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I am 24, black, and live and have lived in majority black neighborhoods. I find it a bit embarrassing to notice that many owners of businesses large or small in majority black neighborhoods are not owned or run by black people. Personally, I know next to nothing of economics, credit, and managing businesses overall.
Finance-wise, how or why did so many non-blacks manage to run nail salons, gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, etc in black neighborhoods?
My intent is not to offend people but to seek advice on what can we as black people do to step up economically in terms of ownership and credit. I assume you have to have good credit, but what are some specific step-by-step guides in terms of the necessary paperwork such as licensing and permits, or if a degree is necessary, on owning and starting a business like a nail salon, beauty supply store, gas stations, restaurant, etc.
I live in the Miami, Florida area if that matters.
You need two things to start:
- Know how to run a type of business that you are interested in, and the best way to learn is to work at one of those.
- Access to capital via formal (banks) or informal methods. Most of those minority groups that you mentioned have raised capitals from family or community.
Permitting, licensing etc are necessary once you have the above two secured and are ready to start the business.
You need two things to start:
- Know how to run a type of business that you are interested in, and the best way to learn is to work at one of those.
- Access to capital via formal (banks) or informal methods. Most of those minority groups that you mentioned have raised capitals from family or community.
And that's it, in a nutshell. First, you have to know how. Second, you have to have at least a minimum of starting resources.
Almost anyone can do both, but the situation you're observing is a small confluence of people who probably grew up working in or running a small store, and have family/community resources to back their move into independence.
The minority groups are most likely using family money and family members as workers. They aren't buying businesses in black neighborhoods because there is something magical about owning a business in a black neighborhood. They are buying there because they can buy those businesses in lower income neighborhoods for a low purchase price. If they could afford a fancy store in the expensive shopping centers in a rich town, they would be doing that instead. Ethnic mix of the neighbors has nothing to do with it.
There is a lot of knowledge needed to run a small business. The SBA ( Small Business Administration ) used to run a really good series of classes, all nuts and bolts information, very valuable to anyone wanting to run a small business. I found the classes at a local junior college. Some googling or a request sent to the SBA should turn up information about the classes.
At that time completing those courses was a pre-requirement to getting a SBA loan.
There is a lot of knowledge needed to run a small business. The SBA ( Small Business Administration ) used to run a really good series of classes, all nuts and bolts information, very valuable to anyone wanting to run a small business. I found the classes at a local junior college. Some googling or a request sent to the SBA should turn up information about the classes.
At that time completing those courses was a pre-requirement to getting a SBA loan.
SBA is surprisingly useless to most "small businesses." I never found anything they offered of much use in developing and running companies from one-man shops to 3-4 person agencies up to 100+ employee companies in the $5M range. Their services, offerings and focus are much, much higher than most peoples' idea of "small."
They exist to help businesses of certain types in the low $M's, and a broader spectrum of businesses up to "not Fortune 500 level." They are nice to people who want to start, say a corner store but don't really offer much except "come back and see us when you're bigger."
A good basic business education from a community college and at least a few years of experience managing someone else's business is an essential component of really small business success. Using that time to pile up starting capital and make friends with capital is the other part of it.
"...advice on what can we as black people do to step up economically..."
as posted above....
1. have a family willing to work for nothing. "they" do that. B.P. can too.
2. the job or work is the life. no TV. no church. no nothing else. again, they do that.
3. i have seen this too many times: do not extend credit. let the card handle that.
CD does not have a large number of Black people posting. Hence, most comments won't be representative of the reality of Black life in America.
I suspect this thread is a back handed attempt to disparage Black people.
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