Black Owned Businesses

[MIDWESTDIVA]

Good evening everyone. I have a new topic on my mind. I'm wondering about the state of Black owned businesses across the country. Where I live, we don't own very much. The only kind of businesses we seem interested in owning are beauty salons, barber shops and record labels. I try to actively support my brothers and sisters when possible, but sometimes it is difficult for me to find anyone to support. Several years ago, a friend of mine who is from Boston commented on the lack of Black owned businesses in my area. Apparently our people own a lot of businesses on the east coast.

Are there many Black owned businesses in your area? If not, why do you suppose that is?

I'm sure that we have all noticed that many immigrants come to the U.S. and seemingly start businesses almost as soon as they get here. Why aren't we doing the same?

It also seems like most of our college educated young people just want to graduate from college, find a job and move up the ranks. Why do we not have as many young entreprenuers?

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

[lil_sunshine]

The reasons why there aren't that many Black entrepreneurs are:

1. Many people think that it's a lot of stress and energy that has to be put into trying to start a business.

2. Trying to start a business that concentrates on the area's needs and will make lots of money isn't that easy.

3. Some Black people aren't able to come up with collateral to get a loan to start a business. My best friend in Philly started his own business doing plumbing, and he said it's going great. A lot of his clients live in the area and the few who don't he can get to by car.

Starting your own business can take up a lot of time, energy, and money that most Black people do not have so I think that's why there aren't that many Black entrepreneurs.