Black business matters, but is it respected? According to Nielsen, African Americans wield $1.3 trillion in annual spending power; however, we’re often not respected as consumers or entrepreneurs, which is why everyone must become socially conscious on ways to support Black Businesses and Black Business Leaders.
Black people have been proud, successful entrepreneurs since the beginning of time. I come from a long line of business owners; my great grandfather, grandparents, parents, myself, and now my children.
It takes considerable ingenuity, patience, persistence, funding, determination, clients, supporters, and donors to build a profitable business, especially when you start from scratch or have little to no support.
Black people all too often are told to “settle for” or “this is as good as it gets” when visualizing more significant opportunities and possibilities for themselves and their families to build and acquire generational wealth.
When we dream big and dare to take chances on ourselves, we’re told, “you can’t do that,” “you should just keep your job,” or “that’s stupid, why would you do that.” When we move forward and implement our vision, funding our business becomes a web of creative marketing and networking challenges.
We’re usually operating as a One-(Wo)Man band, doing the job of five people because of a lack of funding to hire a staff and provide them with a living wage. We also lack the funds to pay ourselves!
All bets are against us being successful! Yet we are successful, time and time again!
Because of COVID-19, Black businesses need more significant support. According to a new report by Claire Kramer Mills, Ph.D., and Jessica Battisto of the New York Federal Reserve, Black-owned businesses have been hit hardest by the pandemic, causing declines of 41% forcing many black businesses to shut down.
The World Bank has estimated that more than 200 million people may sink into poverty due to COVID-19’s economic effects. For the world’s richest, it took less than ten months to recover the financial losses caused by the pandemic. For the world’s poorest, the report estimated, it will take more than ten years. COVID-19’s economic effects will have a devasting impact on Black businesses.
Before the pandemic, we dealt with systematic oppression, exclusionary laws, racism, sizeism, and sexism. The economic turndown impacts Black people and our communities at a higher rate than all other communities.
Black leaders have been working to radically reimaging actionable solutions to change the narrative for the communities we serve by strategizing solutions for equity, accountability, creative funding, business development, community engagement, and wealth building.
To ensure the success of Black businesses, we need the following support (to start):
• Banks and lending institutions must develop funding streams for small and mid-size businesses, including capital to secure products, hire and train staff, marketing, advertisement, day-to-day running of a business, and investment for more products and supplies.
• Suppliers must provide the best price points, so Black owned businesses won’t need to pass the overage onto their customers.
• Everyone must shop and support the economic growth of Black owned and operated businesses.
• Support Black owned and operated nonprofits. Make monthly donations. Host
fundraisers and volunteer.
• Financially support small and mid-size nonprofits and for profits. Remember, large
businesses started small.
• Hire Black people and those in the
community.
• Mentor a Black youth or young adults. Help them realize their vision and inspire their creativity by supporting their dreams. It’s their vision, and they need us to help make it a reality.
Black business success is a direct result of the greater community supporting the business. We need funders infusing capital, staff receiving living wages to provide for their families, community members respecting our companies, and the management and business must respect the communities it’s serving.
Invest in youth, job creation and women owned business. When Black businesses succeed, so does the entire community!
Trust, respect, and support Black leaders, Black women and Black owned businesses.
We all benefit in the end!
Kandee Lewis is CEO of the Positive Results Center and is also civil rights commissioner of the City of Los Angeles. For more information or to learn more, visit prc123.org/who-we-are.
