As a Black-owned fashion and beauty business, I can undoubtedly say that there have been many improvements even in just the past few years for more sustainable change for Black people in this industry. However, it has not come without its own sets of problems and issues. As a business owner, I can attest to the challenges that I have faced over the years, whether it’s financial barriers or lack of accessibility, or even resources to grow and scale. There are a few things that I have learned that hopefully will inspire others to continue to seek out new and inviting opportunities and to grow and scale their business. I am not a business expert, but I can share three tips for young entrepreneurs, according to life lessons of my own:
Three Tips For Young Entrepreneurs:
Build an organic and robust community
Whether you have 5,000 followers or 500,000 followers on Instagram, or any social media platform, those numbers do not matter if you cannot show that your audience is engaged and cares about what you have to say. I’ll admit, building a tribe is difficult when you first start, mostly because I feel many entrepreneurs are just trying to gather their footing, that often we’re throwing anything at the wall to see if it sticks. Although you should step your toe into different avenues to see what feels best, there has to come to a point where you sit and say, This is who I am and this is what my business does.
And run with that feeling. Trust me; someone out there loves your business for what it is and how you envisioned it. This is reassuring to me because often, we can be made to feel like we have to change and alter and pick and prod. To fit in with the mainstream, we have to look a certain way; we have to sound a certain way, our content has to do a sure thing that can sometimes compromise brand integrity.
As Black people, we are often mainstreamed by our looks, our voices, our bodies, and our content. However, we know that our original and authentic content is what drives people to want to connect. It is what drives culture and the cultural conversations that we have. One thing that I would suggest is that you ask people why they come to you. Asking people simple questions like adjectives that describe your business or brand to them or specific touchpoints that they feel your business answers will allow you to know what people are checking for you for and what they’re not. This insight is critical, especially when you’re starting as a business owner. And you’re figuring out what does your customer wants. This is both services based and product-based businesses. However, I don’t sell a physical product (yet). I do sell a service. And even me being my spokesperson for my brand is in and of itself a product. It’s important to know what your audience and your tribe want because you can zero in on who is checking for you, how they’re checking for you, and where you can meet your tribe.
Always chase quality
Even when only three people read my site, I wrote and produced content as if 3 million people were reading. That is because I wanted to establish myself from the beginning as a leading authority in fashion and beauty and create a space where you could get only the type of content that I gave on my site. This came from being authentically myself and not trying to fit in. But it also came to honing in on quality content. While we’re amid a pandemic, so many things are changing around us constantly. I am more focused on producing quality content that goes out into the world versus throwing just anything out there. And seeing if it sticks. At some point, you have to trim the fat and look at the piece of meat you’re providing to people. It’s a weird analogy, but it makes a lot of sense. Fat is not nutritious, nor does it fill you up. It may look good and may even taste good at first, but it doesn’t offer anything of value. It would help if you looked at your content.
Similarly, what is it that you’re offering isn’t strong enough? I always look and think that your last big hit, your last big story, your previous podcast episode. Your prior anything has the potential to change your life because all it takes is one yes and one opportunity to grow. Put the best work out there as if Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, or your favorite company is looking. Do the work and make it useful. I can’t say that success is instant in this day and time, which social media continually tries to make us believe otherwise. But what I can say is when you show up 100%, your audience will too.
Lastly, market yourself
It is essential to market yourself as much as you can. After all, if a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around to hear, did it fall? Although my answer to that is definitely yes, because you can see that the tree fell, the analogy stays the same. If no one is around to hear or see this great content, or this great product that you’ve made, then you will have wasted time building and strategy, building it out with no eyes. I like to use scheduling apps like Hootsuite; I know other people like planners like Preview or Later to schedule out their social media posts. I can’t say that I’m the best at this.
But what I like to do is whenever I finalize a project or a piece of content, I am going on and scheduling it out across social media platforms to know for a fact that I will be on it. Again, this is not a numbers game. But if it doesn’t go out into the world, how can anyone see it and possibly share it with their audience? Being a Black-owned business will not always mean instant gratification or a high return on investment. Yes, many success stories exist, but many small business owners, such as myself, are still waiting for their big mark. However, life is not measured by small marks and big marks. This is one of my favorite tips for young entrepreneurs because social media is a blessing and a curse if you allow it to be.
Each little mark is a win because it’s getting you into bigger marks. And those more significant marks mean even bigger marks, so on and so forth. Ensuring that you’re building a strong brand, network, and community of people who will see your content and share it is how you can create visibility for yourself and your brand. If you have a product, perhaps consider sharing it with PR sending a few free products out there to people, and sowing another form of a financial seed into your business.
No, I’m not saying you need to send out 200 products every holiday season to all of the editors on your list. But I am saying that it is good to be smart and strategic with how you share and promote your business. After all, how cool would it be if you sent out a few free mailers and got one of the biggest product securements for the entire year or a celebrity endorsement that then wholly sold out your inventory within a matter of hours? The reality is it’s possible, but you have to be willing to do the work. Put yourself out there and build your tribe.
These are my three tips for young entrepreneurs that I have learned over the years. I’ve continued to make this platform to empower Black and brown people in fashion, and I’m always learning! What are your tips for young entrepreneurs? Is there anything else that you would include?
