?

Chuck: No. An event is the best way to participate 'cause there's no substitute for that speed dating. Imagine you're trying to get a date. If you got 15 minutes to charm her -

Russ: Right.

Chuck: - and talk to her that's one thing. If all you can do is send her an email or be on the phone, your chances are not quite as good.

Russ: Right.

Chuck: But you still got a shot. Now if it were you, of course, you'd charm her either way and you'd get the -

Russ: [Laughter] Oh, sure.

Chuck: - you get the date.

Russ: Sure. I was thinking it'd be better if I didn't show up, meet her face-to-face. It would increase my odds. Well Chuck, this is really cool. I expect that we have some interested people in our audience for sure and you actually have a schedule of the upcoming events on the website?

Chuck: We've got about 20 events, workshops and face-to-face meetings that are listed and also where you can contact some of these key agencies for in between events or cities that we're not bringing events to.

Russ: That's real cool. I thank you so much, Chuck, once again, for sharing your very cool mission.

Chuck: Thank you.

Russ: You bet. That's Chuck Ashman, founder and CEO of Business Matchmaking. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com.