Real Talk

Don't Take That Class

by J.S. Buford

Being an entrepreneur during these times takes a special kind of metal…particularly in Detroit Metro. I once read a quote that juxtaposed Black America as the canary in the mine in relationship to the ills that have afflicted the United States of America.

Yes. I remember a time when unemployment, children out of wedlock, and foreclosures were once considered problems unique to lazy, irresponsible African Americans. What a difference a Bush presidency makes, eh?

Well, Detroit is the equivalent of a canary choked out on life support. Things are tough. And there is no sign of things getting any easier for small business owners. So why do we do it? It’s because we believe. And for those who don’t, and worse yet have committed themselves to dissuading you.

Don’t take that class.

There are those who have known you for years. Friends. Family. Neighbors. They know and have known, if even modestly, what you have poured yourself into. Still, at least in the beginning, very few entrepreneurs can rely on the material support and encouragement of family members in our community.

Matter of fact, it is often these same individuals who are the last to provide referrals and or become devout cheerleaders. Yet, should you fail initially, they will be the first to try to convince you of the folly of your efforts. You’re better off getting a job (just over broke). Things are too hard. You know we don’t support black enterprise anyway. It’s cultural. It’s cultural? Go figure. Trust they'll be there with smiles and pats on the back if you relocate, blow up, and return though. Know that.

Don’t take that class.

Then one of my personal favorites: those that always have plenty to say about conducting business, building wealth, and choosing the right industry, but have never birthed, managed, and grew any type of organization of any kind. They've always worked for someone else. And can barely manage adults who are paid to answer to them. It’s like God put them on earth to see just how much you want it.

You know the type. The critic that attempts to eviscerate any confidence you have in your enterprise…always quick to point out why your marketing plan is deficient, but never offering any advice as to how to improve it. Hey, you uber-critics out there. Ever seen an award, monument, or Nobel Peace Prize awarded to someone who tears down dreams, and produces nothing? No?

Then there are the pseudo-activists who couldn’t arrange a gathering of ants if you provided them with the Captain Krunch and chewing gum.

Yep, they infiltrate flouting their connections, familial qualifications (ooooh you’re a Boule member), and multiplicity of degrees. Not that having a post-undergrad degree isn’t necessary (I’m certainly looking to enroll very soon), however, there is a difference between plenty of schooling and being educated. And by the way didn’t the Boule end up betraying one of the founders, W.E.B. DuBois, and end up being denounced by W.E.B. DuBois? Where were they at when DuBois was being charged with communism?

Then of course there are those who just don’t understand the depth of tenacity, determination, and psychological development and encouragement required to make the leap from comfortable compensated sharecropper to a self-determined being in a capitalistic society. If you haven’t noticed, the federal government didn’t bail out a single small business owner that I am aware of. It’s a big deal.

They pretend to be able to identify with you, often taking the position when an inevitable setback occurs, that you should simply accept it, and move on. And heaven forbid there is a bit of pomposity mixed in…then you’re left wanting to cough up blood as soon as they speak on your commitment to realizing your dreams. It kind of reminds me of childless adults commenting on the behavior of parents. Or men passing laws and judgments on women (pretending to understand the gravity of the decision) who grapple with whether or not to have an abortion.

Or better yet. Try imagining what it’s like to be a grieving mother at the sight of a drive by shooting of her only son. I never want to imagine outliving my children. The thought of it brings me pause. It’s something you can never understand unless you’ve been through it. It's something I don't want to begin to grapple with.

A lot of small business owners became victims of metaphorical drive by shootings in 2009: being pilfered and bamboozled by the federal government who refused to allow the failure of banks too big to fail, while these same banks refused to offer loans; the collapsing of whole industries, the death drop of property values, etc., etc.

Nevertheless, we know that the most successful entrepreneurs and visionaries that have shaped and transformed this world failed their way to the top. Those of us who master being able to understand and properly balance the difference between learned knowledge and activity knowledge, accept change, and accelerate our rate of failures (get them out the way) will ultimately emerge more solvent than ever. This kind of attitude is antithetical to those who have never taken the leap. When they defecate in your cornflakes.

Don’t take that class.

Here’s the bottom line. If you believe in something, go hard for it. So many of us replace our dreams with practical adages of acceptance and thirst ridden mediocrity. Do not focus on the obstacles, but rather your opportunities. If you have to postpone, reorganize, and or downsize, do so, but do not give up. I don’t believe the Creator would bless anyone with a vision to make a fool of us.

And that’s real talk.

Sometimes You Have to Eat a Little Shit

by J.S. Buford

Well, isn’t that what the world tells us.

You have to obtain a job whereas someone else dictates when you can take vacations; attend your children’s rehearsals, plays, and spelling bees; take a day off because physically and mentally you need a break from the seven-day workweek. If you want to climb the corporate ladder you must do so at someone’s expense; brown nose with folks whom you share little in common with; compromise your principles just a little, so you can earn the income required to spend your time doing what you really want to do. Wear a mask to be accepted into the club; position yourself strategically, in an effort to receive the fruits of your labor as opposed to having them redistributed to those who aren’t as intelligent, competent, or principled. Eat a little shit.

Eat a little shit, until you can afford the freedom you desire to pursue your desires, interests, and passions.

Well, millions of citizens are choosing not to do so every single day. An article “The Rat Race Ends Here” featured in Premier Business Magazine cited a report – Work, Entrepreneurship and Opportunity in the 21st Century America – released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in May 2006 chronicling the rise of a new entrepreneurial work force clearly illustrates this point. It is predicted by many of the leading economic experts that the U.S. economy will produce 10 million new millionaires over the next decade; many will be individuals of all hues, ethnicities, religious, etc. backgrounds whom concluded that the only security one can rely upon, is what one provides for them self.

Why not you?

Why not? The typical response is that entrepreneurs are somehow different, special, exceptionally gifted, carry resumes with specialized backgrounds, hyper sales personalities, achievers who know nothing of failure. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Bill Gates was a college drop out. Oprah Winfrey is more familiar with poverty than most of her viewers could ever fathom. Did you see The Pursuit of Happiness? Chris Gardener was on his knuckles for real!

However, liberation starts with a change in mindset, a shift in one’s impression of their self – what you deserve, the extent or rather the heights you can achieve (regardless of socio-economic, academic, ethnic, or professional background), a willingness to fail, the courage to achieve, and an open mind; meaning the capacity to identify an opportunity and pursue it, despite whatever your current circumstances. To paraphrase Johnny Depps’ character, John Dillinger, in Public Enemies, it’s not about where you’re from, but where you’re going that ultimately defines you.

The following articles within the department, Commerce Street, will speak to what these new opportunities will look like in the future, the provision of tools and tips that work, and exposes of individuals who’ve chosen not to eat shit.

Yes, you can.