(ThyBlackMan.com) According to the U.S. Census Report, there are 2.6 million Black-owned businesses in the country. Looking at the bigger picture, although minorities comprise nearly 40% of the entire USA population, only 17.5% of the country’s businesses are run by those minorities.
However, although white males still comprise the majority of business owners, the amount of black-owned businesses is certainly on the rise. One survey found that the amount of African American small business owners has increased by 400% from 2017 to 2017. This staggering improvement shows that there’s plenty of hope for you to start your own business, and many resources at your disposal. Here’s some advice to consider if you plan on opening you own business:
Accelerators & Incubators With Minority Focus
Accelerators and incubators are programs designed to help startups grow their businesses and have access to early funding, mentoring, and much more. Though there are more programs launching every year, and the majority of accepted startups are white (they also occupy the majority of applicants), there’s still room for minorities.
While you should apply to any program that you feel is relevant to you, there are also programs that provide preference or solely accept startups launched by minorities. For instance, DreamItVentures, one of the most well-known incubator programs, partnered with Comcast Ventures to launch DreamIt access, which provides seed funding and coaching to minority-led startups. the NewME Accelerator, PowerMoves Miami, and TheJumpFund are all programs that aim to increase diversity in the business world.
When you join an incubator program, you’re able to grow much quicker. Over the course of three to six months, you’ll not only have space and resources to work full-time on your business, but some initial funding as well. Furthermore, the majority of programs culminate in a “Demo Day,” where you’ll pitch to a room full of investors that you may not have been able to reach otherwise.
Financial Resources
There are many financial resources available to members of the black community who want to start their own businesses. There are several minority business grants offered to entrepreneurs to help promote growth of local businesses among minorities. When you certify your business’s minority status, you’ll be able to unlock a wealth of government benefits that many people don’t realize exist. For example, you’ll be able to work with the National Minority Supplier Development Council to connect with private sector buyers, participate in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program to compete better for federal government contractors, and much more.
You can also participate in competitions such as the Black Enterprise Elevator Pitch Competition, where you’ll pitch to a panel of judges to win a $10,000 business grant. Take a look at these other competitions and grants available to African Americans.
Start a Blog
No matter who you are or what industry you’re in, search engine optimization and blogging are necessary to help grow the business. Google uses content to determine what a web page is about, and how relevant that webpage is to the user. The more quality blog posts you have, the more opportunities you have to be crawled by Google’s network “spiders.”
Although your ultimate goal is to increase sales, it’s impossible to reach that goal if potential customers are unable to discover your website. Websites with blogs are almost 500% more likely to be indexed by Google. If you want to learn SEO on your own and are taking the lean approach to startup costs, don’t fret. Start by checking out this SEO podcast, and continue your research efforts with SEO books, blogs, and free online classes or seminars.
Black-Owned Coworking Spaces
Every business needs to work on operations before they ever break ground or launch digitally. Starting a business is no easy task, and having a dedicated space to not only work—but connect with others—is a great place to start. Fortunately, there are many black-owned coworking spaces around the country that continue to inspire new business owners.
“Having a space that is black-owned and supported by and attended mostly by people of color, it is a good thing,” Aaron Saunders, who opened the Inclusive Innovation Incubator, told Motherboard. “Because it will help more black people come out when before, black people held their conversations about tech and innovation in the bars or clubs.”
Staff Writer; Ronald Carter