Every business experiences struggles, but none other has it as bad as Black businesses. Black entrepreneurs form less than 10% of the business community in the U.S, and 8 out of 10 black-owned firms fail within the first 18 months.
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Starting your own business as a Black entrepreneur is difficult unless you have everything planned out. Black entrepreneurs face steep challenges and require numerous solutions for their needs. Some opt to proffer solutions themselves, while others decide to enroll in business training programs.
However, this article looks at different resources that answer the questions of “What do black businesses need?” and how black entrepreneurs can develop and sustain their businesses.
What do Black Businesses need?
There’s no denying that today’s Black business owners have hurdles to overcome, and the question of “what do black businesses need” will remain ageless until we tear down the barricades that oppose them.
Black-owned business struggle with:
- Limited access to startup capital and funding
- Lack of supportive business ecosystem
- Lack of communal support
- Limited access to resourceful opportunities and mentorship
- The instability and uncertainty of covid, and
- The likelihood of shutting down.
Fortunately, however, there are many grants and resources that help black entrepreneurs and Black-owned Businesses. As a result, you must discover these necessary resources as a black business owner to ease your entrepreneurial journey and help your business thrive.
10 Resources for Black-owned Businesses
The following resources provide solutions to what black businesses need to survive in the U.S. and are grouped into different categories, namely:
- Loans
- Grants
- Private Equity Firms
- Black Women (only)
- Community & Business Learning Platforms
- Loans
- Accion Capital
Accion Capital is a worldwide, non-profit lender that provides economic opportunities to underprivileged business owners. Also, Accion provides minority businesses access to affordable capital, educational, and networking resources.
- Accompany Capital
Accompany Capital, formerly Business Capital for New Americans (BCNA), is a loan firm that provides capital options and finance education to immigrants and refugee entrepreneurs alike.
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- National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
The NMSDC is a corporate member organization that provides economic equity to NMSDC-certified minority businesses. The NMSDC extends a Business Consortium Fund to eligible minority businesses to receive advisory and financing services.
- Grants
- Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
The MBDA does not directly disburse funds to businesses but serves as a connection to the right resources for your business’s capital.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is an agency of the U.S Department of Commerce that promotes the economic success of minority-owned businesses.
- Private equity firms
- Cleo Capital
Cleo Capital is an early-stage private equity firm that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage tech-enabled investments.
- Black women (only)
- Black Girl Ventures
Black Girl Ventures invests in and grows tech-enabled businesses that generate revenue and have a founder who is either black or brown. Black Ventures provides capital solutions, capacity-building facilities, and a like-minded community to women who identify as either black or brown.
- EnrichHER
EnrichHER is a fintech platform providing loan credits to women-run businesses. They offer an Accelerator + Portfolio Match program accessible to Black entrepreneurs in the United States.
- Vertical 404
Vertical 404 is a venture capital firm that provides loan credits to companies that use cloud-based technology to promote improvements in finance, health, etc. Vertical 404 extends loan offers to companies that meet its requirements, including a hiring diversity agreement and corp status, and demonstrates a three-month recurring revenue of $10,000.
- Community and business learning platforms
- Local Chapters of Black Business Association
The Black Business Association is an organization with multiple chapters across the United States of America, with its most significant branch located in Los Angeles, CA.
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It provides improved access to contracting and procurement opportunities for Black-owned businesses.
- Minority Business Certification
The MB Certifications consist of different certificates provided by several organizations, including the MBE Certification of the NMSDC, Minority, and Women-owned Business Enterprise Certification program. These certificates increase the likelihood of minority businesses receiving contracts from large corporations.
