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