Speaker 1: When you think about those businesses that are you know,
Speaker 1: still in those very early stages Black entrepreneurs who may
Speaker 1: not in many cases come from a lineage of entrepreneurs,
Speaker 1: but they're really good at a thing, whether that be
Speaker 1: you know, developing a hair care product or of some
Speaker 1: sort of food or etcetera. I'm making up things, but
Speaker 1: they are doing it in their kitchen, They're doing it
Speaker 1: in their garage, They're doing it, you know, in somebody's
Speaker 1: commercial kitchen or etcetera. What are some of the most
Speaker 1: common UM business related issues that they walk into the
Speaker 1: door with that they need resolved that prohibits them from
Speaker 1: being able to reach a new level of their business. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think um the common misconception is that everyone needs
Speaker 1: access to capital. That's what every business other things, their
Speaker 1: biggest problem is. However, there was actually a study done
Speaker 1: by the Rustle Center for Innovation down in Atlanta shout
Speaker 1: out to my my virtual mentor J Bailey. They did
Speaker 1: a study with like five thousand small business owners early
Speaker 1: stage folks and asking them what their greatest needs were,
Speaker 1: and surprisingly overwhelmingly, the number one need and that survey
Speaker 1: was community and networks. Number two was mentorship. Number three
Speaker 1: was access to capital and number four was UM technical
Speaker 1: skills training UM. And so if that sheds any light
Speaker 1: and what folks really need, we know that community is
Speaker 1: extremely important and and and that's largely because entrepreneurship has
Speaker 1: has not been accessible to black and brown communities for
Speaker 1: for a very long time, and it's becoming more and
Speaker 1: more prevalent. We see women Black women are the fastest
Speaker 1: growing group of small business owners and entrepreneurs in the country.
Speaker 1: And it's no surprise because they're the most educated for
Speaker 1: the Black community, and technology has democratized information. UM. But
Speaker 1: I think that UM being pursuing that that entrepreneurial endeavor,
Speaker 1: trying to diversify your streams of income, You're gonna be
Speaker 1: a bit of a black sheep in some families. You're
Speaker 1: gonna stand out, You're gonna be doing different things, and
Speaker 1: you're not gonna be understood. So being able to be
Speaker 1: in a group of like minded folks who are stepping
Speaker 1: out of that nine to five or that thirty year
Speaker 1: career UM zeitgeist mentality, you need to find people who
Speaker 1: are who are like minded, who are who are walking
Speaker 1: that same path UM, just to give you the confidence
Speaker 1: to to to hang in there when times get tough. UM.
Speaker 1: So it's really a qualitative piece of just community can
Speaker 1: be really valuable. Having folks who who can answer questions
Speaker 1: that that you're that you're experiencing, that can help you
Speaker 1: overcome the imposter syndrome. UM. Those things are how a
Speaker 1: valuable and then UM in terms of like technical skills,
Speaker 1: I think helping people actually UM get their businesses online.
Speaker 1: So one of the early stage things is like having
Speaker 1: a website, having a domain that you owned. You really
Speaker 1: need to own virtual your website because that's virtual real estate.
Speaker 1: So many people put a lot of eggs and the
Speaker 1: social media basket thinking like that it's going to be
Speaker 1: their storefront and that's how they reach their audience. But
Speaker 1: a Facebook and Instagram can suspend your account, could delete
Speaker 1: your account at any time, and there's really nothing that
Speaker 1: you could do. Your business would essentially lose that channel
Speaker 1: or that stream of revenue. So having a website is
Speaker 1: a major step that I work with and I advocate
Speaker 1: for small business owners. Of course, building up an email list.
Speaker 1: Your email list is the most underrated asset to any business.
Speaker 1: People think the vanity metrics of followers are really what
Speaker 1: we're all working towards but no, really, you should just
Speaker 1: be trying to generate leads, provide value in exchange for
Speaker 1: people's contact information so that you can sell and market
Speaker 1: to them um and and that will be the group
Speaker 1: that would really help you sustain your business and generate
Speaker 1: the most revenue. So getting folks online technology moves really
Speaker 1: really fast, and we just want to make sure that
Speaker 1: we're not getting left behind in the education and the
Speaker 1: access to the technology, and that we have the skills
Speaker 1: to execute and flourish. There this black tech, Green money.
Speaker 1: Share this podcast with the people you're closest to.