The pandemic has been a bad experience for all times of business and has undoubtedly hit every business hard, Black-owned businesses and businesses owned by other people of color alike. Finally, it seems that Texas business owners have some remedy with the upcoming Texas Black Business Week in February.
To help navigate around the situation, the Black Innovation Chamber of Commerce’s Texas Black Business Week will be hosting over 15 free-for-all seminars to aid and help the local businesses with the tools and strategies which they need to be able to survive.
Tough Times Black-Owned Businesses
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. A study conducted by the University of California Santa Cruz, nearly 45% of the entire spectrum of Black-owned businesses across the United States of America were shut down between the month of February and April last year.
The organisers have said that they intend to teach these businesses the art of keeping their doors open in tough and unprecedented times like COVID-19.
Chamber officials believe that it’s ( Texas Black Business Week) all about bringing more diversity and integrating culture in the black and coloured community and providing everyone an equal chance to showcase their business.
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Tamara Freeman opened her Black-owned business, Sweet Eats Bakery, in 2005.
“I know they were very few Black businesses, but as far as bakeries, I didn’t know of any,” she said.
Over the past 15 years, Freeman has seen her business grow and thrive, but she said many other businesses owned by people of color haven’t had the same story.
“Several come but they don’t last. I know several are military, and they come and they go,” she said. “However, for the ones that could possibly stay, I feel the information or the help that could have been provided for them wasn’t available.”
“I’m going knee-deep in a customer service, customer acquisition. We’re also going into small business accounting business credit, as well as customer acquisitions,” said Ronnie Russell with the Innovation Black Chamber of Commerce.
“The government or the state agencies begin to shut things down, they automatically talk about the nonessential businesses. So, looking at your business, how do you transition your business to nonessential to essential?” said Russell.
“We need to ensure that equity in a diverse way,” said Russell. “Whether you’re talking Black businesses, Asian businesses, Hispanic businesses, Native American businesses or women-owned businesses.”
“When we see what our neighborhood and our environment and our community… we can gain more knowledge to help those in our community,” said Freeman.
The event host will also have sessions relating to business operations including government contracting, staying trendy on social media and various other ways to aid local businesses improve. The free week-long Texas Black Business Week event will kickoff February 8.
