Black Press Business/Economic Feature Week of October 6, 2013
BUSINESS
EXCHANGE
By
William Reed
Get a Job
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone
else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of
other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your
own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and
intuition.”
– Steve Jobs
When you were growing
up, were the conversations at your house centered on concepts about business,
or more along the line of “go get a job?” Entrepreneurship is not a subject that is discussed regularly
around the dinner table in African-American homes. There’s a lack of
business traditions among African Americans and a paltry record of
entrepreneurial successes. Smaller probabilities of having self-employed
parents, demographic trends and discrimination are primary reasons for the
limited level of entrepreneurship in contemporary African-American communities.
American Blacks must
cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit independent of politics and who occupies
the White House. The low historical rate of African American
entrepreneurship is a well-known fact. The100-year-old,
discrepancy between Black and White entrepreneurship levels could be eradicated
within a few generations if more African Americans embraced and practicedentrepreneurship.
More Blacks have to get a better grasp of concepts such as capitalism and entrepreneurship.
Some Blacks equate
capitalism to racism; but the truth is the free market system isn’t racist and
is the best provider for Americans of all races. Capitalism is the social system
under which the American economy operates. Under this structure, the means for
producing and distributing goods (the land, factories, technology, transport
system etc.) are owned by a small minority of people with a motive to make a
profit.
Entrepreneurship is an employment
strategy that can lead to economic self-sufficiency. Self-employment
is a vital facet of the United States economy. Entrepreneurship has been
a means for the economic advancement of numerous ethnic groups. Take note
of most of the merchants in areas populated by Blacks.
Ninety-nine times out
of 100, Blacks patronize merchants that are from outside of our race. Entrepreneurs drive America's
economy and account for the majority of our nation's new job creation and
innovations. America's 25.8 million small businesses employ more than 50
percent of the private workforce, generate more than half of the nation's gross
domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy.
An
entrepreneur is a person
who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. Although
forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction,
several common forms exist: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by
one person for-profit.
The three typical classifications of for-profit partnerships
are general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.
A corporation is a limited liability business that has a
separate legal personality from its members.
Corporations can be government owned or privately owned, and
corporations can organize either for-profit or not-for-profit.
Starting a business is a lot of
work. The hours are long, sacrifices are great and you are confronted with new problems and
challenges every day. The nature of being an entrepreneur means that you
fully embrace uncertainty and are comfortable following your heart and
intuition. Those who succeed do so because of their unwavering belief in the
endeavor they have initiated.
What are you leaving
your children?
More Black parents need to be in a position that they can “leave
the business” to their children. If we concentrated and worked hard, the
100-year-old discrepancy between Black and White entrepreneurship levels that
many call “racist” could be eradicated. More of us must embrace “Black
Capitalism” to build wealth through the ownership and development of
businesses.
Prominent Black Capitalists include: Booker T. Washington, who was an early
leader at theTuskegee Institute, Marcus Garvey and the Universal
Negro Improvement Association, Elijah Muhammad and the Nation
of Islam. Robert Reed Church, a wealthy African
American, founded the nation's first Black-owned bank in 1906, Solvent Savings.
- William Reed is
publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” and available for projects
via theBaileyGroup.org
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