00:00Hello and welcome to the Ford sponsored the current state of black entrepreneurs panel.
00:13I'm Deborah Owens, founder and CEO of Wealthy U, where we teach black women how to turn their
00:21income into wealth. These are challenging times, as we all know, the COVID-19 and the
00:29racial unrest has many black businesses being challenged. Part of that reason is because black
00:38women out of all ethnic groups are starting businesses at a faster rate. And many of those
00:46same businesses are not what is considered essential. And so on this panel today, we put
00:54together a group of amazing panelists who are going to share how they're faring in these
01:00economic challenging times. And I'm excited because Ford has put together an opportunity
01:07for us to have a really enlightening conversation. And so joining us on the panel today is Shelly
01:17Bell of Black Girl Ventures. Say hello, Shelly. Hi. Excellent. Also, Arian Simone of Fearless Ventures.
01:27Hello. Hello. And Chef Aki, our celebrity chef. Say hello, Chef Aki. How you doing? Excellent.
01:38And Beatrice Dixon, founder of The Honey Pot. Hello. Excellent. So let's get started and get
01:47ready for a conversation to help our audience know what they need to do to survive in these
01:54challenging times. So I want to start with Shelly. You're being awarded a donation of $25,000
02:05and you help Black women start businesses. So my question to you is, is this a good time
02:12to be starting a business in this pandemic? I think so. I mean, if you have a product or
02:19a service that can scale or pivot to helping people virtually, you know, we've seen a lot
02:27of event planners move toward being consultants and actually creating digital experiences. We're
02:33seeing makeup artists turn into consultants for groups of people at a distance. We're seeing
02:40people just get really creative right now. I think the level of access, I mean, on one
02:46hand, you had to be somewhat propped up in a position where you could do that. So, you
02:50know, being sensitive to the fact that this is a hard time to start a business. At the same
02:56time, there could be an entirely new market that opens up for you because now more than ever,
03:01the world is your customer and the majority of the world was sitting at home and virtual
03:06right now for the last two or three months and will be to a certain extent for the rest
03:12of the year. And so that brings me to you, Beatrice Distin, the founder of Honeypot. You've
03:19got to actually produce and manufacture your goods. So how are you faring in this environment?
03:24We're doing the best we can. We're over communicating with our retailers. You know, we were, you know,
03:31with our, with our business, we were hit the hardest within our supply chain. So we're focusing
03:37on the things that we can control. Making sure that like 98% of our inventory is going to our
03:45retailers because, you know, sales continue to improve. And with that, you know, obviously we
03:53have to supply more demand. I mean, that's really what you've had to do. And that brings
03:59me to you, Arianne Simone. We're in venture capital. We're hearing that a lot of companies
04:06are going out and they're saying that you're going to start giving money to black businesses.
04:11How does that, from your perspective, how does that, how are things playing out from where
04:17you said, from where I said, things are definitely looking, I would say a little bit more advantageous
04:24than usual. Typically just to raise about 5 million may take 300 meetings for somebody
04:30who's black and right out here raising. That's just the reality. And somebody who's Caucasian,
04:34they may take 20 meetings and raise 30 million just that quick. And with a lot of attention on
04:40the black lives matters movement. Currently, I would definitely say that a lot more meetings
04:45have been happening in the past few weeks. Corporations have reached out. They've been
04:49taking meetings, head of diversity. They're like, oh, we need to figure this out. Which
04:54is, which is wonderful because at the end of the day, black women are the most founded and
04:58the least funded. So in some cases, this racial injustice and everything that we're all experiencing,
05:06there is a silver lining in it. Let's just see, you know, if they, what people are talking
05:13about that they're being about. And so Chef Aki, here you are, you're teaching people how to eat
05:20healthy. Is it different from you? How are you faring in this kind of COVID social distancing?
05:30How are you connecting with your customers and clients?
05:34Well, my business is e-commerce mostly. And the wellness space has just boomed in the last four
05:43months for me. It's been better than ever because everyone wants to figure out how to be well,
05:49how to make sure that they're safe, that children are healthy.
05:52It's interesting. Health is wealth. And for many people, and we've got more time and time to
06:00practice what we preach as opposed to, you know, running and picking up whatever is convenient.
06:07And so to that end, what advice would you, and I want to pose this to Beatrice, because I'm sure
06:18there are a lot of our businesses are in e-commerce. What advice would you give to founders who are having
06:27issues with supply chain on the top thing they need to do to make sure that they can survive
06:35and come out of this after COVID?
06:38So supply chain is everything that has to happen from the time that your product is made, right?
06:45Really from the time that it's planned, right? So supply chain happens with forecasts
06:50and projections and really looking at overall all that you're going to need for the next week,
06:58month, year, right? And it's everything that happens from the time it's made to the time that
07:05it's put into a box, where it's put into a truck, where it's put into a container, where it's put onto
07:11a boat, you know, or however that shakes out with you. If you're making, if your stuff is being made
07:17in America, you know, everything that it takes for that product to get to the end destination,
07:23even if it's direct to consumer, and that end destination is the customer, right? So if you're
07:31having issues with your current product line, and you really don't see any kind of changes in sight,
07:39or maybe you're like with us, our lead times increased, as long as your business is nimble,
07:47and you're able to, and you have the resources, it might be smart to bring on a product that,
07:53like work with your manufacturers, or, you know, if you're making your own products, it might be
07:58smart to kind of make up a new product that may not be so hard to get, right? Or so hard to make.
08:04And, and, and, and Arian, the question I have for you, just about black women entrepreneurs out here
08:12trying to raise, get access to capital in this environment, you're actually going out and getting
08:21that capital to invest in these businesses. How does some, how does the business need to position
08:28themselves so that they're able to get access to that capital?
08:32That is a very good question. When it refers to, when you're referring to like the venture industry,
08:38to be attractive to an investor, you want to make sure that you have a clear exit. Venture capital,
08:44the life cycle of a fund is typically around 10 years. So we're looking for companies that can scale
08:50and grow at a very rapid rate, that they're going to have an acquisition somewhere in that timeframe in
08:55order for us to get a return for our investors. So that's on the venture end. There are other funding
09:00options. Some people don't need venture capital. Some people just may need a loan. You know, you
09:05just may need help with cashflow management. And right now due to COVID happening, there are a lot
09:10more opportunities as far as low interest loans, grants, different things that are out there as far
09:16as, and on that end. So there are a lot of opportunities I would say even right now.
09:21And so that gives me a great transition to Shelly at Black Girl Ventures, because as I understand your
09:30business, you're looking at earlier stage, as opposed to those businesses that are positioned
09:36to get venture capital. What advice would you give to women around getting some startup and capital
09:47because you are early stage and maybe pre-revenue or just a little revenue and wouldn't be attractive
09:54to like a venture capitalist? Well, it's important that entrepreneurs focus on making money. And I
09:59don't think we tell enough women or Black women entrepreneurs in general, hey, focus on making
10:05money. Exit is not a dirty word. And if you have that cashflow going, then you can invest that capital
10:10into your business and make more money because making money will bring you more money in the long run.
10:15Cashflow solves all problems, right? No matter where you are. And so, Chef Aiki, I come back to you.
10:23You've pivoted. You've really seen your business. You created more opportunities in this environment.
10:31What's next for you? Where do you think this next opportunity, this environment will take you to grow?
10:37So there's a few things on the horizon. I really enjoyed being a motivational speaker for the past
10:46four years. And now that that's kind of turned into just a virtual chat with different companies,
10:54I'm now kind of pivoting into just hosting a podcast as well as doing more virtual courses.
11:04So I'm starting an electric masterclass academy where people can sign up and become a part of the
11:10course. So Beatrice, I'd love for you to just share too with entrepreneurs, some encouraging words.
11:18Perhaps you are, we're thinking about starting a business and then COVID happened and you're
11:24wondering, okay, is entrepreneurship for me? I think one of the most important things to
11:30understand about business is it doesn't really matter what's happening in the world, right?
11:37If you have a business, consumer packaged goods businesses can be hard to start, but they can also
11:45be very easy to start. And, you know, one of the main things that you have to pay attention to is you
11:52don't have to necessarily recreate or excuse me, you don't have to create a wheel. You can recreate a
11:59wheel and just put your own spin on it. You know, um, starting, starting up a business on Amazon,
12:05you know, um, is, is pretty simple. You know, there's a, what there's ways that you can buy
12:12things, you know, buy clothes, um, and then resell them, right? There's, there's ways that you can like
12:19make up your own shea butter, um, and put them up online and, you know, start to start to build a
12:24community around it. You know, it can be things as simple as that. Um, you know, so just be willing
12:30and open to try, but at the same time, make sure that you're starting a business, doing something
12:37that you know, and that you know very well and that you do very well. And then Arian, when you look at
12:45the stats about, uh, the number of black businesses who in some cases are, our average revenue is like
12:54$25,000. And so from your perspective, what advice would you give our, um, sisters just around growth
13:06and being able to scale and position yourself to, uh, you know, I'm not saying be a unicorn or
13:13anything, but just position yourself so that you're scaled and you can create more jobs and get access
13:19to capital. That is true. And everybody doesn't have to be focused on being a unicorn company.
13:24There are so many successful companies out there that could just be making seven figures every year
13:29and just still be profitable, you know, or eight figures. You don't have to go for this unicorn
13:34aspiration. Now don't get me wrong. Everybody knows desire something like that, but it's okay
13:39to just have a healthy business to those who are averaging around the $25,000, um, annual revenue
13:46mark. I would just say definitely get in a community of entrepreneurs and acts and just, I will say
13:52network. Um, we do have a program coming up called get venture ready and in the program. Yes. B is
13:58actually one of the teachers that B I hope Linda told you, but yes, get venture ready.
14:04And our investment criteria is that you have reached a hundred thousand annually, but if you
14:09haven't, we get so many DMS and emails and comments from people like, Hey, can you help us out so we
14:14can get to this place? So we're running a program for 12 months just to pretty much help people get
14:19venture ready that are looking to one day be able to present to a venture capital capitalists for an
14:25investment. So I would say, get involved in those programs, get involved in incubators, accelerators,
14:30get involved in a community that can support you and help you grow your business. Excellent. Excellent
14:35advice. Well, I just want to thank all of you. I mean, I think you, I would agree that you've all
14:42given some insightful answers. And if you're a woman who's looking to start a business or you're in
14:50business, trying to figure out how to scale it, this was the session for you. So I just want to thank
14:56everybody and a big shout out to Ford for providing this forum on entrepreneurship during the essence
15:02festival. And also a big shout out for donating, donating that $25,000 to black girl ventures
15:10for educational entrepreneurship, because that's what this panel was all about. So again, ladies,
15:16thank you so much for giving your time, your advice and your insight, because that's always money in the
15:24vein. So again, I'm Deborah Owens, founder and CEO of WealthyU. And thanks again, Ford, for sponsoring this
15:30wonderful conversation.
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