Post by Bornthrilla on Mar 23, 2008 17:28:21 GMT -5
Minority Business Incubator: A foundation of hope
By Lanita Withers
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Don't let his baby face fool you: Sterling Freeman is serious about building his business.
The budding entrepreneur started Xpressions, a custom art and apparel company, last year, renting a booth at a flea market just days after finishing eighth grade at Kiser Middle School. He did well, hawking T-shirts, pants and hats featuring his hand-drawn designs from a strategically picked booth near the food court. But he didn't want his company to stall.
"If you're going to have a business, you have to keep progressing," said the 14-year-old CEO. "You don't want to stay in one place too long."
So, with his parents and younger brother — all entrepreneurs — he started looking for a new space for his enterprise.
The Freemans found a home for their businesses at the Minority Business Incubator, a new endeavor at 1325 S. Eugene St. It was created to nurture small businesses in east Greensboro and help them grow.
The incubator is the vision of Michael and Ramona Woods, local entrepreneurs who have transformed their multicultural hair care supply company into a recognized name in salons nationwide. They've invested between $1 million and $1.5 million in the project.
"When we learned about the vision of the (Woodses), it just became the right place," said Pat Freeman, Sterling's mother.
"Some of the things that they spoke about in the vision — helping entrepreneurs become more successful, strategic planning sessions and helping them with being able to even give back to the community — really sold us."
Supplying the demand
The Woodses opened the Minority Business Incubator in January by following a simple economic principle: Supply the demand.
"There's a need in the minority community for businesses to have a place where they can operate," Michael Woods said. "Most small business owners operate out of the back of their car, on their cell phone, from their home, in their garage.
"To have a certain amount of credibility, you need an office space."
Business owners trying to build wealth, stability and freedom though entrepreneurship often are hurt by "unconscious incompetencies," Woods said.
"They don't know that they don't know," he said. "And what you don't know can affect you."
The Woodses survived the growing pains of building a business from scratch.
"We had to literally bootstrap our way, and when you're bootstrapping, you don't have a lot of money," Ramona Woods said.
Like many entrepreneurs, the couple said, they paid tuition at the School of Hard Knocks while growing Ashtae Products, learning how to harness talent and goods to earn a living.
"We've been in the war, been in the battle to grow a successful business," Michael Woods said.
For this couple, the impetus for the project went beyond filling a need. Greensboro is home to one of the key events of the civil rights movement, when four black college freshmen staged a sit-in in 1960 to demand equal treatment.
Now, the Woodses see a need for civil freedoms to extend into the financial arena. They want minority business owners to be able to tap into the American dream, to have equal access to success.
Close to 80,000 minority firms operated in North Carolina in 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But if minority business activity matched the state's minority population percentage, the number of minority companies would have exceeded 191,000.
"We want to create that Wall Street project mind-set," Michael Woods said, "that 'Yes, I can invest in America,' and 'Yes, there will be a return for me, too. T-O-O. I want to also be included.'"
The walls of the incubator provide a safe space for business owners, a place where mentors help them build strong foundations for their businesses among a cheering section of fellow entrepreneurs.
"(It's) being in a community that is all about saying, 'You can improve your numbers if you look at some of the red flags from an accounting aspect. Talk to other companies that have grown a little larger than yourself. Bounce some ideas off of each other,'" Woods said.
That's what drew in Saba Khan, a senior business management major at N.C. A&T who started a bridal boutique out of her home earlier this year.
She comes from a family of entrepreneurs, so she has an idea of what small business ownership involves. Still, the task of building can be daunting, Khan said.
"I'm my marketing. I'm my salesman. I'm my manager," she said. "It's all me."
Among the entrepreneurs at the incubator, she found a group of people pulling for her to succeed.
"It felt right here," Khan said. "It's kind of like a family, the kind of support you get from being here."
Although the center's emphasis is minorities, entrepreneurs of any ethnicity can set up a business there.
Businesses started moving into the incubator, part of the former Pella Windows building, in January.
The interior was designed with 8-foot-tall doors and crown molding to give the complex an air of excellence — or, as Michael Woods puts it, "raising expectations."
That appealed to Sterling, the young businessman.
"When you're at the flea market, sometimes people don't take you seriously, like you're doing a mom-and-pop kind of thing," he said. "In the incubator, it gives a new respect for my business, and people are willing to pay that extra dollar for the product."
The center's first phase, encompassing about 5,000 square feet, nearly hit capacity within weeks with no advertising other than word-of-mouth.
By the time the third and final phase is completed in late 2009, there could be 40 to 50 businesses in the complex.
Early returns
Just weeks into their new spaces, some of the business owners already report gains.
"Business is up," said Eugene Freeman, Sterling's father and the owner of Freeman and Sons Carpet Cleaning and Janitorial Services. "It's probably doubled or tripled since we've been out here."
One factor Freeman can point to is the decision to add janitorial services to his carpet-cleaning business, an idea floated in a meeting with the Woodses.
"When we sat down and talked, throwing things out," he said. "That's one of the things that was thrown out."
Ayanna Graves, owner and manager of Ayanna's Hairport, has been in business for 14 years. Her business had been growing since she moved it to Greensboro three years ago. But when she opened her new shop in the center during the first week of the year, it grew even more.
"I have had a minimum of eight to 12 new clients every week," she said.
And that's with no new advertising other than a yard sign in front of the incubator's building and word-of-mouth, "which is the best of advertisements," Graves said.
When it comes from other business owners, that kind of cross-pollination aids in collective success.
"It's an informal leads group, where you will get business from each other," said Kathy Elliott, vice president of small business with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. "It's like having a solid sales force out there for you that you wouldn't otherwise have."
Just ask Jared Johnson. The accountant opened his business in the incubator three weeks ago, and already other business owners are patronizing him or sending clients his way.
"Everyone here is looking out for everyone else," he said. "I do think it's going to be a very positive move compared to just having an office space somewhere without the networking support."
In the community
The Woodses' investment likely will have a positive ripple effect in its east Greensboro neighborhood.
"Going inside a low-wealth census tract and putting a business incubator to help create an environment in which businesses can locate, which enhances their probability of success, does nothing but add economic value to that area," said Andrea Harris, president of the N.C. Institute for Minority Economic Development in Durham.
"More than likely, those businesses will employ people from that area, so you get all the residuals from that, as well."
On average, the businesses in the incubator employ three people.
"The impact of 10 businesses has affected 30 lives," Michael Woods said.
Some entrepreneurs in the center already are planning to expand. Johnson's accounting agency is a one-man shop now, but by next tax season, the owner hopes to have a staff of four.
"Imagine when we get to 50 businesses," Woods said. "That's 150 families affected because you have opportunity which opens the door to increasing your economic base."
Vital economic role
And success breeds economic synergy, Harris said: "The more businesses that succeed, others come and start to grow."
Increasingly, small businesses are playing a vital role in the economy.
"Nationally, small businesses employ half of private sector employees," said Elliott of the Chamber of Commerce.
Numbers for North Carolina mirror the national statistics.
Business incubators, which have been around for about 50 years, have a record of success.
"About 87 percent of the businesses that go through a business incubation program stay in business past five years out," said Tracy Kitts, chief operating officer for the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio.
"Eighty-four percent stay in the community they were created in," he said.
"As they grow, that business they create ties with other businesses, so they're really grounded there."
Greensboro has two incubators: the 20-year-old Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship and the Minority Business Incubator.
With economic reinvestment in the community also comes a decline in social ills, such as crime, drug use and teen pregnancy, Harris said. And it doesn't take long for positive signs to appear.
"You'll see some small positives the first year," she said. "By year two, you start to see some of the impact of the relationships and the training. By years three and four, you see the businesses start to grow."
The Woodses believe the incubator's presence will help something else grow in east Greensboro.
Hope.
Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lanita.withers@news-record.com
Copyright © 2008
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.
By Lanita Withers
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Don't let his baby face fool you: Sterling Freeman is serious about building his business.
The budding entrepreneur started Xpressions, a custom art and apparel company, last year, renting a booth at a flea market just days after finishing eighth grade at Kiser Middle School. He did well, hawking T-shirts, pants and hats featuring his hand-drawn designs from a strategically picked booth near the food court. But he didn't want his company to stall.
"If you're going to have a business, you have to keep progressing," said the 14-year-old CEO. "You don't want to stay in one place too long."
So, with his parents and younger brother — all entrepreneurs — he started looking for a new space for his enterprise.
The Freemans found a home for their businesses at the Minority Business Incubator, a new endeavor at 1325 S. Eugene St. It was created to nurture small businesses in east Greensboro and help them grow.
The incubator is the vision of Michael and Ramona Woods, local entrepreneurs who have transformed their multicultural hair care supply company into a recognized name in salons nationwide. They've invested between $1 million and $1.5 million in the project.
"When we learned about the vision of the (Woodses), it just became the right place," said Pat Freeman, Sterling's mother.
"Some of the things that they spoke about in the vision — helping entrepreneurs become more successful, strategic planning sessions and helping them with being able to even give back to the community — really sold us."
Supplying the demand
The Woodses opened the Minority Business Incubator in January by following a simple economic principle: Supply the demand.
"There's a need in the minority community for businesses to have a place where they can operate," Michael Woods said. "Most small business owners operate out of the back of their car, on their cell phone, from their home, in their garage.
"To have a certain amount of credibility, you need an office space."
Business owners trying to build wealth, stability and freedom though entrepreneurship often are hurt by "unconscious incompetencies," Woods said.
"They don't know that they don't know," he said. "And what you don't know can affect you."
The Woodses survived the growing pains of building a business from scratch.
"We had to literally bootstrap our way, and when you're bootstrapping, you don't have a lot of money," Ramona Woods said.
Like many entrepreneurs, the couple said, they paid tuition at the School of Hard Knocks while growing Ashtae Products, learning how to harness talent and goods to earn a living.
"We've been in the war, been in the battle to grow a successful business," Michael Woods said.
For this couple, the impetus for the project went beyond filling a need. Greensboro is home to one of the key events of the civil rights movement, when four black college freshmen staged a sit-in in 1960 to demand equal treatment.
Now, the Woodses see a need for civil freedoms to extend into the financial arena. They want minority business owners to be able to tap into the American dream, to have equal access to success.
Close to 80,000 minority firms operated in North Carolina in 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. But if minority business activity matched the state's minority population percentage, the number of minority companies would have exceeded 191,000.
"We want to create that Wall Street project mind-set," Michael Woods said, "that 'Yes, I can invest in America,' and 'Yes, there will be a return for me, too. T-O-O. I want to also be included.'"
The walls of the incubator provide a safe space for business owners, a place where mentors help them build strong foundations for their businesses among a cheering section of fellow entrepreneurs.
"(It's) being in a community that is all about saying, 'You can improve your numbers if you look at some of the red flags from an accounting aspect. Talk to other companies that have grown a little larger than yourself. Bounce some ideas off of each other,'" Woods said.
That's what drew in Saba Khan, a senior business management major at N.C. A&T who started a bridal boutique out of her home earlier this year.
She comes from a family of entrepreneurs, so she has an idea of what small business ownership involves. Still, the task of building can be daunting, Khan said.
"I'm my marketing. I'm my salesman. I'm my manager," she said. "It's all me."
Among the entrepreneurs at the incubator, she found a group of people pulling for her to succeed.
"It felt right here," Khan said. "It's kind of like a family, the kind of support you get from being here."
Although the center's emphasis is minorities, entrepreneurs of any ethnicity can set up a business there.
Businesses started moving into the incubator, part of the former Pella Windows building, in January.
The interior was designed with 8-foot-tall doors and crown molding to give the complex an air of excellence — or, as Michael Woods puts it, "raising expectations."
That appealed to Sterling, the young businessman.
"When you're at the flea market, sometimes people don't take you seriously, like you're doing a mom-and-pop kind of thing," he said. "In the incubator, it gives a new respect for my business, and people are willing to pay that extra dollar for the product."
The center's first phase, encompassing about 5,000 square feet, nearly hit capacity within weeks with no advertising other than word-of-mouth.
By the time the third and final phase is completed in late 2009, there could be 40 to 50 businesses in the complex.
Early returns
Just weeks into their new spaces, some of the business owners already report gains.
"Business is up," said Eugene Freeman, Sterling's father and the owner of Freeman and Sons Carpet Cleaning and Janitorial Services. "It's probably doubled or tripled since we've been out here."
One factor Freeman can point to is the decision to add janitorial services to his carpet-cleaning business, an idea floated in a meeting with the Woodses.
"When we sat down and talked, throwing things out," he said. "That's one of the things that was thrown out."
Ayanna Graves, owner and manager of Ayanna's Hairport, has been in business for 14 years. Her business had been growing since she moved it to Greensboro three years ago. But when she opened her new shop in the center during the first week of the year, it grew even more.
"I have had a minimum of eight to 12 new clients every week," she said.
And that's with no new advertising other than a yard sign in front of the incubator's building and word-of-mouth, "which is the best of advertisements," Graves said.
When it comes from other business owners, that kind of cross-pollination aids in collective success.
"It's an informal leads group, where you will get business from each other," said Kathy Elliott, vice president of small business with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. "It's like having a solid sales force out there for you that you wouldn't otherwise have."
Just ask Jared Johnson. The accountant opened his business in the incubator three weeks ago, and already other business owners are patronizing him or sending clients his way.
"Everyone here is looking out for everyone else," he said. "I do think it's going to be a very positive move compared to just having an office space somewhere without the networking support."
In the community
The Woodses' investment likely will have a positive ripple effect in its east Greensboro neighborhood.
"Going inside a low-wealth census tract and putting a business incubator to help create an environment in which businesses can locate, which enhances their probability of success, does nothing but add economic value to that area," said Andrea Harris, president of the N.C. Institute for Minority Economic Development in Durham.
"More than likely, those businesses will employ people from that area, so you get all the residuals from that, as well."
On average, the businesses in the incubator employ three people.
"The impact of 10 businesses has affected 30 lives," Michael Woods said.
Some entrepreneurs in the center already are planning to expand. Johnson's accounting agency is a one-man shop now, but by next tax season, the owner hopes to have a staff of four.
"Imagine when we get to 50 businesses," Woods said. "That's 150 families affected because you have opportunity which opens the door to increasing your economic base."
Vital economic role
And success breeds economic synergy, Harris said: "The more businesses that succeed, others come and start to grow."
Increasingly, small businesses are playing a vital role in the economy.
"Nationally, small businesses employ half of private sector employees," said Elliott of the Chamber of Commerce.
Numbers for North Carolina mirror the national statistics.
Business incubators, which have been around for about 50 years, have a record of success.
"About 87 percent of the businesses that go through a business incubation program stay in business past five years out," said Tracy Kitts, chief operating officer for the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio.
"Eighty-four percent stay in the community they were created in," he said.
"As they grow, that business they create ties with other businesses, so they're really grounded there."
Greensboro has two incubators: the 20-year-old Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship and the Minority Business Incubator.
With economic reinvestment in the community also comes a decline in social ills, such as crime, drug use and teen pregnancy, Harris said. And it doesn't take long for positive signs to appear.
"You'll see some small positives the first year," she said. "By year two, you start to see some of the impact of the relationships and the training. By years three and four, you see the businesses start to grow."
The Woodses believe the incubator's presence will help something else grow in east Greensboro.
Hope.
Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lanita.withers@news-record.com
Copyright © 2008
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.
