Black Women Networks Drive Growth

How Black Women Entrepreneur Networks Drive Growth

Black women entrepreneurs were undreamed of when the U.S. Constitution was written. America has been known as the land of opportunity since its inception, but this opportunity was originally only intended for white males over the age of 21 who owned property. Now, anyone at least 18 years old can vote, start their own business, and attend college regardless of gender or ethnicity. And the recent rise of black women entrepreneurs in the business world is one of the latest testaments to the enormous socioeconomic progress this country has achieved since its revolutionary roots.

A Strong Trend

Statistics show that black women have been the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S. over the past few decades. A report published in 2017 by American Express revealed that the number of businesses owned by black women entrepreneurs mushroomed by over 600% from 1997 to 2017. Other research conducted by Venture Forward also shows that black female entrepreneurship has grown by an impressive 70% since the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, black women-owned businesses now comprise 10% of the small businesses in the U.S. Black owned businesses as a whole make up 15% of all small business owners, and 68% of this segment are women.

How They Grow

The growing network of black women entrepreneur business owners fosters the development of this population segment in several respects. Some of the major ways include:

  • Emotional and financial support – Networks of black women entrepreneurs allow members to share their experiences and ask questions in a safe environment. Many black women entrepreneurs have experienced the same problems and obstacles, including racial and gender discrimination from prospective lenders, landlords, and other business associates. Experienced entrepreneurs can instruct new members with stories about how they obtained funding and eventually achieved success.
  • Education and Training – Successful black women can teach their peers what it takes to succeed in today’s marketplace. They can provide helpful tips and tricks to make other members’ jobs easier and establish themselves as role models for those who have yet to leave their mark. This form of mentorship can happen in both individual and group settings.
  • Business Resources – Black female networks can match new business owners up with funding sources, job training, and coaching, as well as prospective new markets where they can hawk their wares. This may be one of the most valuable advantages of these networks, as they can help new members raise funds from sources they might not otherwise hear about.
  • Public Awareness and Political Clout – Networks of black female entrepreneurs can accomplish many things that individual members cannot, such as raising public awareness of their demographic segment and its accomplishments. They can also collectively lobby for their interests in political arenas where individual efforts would likely fail to accomplish anything.
  • Forging New Relationships – Perhaps the most obvious advantage of female black entrepreneurship networks is simply the ability to introduce them to each other and allow business relationships to form naturally. For example, a black woman who owns a soap-making business could meet others looking for soap to market to their customers. Or they could meet with other Black female businesses that make some or all of the raw materials or equipment needed to make soap.
  • Overcoming Systemic Obstacles – Black female networks can help foster a sense of belonging to fledgling business owners and make them realize they’re not alone. Networks can provide valuable encouragement and feedback to prospective entrepreneurs who are struggling to make it by themselves.
  • Laying A Foundation for the Future – This first generation of black female entrepreneur networks has blazed a trail that all future black female business owners can follow. There will be a ready-made source of support for them in many different respects, and much that they can learn from those who have gone before them.

Examples of Black Female Entrepreneurs

Joy Odofu

Myriads of black women have had great success in starting their businesses. One is Joy Ofodu, a woman who ditched a stable job in corporate America to start her own business as a voice actor and content creator. In an interview with CNBC, Ofodu had much to say about the challenges and joys of entrepreneurship.

The Initial Choice

“I was truly living the best of both worlds. I had my dream corporate job, and I had this budding entrepreneurship venture, where I was starting to get paid for content I was posting on Instagram and TikTok. I could measure the opportunity cost of staying where I was as a tech employee and only creating content or voice acting part-time versus working for myself, and by doing both, I was leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars and job opportunities on the table, simply because I didn’t have the time or ability to do it all.”

A Dream Realized

Ofodu also said of her voice acting, “It felt like a reactivated childhood dream. I knew I had to quit my job and walk by faith, not by sight.” However, she was not immune to the strong gender bias in her new profession. “Voice acting and film is still a very male-dominated industry, and, in some ways, can feel like a bit of a boys’ club. Ultimately, when it comes to being a black woman entrepreneur, I don’t want what I am doing to be so rare, it doesn’t energize me to be the first or only Black woman to do something. I want to fling open the doors for many, many others to join me.”

Brianna Doe

CNBC interviewed three women for its report on black female entrepreneurs. The second was Brianna Doe, who launched her marketing agency called Verbatim. Brianna was in a somewhat different position from Odofu when she started her own business. “I was in this vicious cycle of burnout where I would start a new job, and, only a few months in, things would start to go downhill, and I could never figure out why. Fortunately, a few sessions with a career coach revealed the truth: she was simply not designed for a job in corporate America.

Overcoming Fear

Nevertheless, stepping out on her own was a nerve-wracking experience for her. “I was really scared of failing, of losing the stability of a paycheck coming in each month, but it was also exhausting trying to fit into a system that’s just not built for me.” Doe finally realized that the money she was making at her job was not worth the emotional toll it was taking on her. Freedom and diversity were waiting for her on her new path to wealth.

Taking the First Step

But when she was laid off, she moved forward with her dream. Brianna said, “It’s been healing working for myself and creating a more fulfilling, supportive space. I didn’t realize how much workplace trauma I had built up and wasn’t dealing with until I left that system entirely.”

Leslie Frelow

The third woman CNBC interviewed started her own business working with black winemakers and sommeliers. Although Frelow liked the job she had working for a nonprofit entity, her love of wine tastings and brewery tours propelled her to step out on her own and serve those in the business who shared her skin color.

Taking It Online

Leslie named her company The Wine Concierge and now sells wine and wine-related memberships on her website. As with Odofu and Roe, Frelow has endured her share of discrimination as almost the first black woman in a male-dominated business. “When I go to industry events, I’m still one of the few Black people or women in the room. And if I bring one of my team members who is not a Black woman with me, people will defer to them as if they’re the owner of the company, not me.”

No Looking Back

Despite the hurdles she’s had to overcome, Frelow says that she would refuse to trade her experiences “for anything”. She explained, “It’s given me the ultimate flexibility to be there for my aging parents, to pursue something I love, which is seeing people’s excitement from trying wines they didn’t know existed.” Frelow has taken on both racism and what could be perceived as a somewhat hostile work environment to forge her path and carve out a legacy for herself.

Other Examples

Many other black women entrepreneurs have achieved great success with their careers, including Lisa Price, who started Carol’s Daughter, a multimillion-dollar cosmetics and lotions venture from her home that is now a division of L’Oreal. Then there is Amber Williams, the founder of a leading branding company named after herself as the CEO. SaVonne Anderson decided to start a business selling paper products made from recycled materials. Seven women from Uganda also united to form The Network of Women in Agribusiness and Development back in 2015. This organization has taught hundreds of African women from poor families key job skills that they can use to get a better life.

Looking Forward

The future has never looked brighter for prospective black female entrepreneurs. Their growth is substantially outpacing that of other demographic sectors and shows no sign of slowing. As their numbers increase, so will the need for professional and personal networks in their communities. Continued innovation and access to capital will fuel this growth for black female entrepreneurs and their families. The future will tell what roles these leaders will ultimately play in their careers, not only in politics and the economy, but also in history.