Supporting Black Business Is NOT A Charity

In my opinion, I think people, generally speaking, may have a "charity case" mentality when it comes to supporting Black business. Why do I say that?

Black folks have a "poor people of society" stigma attached to us. When you have people rapping about it, talking about the Black population as majority welfare recipients, etc. the stigma is strong. Now, with this stigma out here, when a person comes along and wants to start his or her own business, and he or she happens to be Black, that person may advertise the business as a BLACK-OWNED. That person will say "Support Black Business" in the signs and adverts. This is the wrong way to look at it. Black business is not some Feed The Children Foundation. It's not a March of Dimes Foundation. It's business that happens to be owned by Black folks. Treat it like this and you'll see your numbers climb higher than you can imagine. You can still advertise it as Black owned, but only as a way to show other Black folks they have a place to shop and feel welcome.

Just by saying your business is Black and expecting to get a boatload of Black people supporting your business is an insult if your business looks like shit. If the food is rotten, the merchandise is shitty, and the customer service is lousy, your business deserves to be shut down...even if it is a Black owned business.

Luckily, Black-owned businesses are some of the best businesses when it comes to Black folks. You usually have a pleasant vibe when you walk into a Black-owned store looking to buy instead of haggling the price down. I noticed Black folks who sell food usually try to stick to the good stuff (organic, healthy, etc.). Price haggling will make that respectable Black owned business despise doing business with Black customers in that area, and the customer service will start to suffer. When the customer service starts to lack, that business will get fewer customers. Fewer customers mean less money. Less money means sooner or later the business will not last.

If you're Black and not use to buying from Black-owned businesses, take small steps. Buy something real cheap each day. If you spend a dollar a day at the store, it doesn't sound like much, but if you have 100 customers coming in and out of the store buying dollar items, that's $100 a day. That's $36,500 a year off of dollar items alone. If you shop at Black-owned stores often, you'll be what's considered a regular and they may give you discounts without you asking for them or looking forward to them. You don't have to buy everything from Black owned stores; you should, however, at least buy one thing so the store can stay in business. If one Black owned business does well, that's like a beacon for other Black owned businesses to start setting up shop in that area. When this happens, more Black dollars should stay within that community. -Confidence Magnet, Courtesy of UPA (April 7, 2015)

(Check out his website.
Also, check out his Twitter.)

Confidence Magnet already explained how telling someone to support your business is like marketing your business like it is a charity; he is correct, this is why when you market your business, or when someone else markets your business, you/they need to market the business as providing a service to the consumer. The basis of doing business is to provide a service to consumers. When someone says they need whatever, you step in as the solution to fulfill that need.

(If you enjoyed this post, then please consider subscribing to stay up-to-date with my latest postings and sharings. Also, please share and support Worldly Game.)