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Black entrepreneurs say business ownership leads to self determination

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Even though the Obama administration is entering its final lap, things are not looking great for the African American community. The Black unemployment rate is still about double the national rate and more education will not necessarily solve the problem. According to the New York Times, Blacks with some college education had higher unemployment rates than White people who only had a high school diploma. A few years ago, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer-prize winning economist Paul Krugman said a college degree is simply no longer a ticket to a good-paying job.

With the cost of college education skyrocketing, many people are questioning the value of higher education. Some have suggested that Black parents are going about this all wrong. For years, they have told their children to get a good education. But maybe they need to be telling them to start their own businesses.

But Southern California resident Stacey Gordon, a career strategist and co-founder of Mycareerincubator.com, says Black families should not be so quick to discount a college education. She launched the site, which offers career counselling, after she encountered many women and African Americans who were struggling in the job market. Gordon said college is still an important educational and training tool.

“The college thing is important because it teaches you to think logically,” she said. “College also teaches young people to think critically and learn how to make important decisions.”

She added it was also important to have a college education to fall back on, in case a business venture fails.

“Look at athletes? They make a lot of money, but they still need something to fall back on,” Gordon said.

She advised parents and young people to be flexible and not look at education with a one-size-fits all approach. There are many alternatives. For example, young people can opt to go to community college, for their first two years, and transfer into a four-year degree program later, which is cheaper. She also said that opting to go to work after high school is a viable opportunity.

Gordon added that was equally important young people receive decent career counselling. She said there are a host of different careers out there, apart from the standard doctor, lawyer, firefighter, soldier or teacher. Gordon said it is important young people also learn how the economy works and how to make smart career and business decisions. However, this is more a class issue than a race issue. Children from wealthy families are taught different things than children from middle-class and blue-collar families. In a wealthy family, dinner table talk might center around investing and politics, while middle-class and blue-collar parents might just talk about going to school and getting a good job.

“You need to know how to look at the economy and see what’s going on,” Gordon said.

Gordon added many important real-life skills, such as  evaluating the economy and critical thinking, are not being taught in school or at home. She said entrepreneurship is an important skill that needs to be taught in African American homes. She also said entrepreneurship offers more flexibility and freedom and you can charge whatever you want. Gordon stated we have now entered the “gig economy,” where even people who are fully employed need a side gig.

However, starting a business is not easy. One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is trying to figure out if there is a demand for the services they are offering. Another challenge is trying to make your voice heard in the age of the Internet, where there are million of websites all selling something.

Gordon also advised young African Americans who are thinking of striking out in the business world to find a mentor. This is a belief shared by Karim Webb, a South Los Angeles entrepreneur and winner of Black Enterprise’s Small Business Award for franchise company of the year in 2014.

“You’ve got to have a mentor, people who believe in your idea and have done it before,” Webb said.

Webb and his business partner, Edward Barnett, own PCF Restaurant Management, which operates three Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, and is currently planning to open a fourth location. Webb said he was taught valuable lessons about entrepreneurship from his parents, who owned a McDonald’s store. Webb, a Morehouse graduate, also worked at McDonald’s during high school and college. He said many African American children are not exposed to entrepreneurship the way he was. He stated it was important that African Americans take more interest in owning businesses, because it gives them more control over their financial futures.

“There is a need for entrepreneurship,” Webb said. “Small businesses hire people and change people’s lives.”

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