All Articles Tagged "Black Enterpreneurs"
Ever Wanted To Get Into The Beauty Supply Business? Conference To Support Black Entrepreneurs
atoast2wealth.com
Get ready beauty supply store professionals. If you haven’t heard already, the annual Beauty Supply Entrepreneurship Summer Conference is coming up soon in Atlanta, Georgia on August 4, 2012.
The Beauty Supply Institute was founded in 2007 as Taking It Back University. It was founded by Devin Robinson, who realized he needed to establish his own business after he was threatened by one Korean store owner wielding a golf club. Not only has the company produced the best-selling book, “Taking it Back: How to Become Successful Black Beauty Supply Store Owner,” it also helps African Americans start their own beauty supply stores. To assist participants, the company offers about 20 courses, business plan development and location selection services. Each year it trains hundreds of individuals in different methods and strategies to break into the $15 billion beauty supply store industry, which although heavily patronized by the black community, consists on only about 3 percent of black ownership.
“We’ve opened stores with as little as $35,000,” Ulysses McLea, the Beauty Supply Institute Field Operations Manager said in a press statement. “Myths out there would lead Blacks to believe they need $100,000 or more. You can open a fully functioning store with this amount and be widely successful. Since working with BSI for the past 3 years, I’ve witnessed firsthand the magic our approach produces. I get the most joy when I hand the keys over to new owners and witness their appreciation and excitement about being new owners!”
Currently, of the about $13,300 beauty supply stores nationwide, about 400 are black-owned.
Maggie Anderson, co-author of “Our Black Year” and a strong black business supporter, is working in conjunction with Robinson to increase black business support. She will also act as the opening speaker for this year’s conference.
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How I Did It: Celebrity Jewelry Designer Aklia Chinn
(Black Enterprise) – Aklia Chinn is a jewelry designer who is a vet in the business, with more than 15 years catering to celebrity clients including Blair Underwood, Lisa Bonet, James Pickens and Lawrence Fishburne. Developing a hobby into a lifetime career, Chinn’s pieces have been worn in films including Spike Lee’s Crooklyn and TV shows includingLiving Single and A Different World, and featured in several national publications. Today, she still caters to a celebrity and every day professional clientele, with pieces custom-made with exotic materials she gathers from her international travels.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Chinn on how she’s been able to remain viable in the accessories industry, why she continues to pursue her passion in a saturated market and how other up-and-comers can remain competitive.
Byron Lewis, The Image Maker
(Black Enterprise) — To attract advertisers to his UniWorld Group Inc., Byron Lewis created innovative programs such as black radio soap operas and the nationally syndicated television program America’s Black Forum. UniWorld was one of the first agencies to focus on micro-segments, targeting the Latino and Caribbean communities.
