We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandi & Diamond McNeal the founders of Executing Black Business, LLC a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Brandi & Diamond thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
The biggest challenge to profitability in the small Black owned business industry is making beneficial connections and working together as a team. Many times small businessess lack the resources that are necessary to maintain longevity.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
What EBB Does: Research shows that half of Black business owners have a hard time building a support network while a further 27 percent struggle with owning their accomplishments — which their non-black business owners didn’t necessarily have to overcome when creating a successful business. Fifty-nine percent reported being victims of racism or bias when starting their business. Because support is such an important piece to the complete puzzle of maintaining a successful business, EBB saw the enegerning need to fix this.
Online networking is an exceptional resource for business owners in remote locations; for connections to global thought leaders. Furthermore, reaching out to difficult to reach individuals through their online spaces may be the most valuable way to connect. This is what makes EBB’s networking tools through Social Media Engines (such as Google, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Youtube, Podcast Platform) Face to Face Networking, and Business Professional Etiquette Resources beneficial for Black men and women business owners between the ages of 25-40.
EBB currently provides business assistance services, business etiquette classes, and speaking engagement help.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
EBB has been fortunate to begin our business with minimal capital and have proved to be successful. However the majority of these funds came from personal CEO money and donations of others who believe in the mission of the company.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
EBB has found the most effective strategy for growing business clientele to depend on the ultimate goal that a company is attempting to achieve. For instance, when seeking new clientele for our business interviews, we tend to take to social media, business professional platforms for new up and coming business. On the other hand, when searching for clientele to become partners with our company we tend to reach out to our close network for referrals, word of mouth of individuals who would likely be a great fit, and through Google ads, and online entrepreneur posting boards. There will likely always be several different avenues to take when seeking new clientele based on the project you are seeking new team members.
Image Credits
James Bowman, founder of Kingdom over Culture
Najee Pinion, founder of Dope ASF Brand