Black men face challenges in entrepreneurship despite growth

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By Reginald Williams Special to the AFRO

According to the 2020 Census Bureau, Black men own 55 percent of the majority-owned Black businesses, with 8 percent of Black-owned companies being co-owned by Black men and women together.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, though obstacles are plenty, Black men still own 55 percent of American businesses known to have majority- Black ownership. Credit: Unsplash / Adeolu Eletu While African Americans comprise approximately 14 percent of the population, they represent less than three percent of America’s businesses. White Americans comprise 59 percent of the population but own 86 percent of the registered companies.

Being a successful entrepreneur is widely promoted as one of the best ways to build wealth– but it comes with challenges– especially for Black men.

Dr. Nuri Tawwab is a pharmacist and the owner of the Happy Hippo Shaved Ice dessert truck. The truck serves shaved ice at school events, including Parents Teachers Association meetings, daycare, youth sports leagues and at the Prince George’s County Boys and Girls Club. Tawwab is more than a Black, male entrepreneur- he’s a man on a mission, giving back 15 percent of all sales to various organizations in need.

While he plays an important part in his local economy as a business owner, Tawwab says he does face challenges– and most daunting is the issue of employing dedicated workers.

“My biggest struggle right now is getting responsible employees,” said Tawwab, who tries to hire youth from the community.

Tawwab’s desires to scale his business, but his inability to keep good employees reduces his capacity. His ability to locate responsible employees causes a loss in revenue and earning opportunities.

“The good employees will eventually leave for school or leave for an internship,” said Tawwab, who established Happy Hippo in 2018. “It’s hard to keep them.”

Black-owned companies typically have four or fewer employees and 58 percent earn less than $100,000. When hiring issues come into play, revenue is undoubtedly impacted.

Beyond marketing, financing and growing a business, Otis Toussaint, owner of Wide Aperture Media, says an additional dynamic that stunts growth is Black people’s persistent tendency to “play small-ball business politics.” This is another way to describe the oft-repeated “crabs in the barrel” mindset.

Toussaint said smaller business owners can sometimes be slow to support each other, “meanwhile, those in a different tax bracket are saying, ‘Hey buddy, I know this person or that person—let’s connect and make a few million here and a few million there.'”

While some business owners may struggle to hire dependable employees, others say scaling their business can be tricky.

“I’m a disabled, minority-owned business , and I don’t know of many community resources that can help me make my business bigger and better,” said Toussaint, adding that when it comes to marketing and financing, he’s had to do his best to figure it all out as he goes along.

“I don’t have everything figured out– but still, I enjoy the journey,” he said.

Wide Aperture Media, a photography, videography and media company based in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area, was launched roughly 10 years ago after Toussaint’s military medical discharge.

“My business started as a means of trying to find myself once I was out of the military,” said Toussaint. “In 2013, I was preparing to medically retire. All I knew was military and medical operations, but I had a love for videography and photography.”

The Trinidad, Tobago-born, Brooklyn, NY-raised photographer admits that receiving retirement income while also working a government job as a photographer and videographer more than meets all financial needs. This allows him to truly enjoy his new career.

“Photography is the thing I do as therapy,” said Toussaint. “I get paid to do therapy.”

While some find a new career by following their passion, others are motivated by different factors—even if the road is rocky.

Edwin Sturdivant, a warehouse coordinator based in Detroit, Mich. never had a desire to work his life away as someone’s employee. Still, he admits he struggles to achieve his entrepreneurial aspirations– and sometimes, it’s because he can’t get out of his way.

Sturdivant has tried his hand at being an unlicensed freelance electrician, invested money into being a sneaker retailer along with other unsuccessful ventures. Over the years, he has learned many lessons and picked up many skills. Today, he is confident in one thing: the biggest threat to becoming a financially stable business owner is inconsistency.

“Looking back on it all, I know what the problem was in every situation. I wasn’t consistent enough,” said Sturdivant, describing himself as “a dabbler” when it comes to his brand of entrepreneurship in the past.

Sturdivant said in the past he has gotten stuck in a “cycle,” common for some aspiring entrepreneurs.

“You have one idea that you’re going to do, and for whatever reason, that changes,” he explained. “You might come across new information or you experience some struggles. Then you get a brand new idea, and you start chasing that idea.”

For some Black men, “betting on themselves” is difficult because of a lack of confidence. At least that is what stymied Sturdivant’s ascension.

Many Black men who own businesses essentially use them as their side hustles to earn additional income. The ability to completely “bet on themselves” via absolute self-employment becomes more complicated when companies provide family health insurance packages and retirement plans.

Still, the right mindset makes all the difference- even when facing an uphill battle towards entrepreneurship.

“Mindset and consistency. Those two dynamics have affected my trajectory and affect how I view myself,” explained Sturdivant, who wants to become a consultant.

“More often than not, the imposter syndrome,” he said. “Even when I’m talking about something I know that I know— for some reason, I still feel inadequate because I don’t have the things that other people think I need in order for them to believe I know what I’m talking about.”

While mindset and confidence may serve as a reason why some brothers won’t take that leap of faith in business, another reason is that age-old nemesis—racism.

“There’s a nasty underbelly of racism where, as a Black man, you wish the things that you’ve done and things you are capable of were based on your merit,” explained Toussaint. “But simply because people don’t see you as good enough or skilled enough— they dismiss you.”

Still, he added that while racism can play a part in hindering Black men from business ownership, the negative voices on the inside can do just as much damage.

“More often than not, imposter syndrome,” he said. “Even when I’m talking about something I know that I know— for some reason, I still feel inadequate. I don’t have the things that other people think I need in order for them to believe I know what I’m talking about.”

According to Key Insights Counseling, there are multiple things business owners can do to build confidence as they move along the path to entrepreneurship, including learning “the competition and target audience well,” having daily short-term goals and learning “proper time management and organization techniques.”

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