We recently connected with Jermaine Hill and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jermaine, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My passion for all things Business and IT started before I went to the University of Richmond. In High School I became interested in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and was active, even became the FBLA President. Once enrolled in college pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree, I was asked to create a website as one of my last projects from scratch using HTML. Fell in love with it immediately! From there I taught myself HTML, ASP, CSS, etc.

Since then I also taught myself Graphic Design, starting out with flyers and logos mostly. By word of mouth my business grew and subsequently EJH Consulting LLC was born in January 2011. My parents gave me the initial money to register the LLC (it was a little less than $200 at the time). The next year I started filing business taxes and learned what items were tax deductible as a business owner. Changed my life and financial situation. I went on to register ejh-consulting.com and establish an online presence.

As my client base grew, so did my skill set and the quality of my work. I took my craft serious and started attending meetups related to web design in the DC area. There’s a site called meetups.com (not dating at all ha). It’s a site for like minded people to meet and collaborate. I learned a lot of tools of the trade at those monthly sessions.

Today, I own EJH Consulting LLC, EJH Apparel LLC and EJH Music LLC.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

To be honest, all startups start with little to no money. My story was the same. I used bootleg versions of design software so I wouldn’t have to pay for the license. I also charged way less than I should so that I could build my portfolio, sometimes even offering free work. I made almost no profit my first year.

Also, we don’t have a lot of entrepreneurs in my family so I didn’t really have mentors to show me the ins and outs of running a small business. I operated without being an LLC for a while. Didn’t understand how to file business taxes or understand what was tax-deductible or not. I pretty much taught myself all of it. Also, black business owners are stereotyped. So I had to put in the work to show my clients that not all black business owners are late on projects, unprofessional, and disorganized.

Eventually, my work caught up with my competitors and I showed that I could compete with other similar small businesses. The crazy thing is that I actually was getting so good it was hard to keep up with all of the projects. I started being late delivering graphics and websites to clients and so I realized I needed to restructure and manage my time better with the growth.

You must start with what you love to do and are passionate about. Then figure out how to make money doing it. You must do what the 1% do in order to achieve the 1% results. Late nights, early mornings, staying in when friends are out, learning, and perfecting your craft will get you where you are going. The money will come, just put in the work, others will notice.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

So as many entrepreneurs start out, I also maintained a corporate job while building my business. Self funded to me means taking revenue earned from my business and putting it right back into my business (expenses include travel, electronics, Wifi, office space, etc.). I also used my bi-weekly or semi-monthly paychecks to business my business as well. So there was no “initial capital”.

I was blessed to be able to take advantage of the PPP Program during the pandemic and it helped some. It was used continue to pay myself, office space, new laptop, pay part-time staff, digital and print marketing for my companies and to renew LLC registrations.

At the moment, I am working on a mobile app and looking for seed funding to continue to build it out and hire the necessary people to run the app. Stay tuned for the launch announcement!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Absolutely. My biggest show of resilience was December 3, 2021, when I officially left the corporate world and started working for myself full time. With a 6-figure salary and great benefits, it’s not easy to walk away from but my mind was made up. I was ready to take my company to the next level, and I couldn’t do that staying in the corporate world.

Before I found Industrious Office co-working space, I visited several co-working office spaces and locations to find the perfect location in Washington, DC. DC is a hub of innovators and creatives so I knew for years DC would eventually be my headquarters.

I’m taking a risk on growing and scaling my business because I have no doubt it will grow into one of the most successful minority-owned tech companies in the country. I want to offer top-of-the-line graphics, websites, mobile apps, and branding implementation to small businesses, corporate clients, and government agencies.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ejh-consulting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i.am.j.hill
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ejhconsulting
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enochjhill/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iam_jhill

Image Credits
Peculiar Images/RJ Paulk