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#entrepreneurshipisempowerment
I'm not an oracle. And I'm acutely aware that I don't have all the answers. However, after decades of starts and stops and peaks and valleys, I've learned some things.
One of the most valuable lessons.
You can choose whether to go through things. Or grow through them.
2000: I didn't know what was going on. I felt very stressed and alienated. I just knew one thing...continue making dials and keep setting appointments. I was in straight-up survival mode, but I took solace in something an older real estate investor who was easily 50 years my senior shared with me. Keep working and helping people. The universe will conspire in your favor. I don't know if I believed him, but I trusted his belief in me.
2008: I watched almost a decade of blood sweat, and tears disappear on paper. My personal life was in shambles, and I was dealing with a most heinous opponent and personal affronts to me were incessant. I searched for a change in environment and leadership. Began pivoting into segments, industries, and markets that were in alignment with my passion and interests. I learned that you never truly know it all.
Entrepreneurs don't know it all, we simply tend to see things first. I stopped being afraid of experimentation and began failing super fast.
2019: I watched others run for the hills or become enamored with the idea of the month phenomena. I simply doubled down and business was very productive. I was experiencing some huge personal life earthquakes, but I never felt like I wasn't standing on solid ground. I trusted the process and allowed things to flow like water, and additional verticals sprouted. I spent an inordinate amount of time studying leadership and became at peace with who and what I was and am. My mind was blown away by emerging technologies, and my appetite for constant learning ignited even more.
2023: It doesn't matter where you go, there you are. My leadership skills are finding expression and my previous reluctance is melting away. I'm working on business endeavors increasingly rather than in them 24/7. I've lost my appetite for things, and I've become laser-focused on accumulating assets. I don't mind natural peanut butter and real fruit spreads. When you begin to solve bigger problems, you learn there is a class of people who don't taste the dirt in good or bad economies.
I'm attacking self-inflicted injuries with malicious fervor while repairing myself with care. I'm enjoying more purposeful, edifying relationships. Still, very urgent in activity, but letting things flow. I'm tracking my progress on a year to year basis, as opposed to week to week or month to month. It's like playing chess and being able to anticipate 3-6 moves ahead, rather than being imprisoned in 1-2 move decisions.
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I learned a long time ago that proximity to power. Living in a zip code, attending a certain school, or being friends with wealthy people doesn't make you part of the club.
Living the champagne life on a beer budget is not what's up.
It's like being the janitor, sweeping the floors of a multi-billionaire's office. You're in the room. But... (and there are one out of a million exceptions)
A little bit of paranoia and anxiety is good for an entrepreneur. Be hungry for knowledge, resources, better relationships, becoming more valuable to your network, and building your net worth.
I didn't come from the right household or zip code. I didn't understand how to monetize my talents and skills early on. I didn't have social capital. Popularity contests weren't my thing.
I fought weekly in middle school because I grew tired of being picked up because of my complexion, and my willingness to display my heritage. I was so unpopular in high school that the curators of our yearbook purposely misspelled my name.
When I started my entrepreneurial journey family members told me, we are not going to support your business.
I rarely have been invited into the right rooms. I simply show up. Until now.
My supposed friends asked me, "who are you to believe you can achieve these things?"
None of it mattered. None of it matters. Why?
Watch the video to learn more.
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We are a business solutions organization with an international footprint serving professionals who wish to transition into entrepreneurship, and providing guidance and technical assistance to established entrepreneurs and investors seeking to launch, grow, and scale their endeavors from a team of me to a team of we.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
I believe entrepreneurship is the ultimate empowerment, and one of the surest ways for people regardless of their ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, etc., to create choices for themselves.
Control what happens at their kitchen tables, influence what happens in their neighborhoods, and provide employment and economic viability for their communities and abroad.
And live #purposedriven lives, as opposed to lives of quiet desperation, being constantly preoccupied with the stress of keeping food on the table.
However, there is a prevailing mindset out there that is highly problematic, and damaging to the health of entrepreneurs... that there are some people who become entrepreneurs and are somehow entitled to a certain level of success, more worthy, or it's inevitable. And nothing could be further from the truth.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co-Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, transitioned into business ownership, and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
A common refrain that many people articulate for their desire to try entrepreneurship is that they no longer want to deal with supervision or having a boss. The idea of calling your own shots, determining who you work with and how you work, and how many vacations you can take is very alluring.
However, the reality of the matter is successful entrepreneurs understand an even greater degree of accountability is required of them than what the super-majority of people experience as an employee. Matter of fact, you actually have several bosses to answer to.
Your clients
Your employees
Your vendors and affiliates, and others who become reliant upon your success
People who provide you with technical expertise require reporting, documentation, and compliance: accountants, attorneys, marketing professionals, etc., etc.,
Mentors and or mentees
Various other relationships where co-dependencies exist.
In other words, if you’re taking aim at entrepreneurship with the hopes of no longer having to be accountable to someone or people, you’re in for a rude awakening.
I WANT TO DO SOMETHING THAT IS EASIER OR LESS INTENSE
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,”
It’s a cute, whimsical maxim that gets tossed around a lot. Except, it just doesn't carry much water, especially if you aren't born into money or social status.
In the beginning, you’re going to expend a lot of energy, time, and or capital without little to no return. In other words, you’re going to have to do a lot of things that you don’t get compensated for in the beginning, so you can be compensated later on for things you don’t have to do.
Most entrepreneurs should not expect to enjoy a profit (revenues subtract expenses) in their business for at least 2 to 3 years.
Imagine opening your doors at 6:00 AM and closing at 10:00 PM - preparation two hours before business hours, and closing procedures before you lock the doors for the night- five, six, perhaps seven days a week. You're answering an innumerable number of emails, phone calls, text messages (the happy and the very, very disgruntled alike) from everyone underneath the sun, day and night. You're interviewing, onboarding, training, and firing. Of course, there are 100 dials, 20 door knocks a day, midnight hours spent curating email and social campaigns, or some combination thereof. Plus, consuming voluminous amounts of content on an hourly and daily basis to develop your expertise.
Then there is the mental gymnastics associated with being completely submerged in the work, and coming to grips with the absolute acquiescence to your success that will be required because, in the beginning, you have to do what the business needs of you rather than what you prefer to do.
Two to three years of the aforementioned. Two to three years absent profits, meaning the inability to pay yourself a substantial income. At then the ultimate realization that you have to work three times as hard as you’ve ever had to work on your job, and that’s not the hard part.
I DON’T BELIEVE IN NUMBERS, STATISTICS, OR PERCENTAGES.
I heard a fellow entrepreneur articulate that they don’t believe in or make decisions based on statistics. I don’t “believe in that stuff.” Well, they believe in you. And the financial institutions, investors, and your pocketbook don’t require that you believe in the utility of quantitative data, only your compliance.
Ignore demographic data, and you’ll find yourself investing in something tantamount to trying to establish an 8 track tape enterprise in a 23rd-century economy. Or buying a house with an ARV of $50,000 for $250,000 because of some emotional connection to it, or some anecdotal exception to the rule.
Business plans matter. Understanding your P & L statement matters. Understanding people’s buying decisions and behaviors matters. Being aware of whether the market is shrinking or growing will often determine your success to a greater degree than your talent, hard work, or intellect ever will.
Are there exceptions or examples of people who didn't have to deal with the aforementioned realities? Yes.Lottery winnersexist too. However, do you want to base whether to expend your life's energies on those odds, or be clear about the cost of the promise?
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, and transitioned into business ownership and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate wholesaling, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghostwriting, and publishing.
How do you get better clients and effectively reach out to individuals who have better connections, are more successful, or occupy a higher socio-economic stratum?
In other words, do business with people who are more successful than you, and they know it.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, and transitioned into business ownership and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate wholesaling, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghost writing, and publishing.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, and transitioned into business ownership and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate wholesaling, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghost writing, and publishing.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, and transitioned into business ownership and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate wholesaling, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghost writing, and publishing.
We are all prone to anxiety and distractions. If you're struggling with how to deal with these two Frankenstins, it doesn't mean you're a monster or something is wrong with you.
JuJuan Buford is a CEO, Co Founder serial entrepreneur, writer, and public speaker. JuJuan started his career in the banking and investment advisory industry, and transitioned into business ownership and is enjoying entrepreneurial success in multiple industries: business coaching, real estate wholesaling, direct selling, business technical assistance provider, ghost writing, and publishing.
People have told me what I couldn't do all my life.
I was told I wasn't a good student, and I shouldn't aspire to be more than average. I attended U of M, spoke at one of the largest university graduation ceremonies in the United States, and as a student-activist changed the narrative of the campus forever.
I was told to be happy at a good paying bank job, pay my dues, and one day I'd be manager. Today, I train managers. And work with dynamic entrepreneurs and scaling corporations.
I was told to stay in my place, and those who were closest to me attempted to humiliate and sabotage my efforts. I learned that all my skinfolk, aint my kinfolk. And it's not lonely at the top, you just have to make new friends with those who dare to climb.
My journey has been littered with mistakes and stumbles. I didn't grow up in the right zip code. I learned and I'm still learning how to think abundantly. While financially literate, I had to cultivate financial independence habits. There's a difference.
But the further out I've continued to swim, the less chatter and debris I've encountered. The being is in the doing. Keep going. Keep growing. Keep swimming my friends.
A recent interview with Danco Sotirovski, of "Ask the Neighbor" and JuJuan Buford, CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group & Co-Founder of NextOppSocial, regarding what steps entrepreneurs can take when they've lost that loving feeling for their business.
We believe entrepreneurship is empowerment, and provide content, information, and resources to help aspiring and established entrepreneurs launch, grow, scale, and thrive. To continue receiving vital and informative content, click the following link to confirm your email address and subscribe at https://bit.ly/yesthereismore
Many of the entrepreneurs I know, including myself, were the #blacksheep of the #family. The #outcasts. We were often #misunderstood, #underappreciated, or simply #misplaced because we were #different.
For many of us #entrepreneurship served as an #outlet. An #opportunity to #curate a space to share our #talents, #skills, and #passions. And with a smirk, wait for the world to catch up to us.
Because of the aforementioned, we often #give to people who #need us, but don't #deserve us. Who #desire to reap the #benefits of our #toil. Pick the #fruit. But who lack #appreciation for the #roots, that fed off #rejection, #allnighters, and #lessons learned.
They want the #promise, absent the #price. They want the warmth, without the #fire.
At JSB Business Solutions Group, we believe entrepreneurship is empowerment. We're committed to providing advice, resources, and tools to help entrepreneurs empower themselves, their neighborhoods, and communities. Subscribe here for unlimited access.
Preface. I'm forever #DetroitZone. No matter where I move in the world, Detroit's coming with me. And Detroit will always be home base. However, being a patriot and repping your city doesn't mean you turn a blind eye to challenges. No test. No testimony.
At JSB Business Solutions Group, we believe entrepreneurship is empowerment. We're committed to providing advice, resources, and tools to help entrepreneurs empower themselves, their neighborhoods, and communities. Subscribe here for unlimited access.
I was recently asked why do African American men deal in absolutes? It's directly related to our relationship with integrity, accountability, and consequences.... especially high performing men.
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It took me a while to acknowledge it, further worsening the situation, because in my mind I believed leaders don’t hit the wall. People who do epic things don’t hit the wall. When your back is against it, and the rubber meets the road, high achievers find a way. They climb walls. Dig under, chip away at them, or simply detonate them, but hitting the wall cannot be part of the narrative.
The signs were there. I began taking on projects and work that were gratifying and financially rewarding, but didn’t align with my core focus. And as the work became more taxing, instead of retreating I doubled down, and began to neglect the things that sustain and edify me personally, physically, psychologically, and mentally.
After all, who has time to run a couple miles a day, when there are important tasks still undone? Meal prep? I can cheat this week. I need the time to meet this deadline, and cooking and cleaning is way too much of a distraction. Reading and writing. The draft of the book is completed, and writing exercises are cutting into the time I need to eat some of these frogs. I’ll focus on the creative later.
And then the coup de grâce. I began entertaining myself to take the bite off the inevitable aches and pains, mental fatigue, and continual psychological duress lessening my ability to focus, deal with small adversities, and continually launch out of bed with enthusiasm and excitement.
I knew something was wrong, when I no longer woke up fifteen minutes before my alarm. When far too often I knew my KPIs (key performance indicators) were no longer congruent with my expectations (desired results). And worse yet, I knew what the appropriate response was and still failed to execute. Simple tasks required so much effort. People’s pettiness and trivial disputes started becoming too much to negotiate, and crisis mode was beginning to creep in. I started consuming multiple cups of coffee, rather than drinking 40 ounces of water in the morning.
Any of these signs sound familiar? This is the entrepreneurial wall my friends.
Now how did I, and how can you hit the reset button and go back in time to a more beautiful existence? You don’t. However, here are some suggestions that will allow you to reclaim your life, and replace the bad habits you’ve allowed yourself to drift into.
Refocus On Your Core Values, Core Focus, & Goals Again.
It is the lack of congruence between what matters most to you, and the things you’re involved in that is draining you psychologically and emotionally. A healthy mind cannot be duplicitous, and it’s hard to spend your life’s energies on a compromise.
Make your goals omnipresent again. Take thirty minutes to an hour to make sure the items on your to do list reflect the masterpiece life you’re building. To paraphrase Ellen Glasgow, all change is not progress, and all movement is not forward. Growth and progress are intentional exercises.
Remember to add moments of rest, time for exercise, and watch your diet. If you are a leader or high achiever, you are spending an extraordinary amount of energy. It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you’re doing more, while your work is becoming less effective.
Get Back to the Fundamentals & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The predictability of your income is found in your process. When you’re hitting the wall, entrepreneurs in general and especially creatives easily fall victim to seeking novelty to alleviate boredom and discomfort. This is how you find yourself in the worst possible place, putting out financial crises because your process is unraveling.
Do a deep dive into your KPIs. At the end of the day, all successful business owners focus on the following activities in order to thrive.
How many people are learning about my business on a daily basis?
How many people are being prompted to make a buying decision?
How many happy (expectations met or exceeded) customers or clients am I creating?
How many referrals or new prospects are being funneled into the pipeline?
If you are not onboarding enough new clients, you are either not inviting enough people to learn about your business, or you’re (you and or your team) not doing something right. It’s all in your numbers. Business is simple and boring, which is tantamount to predictable. People make things complicated.
How is Your Follow Through Game?
Start having meaningful conversations with your clients to ensure they are being converted into super fans. Make sure you and your team, your vendors, affiliates, including any and everyone that is connected to your business financially or materially are on the same page. Do they understand what your values are? Are they willing to be accountable to those values? Are they able or do they have the capacity to deliver on the values, principles, and ideas that matter most.
Having a clear vision allows you to build a culture of accountability. Building a culture of accountability creates positive momentum. Momentum creates speed and harmony. It attracts and incentivizes profitable, healthy behaviors. And it repels people and behaviors that are problematic. Be honest about where you may have come up short, be accountable, and embrace tough conversations.
Become the Smallest Person in the Room
Find a space where you are the least accomplished. Join a space where you are the least intelligent, important, and or effective person in the room. Motivation is temporary. Put yourself in an environment where you are going to be forced to level up to remain there.
It is extremely difficult to stop exhibiting certain habits, but much easier to replace them. Observe the habits of those who are achieving or have what you’re taking aim at, and eat the fruit and spit out the seed. In other words, consume what’s for you and good for you, and discard or journal the rest. If it requires an investment, make it. If you know it’s beneficial and the only reason (excuse) you have for not investing in it is financially motivated, find a way to do it anyway.
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It's not what you think. As an entrepreneur it's easy to get caught up believing that social media posts will build your business, unless you're actually in a skilled trade being compensated for being photogenic, being an entertainer, or a social media marketing guru.
It's the 10:00pm to 2:00am marathon to complete a proposal. It's the countless hours consuming material to help you sharpen the saw, remain more informed, and better able to identify problems and solve them faster than your competitors. It's installing operating systems, building business credit, attracting and retaining the right talent, and choosing to answer the business call on a Friday evening at 7:00PM EST.
It's waking up and answering one simple question every day of your entrepreneurial life... How many people can I serve today? Your work is the chicken and the egg.
Social media is a branding tool. It's your billboard attracting the attention of someone who is sliding left with an appetite for what you may have inside. It's an important distinction.
What are your thoughts? Comment below 👇👇👇
Or inbox, direct message, or reach me here 👉👉 https://lnkd.in/etfQCU8 to continue the discussion.
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You've made mistakes. You weren't born into the right family. You don't have the academic pedigree, professional experience, or social networks. You aren't surrounded by family, friends, or peers that are supportive of you. OK. Now, here's a list of things you do have at your disposal, and steps you can take.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
Just because you choose entrepreneurship, it doesn't mean the bs.com is going to all of a sudden come to a stop. Trials and tribulations aren't going to cease. As sure as the sun rises and falls, you can expect there will be turbulence. Expect and be prepared to combat it.
How?
Make your goals and your reasons why omnipresent. Have them saved as your screensaver on your phone, laptop, tablet or iPad, your bathroom mirror, the refrigerator door, etc., etc.,
2. Find other entrepreneurs who are leveling up, are solving, and overcoming problems. It's misnomer that iron sharpens iron. Sharp iron sharpens iron. Allow them to hold you accountable.
3. Consume entrepreneurial content that stimulates you emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually. Entrepreneurship is skilled trade. Turn your car into drive time university, and spend your free time with a book, podcast, or audio.
4. Take time to imagine the rewards of your hard work and focus. Imagine everything, from the smell of your cologne or perfume, to the color of your shoes, the type of cereal you'll eat in the morning, the music you'll be listening, the veneer of your desk, to the taste of the grape juice you'll be sipping, etc., etc., etc.,
You're going to get squeezed. But the juice is worth it.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
It was a real privilege and joy to speak with Nicole Blackmon - an inspirational minister, public speaker, and personal development coach - about what is required to thrive in the midst of chaos and change.
However, this talk wasn't simply about inspirational words or floetic syntax, but rather what are some mindsets and tactics people can employ on a daily basis to help them negotiate stress and depression, and take agency over their emotions and lives.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
I was recently asked by a fellow entrepreneur, why I thought entrepreneurs fail. Admittedly, I was reluctant to address the topic initially, because it’s not the sexiest or fun conversation to have regarding entrepreneurship for obvious reasons. When most start a business for the first time (especially), they are at their highest level of enthusiasm, but also lowest level of competency at the same time. You don't want bruise them, or diminish this much needed excitement before things get underway.
Also, it's easier for so-called leaders simply to chalk it up to people being lazy, not willing or able to learn, or being beset with character defects when they come up short. Sometimes it's easy to forget the ugly duckling stage we mature out of as entrepreneurs and leaders. And if the quitting or failure rate continues to grow, this thinking is usually a sign that those charged with the responsibility of creating fertile ground for success, haven’t taken the time for introspection.
Once again, it’s always easier to blame than to take the time to contemplate, and as the tough questions like…..am I as a leader effectively creating environments of opportunity that truly empowers and brings out the best in people?
As in most cases when making generalizations, it's always important to take into account context. However, when taking inventory of yourself, as an aspiring entrepreneur, as a leader, or the owner of a business, there are a couple icebergs we all need to be aware of when starting or scaling a business.
ARE YOUR DREAMS AND GOALS BIG ENOUGH?
One of the first questions I encourage every entrepreneur to seriously think about is what inspired you to start your endeavor, or why did you choose entrepreneurship? The answer to this question is the most important determinant of whether or not someone is going to succeed in business. Please believe.
Not having a solid answer to this question is a sure sign that someone is either headed straight down mediocrity road or is about to experience an imminent, and fatal failure. Whenever, I hear some combination of the following words, you might as well start writing the eulogy:
I started this little thing. My little business. Can you participate in this little conference call? I got this little presentation I want to invite you to.
Starting a new business from scratch, especially if the goal is to immediately draw a significant income or one is required, takes a huge expenditure of energy and effort physically and psychologically. One of the biggest challenges for most is overcoming the sneers or negative perspectives others attempt to project upon you if your success isn't perceived as imminent, especially from those closest to you. For many the fear of judgment is crippling, and unfortunately many will allow other people's opinions to torpedo their endeavors before they even get started.
Also, there is going to be turbulence. One of my favorite quotes often attributed to Albert Einstein is, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Nor can you overcome your current circumstances with the same habits and itinerary that created them. The circle of people you spend the most time talking to will most likely need to change, if they're not coming along for the journey. Don't misunderstand this. This is not an invitation to diss your current circle, but you may have to distance yourself from many of them, to make space for people who can help you achieve your goals.
Your reading, sleeping, and eating habits will most likely need to change. You may be surprised to find the music, audio content, videos, or even your taste in movies and other cinematic tastes may change. As you begin to change the inputs being deposited into your mind and body, you're growing into a new you. No different than if a person switches from eating a couple 1 pound fast food burgers everyday to a vegan diet. You can rest assured some significant changes in energy, appearance, and mindset will accompany the switch.
Or just like elite swimmers, boxers, sprinters, and cyclists tend to have different muscular attributes and physiques that can be strikingly apparent, due to their workout routines and habits, so will entrepreneurship alter you as well. And it will require a level of humility and will power to embrace it all.
There is going to be stress any time you're forced to move outside your comfort zone, but remember those who exhibit courage aren't lacking in fear. They are simply willing to do what must be done anyway. Remember, you’ve already earned and already accomplished all you’re going to in your comfort zone.
If you're going to transform your life, then your goals must be big enough to incite, compel, and force you to make the necessary changes. They have to be ever present to prevent you from drifting, and be so LARGE that they literally dwarf the trials and tribulations that inevitably await you. So much so, that your family, friends, neighbors, or those who are close to you, look at you in sincere disbelief, but stick around anyway, not wanting to miss it if you achieve it.
Remember your goals act like filters, and also create resonance. They are the beats and notes that characterize your music. The words that flow from your mouth, and the way you respond to others, especially when under duress are tell tale signs of how deep of a dive you’ve taken regarding your objectives. And your music will either attract the right people and repel those who may be wrong for you, or the opposite.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR ITINERARY
People spend days, weeks, months planning for a vacation. A gratifying pursuit no doubt, but the super-majority of the time, that one vacation is not going to change the fabric of your family tree. Neither are birthday parties, prepping for the Super Bowl, or the New Years eve party.
However, if you were to challenge most people regarding how much time they spend planning, thinking critically about their habits, preparing, and learning about how to be an elite business owner, all of a sudden they don’t have time. When in reality you don't have time not too.
Just as athletes spend countless hours practicing the same shots repeatedly, musicians and dancers endure backbreaking rehearsals, and hours of prep occur before a surgeon performs his skilled trade, so must you be willing to craft an itinerary and prepare meticulously for your success as an entrepreneur. There are no overnight success stories.We just find out about them overnight.
Not taking the time to create a success itinerary doesn't prove fatal overnight. It shows up the same way knocking back three 2 liter sodas and a fast food burger on a daily basis shows up. It's like a slow moving train gathering momentum and before you know it you're headed to severe heart attack. If you don’t take the time to make success deposits into your business, the alternative reality is waiting and begging for your participation.
A question we should all ask ourselves on a regular basis, is what is your entrepreneurial workout routine? Or another way of thinking about it is, ask yourself what are the three to five things that you're going to commit to on a daily basis, whereas if applied daily over time would make the biggest difference in your life. Choose a work out routine that will slowly chisel you into the entrepreneur you desire to be. Perhaps it's committing to:
#1. Introducing your service to 20 new prospects a day.
#2. Reading 10 pages of a good book a day. That’s a book a month.
#3. Running 12 miles a week.
#4. Meditating and reviewing your affirmations when you awake and before you go to sleep.
#5. Working out for 30 minutes a day.
#6. Getting in an hour of practice or working on a skill.
#7. Writing 20 pages or for 30 minutes a day.
Ask yourself, how much clarity would you have regarding your day? How much more confident would you feel when an unexpected, yet important task is assigned to you (that’s called opportunity). How much more energy would you have? How much more informed, and valuable would your thoughts become to others if you adopted some of these practices?
It's these monotonous activities and habits that ultimately shape you, and win you the day. One day at a time, then two, three, seven, two weeks, two months, the year. In other words show me your itinerary and I'll show you your future.
WHAT DOES YOUR DIET CONSIST OF? BAD STUFF IN. BAD STUFF OUT.
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has approximately 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts.
What are you consuming on a daily basis to offset the 80%? How often are you taking inventory of the 95% to ensure your thoughts are serving you? Gravity is waiting to greet you from the moment you open your eyes. The BS.com is coming for you 24/7. The 1000s of negative words, images, and moments have to be offset somehow. How often are you viewing your affirmations? Are you really being purposeful, and intentional about the conversations you're having? What of the things you read, and the ideas you allow to occupy space between your ears?
I encourage entrepreneurs to adopt a policy of being able to put their hands and lay their eyeballs on their affirmations, goals, positive meditations just as frequently as they pick up their phones. The screensaver and the home screen are pictures of my affirmations and goals.
Be careful of the counsel you keep. Small people talk about other people all day. Remember, critics don't win championships, performers do. Good, well intentioned minds talk about problems. And great minds are achievers who solve them, overcome them, and dust them off their shoulders.
Is your diet of conversations, readings, training audios, and everything else in between serving you? Is it strengthening you? Improving your endurance? Sharpening you? Or is it making you flabby. Turning you into an excuse making machine, and weakening your immunity to negativity?
Entrepreneurship is not Hollywood. people don't rise to the occasion, but rather their level of training, preparation, and commitment to curating a better self.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
What is it like to live with something you absolutely despise?
When you’ve been exposed to the inevitable-ness of something. When you understand a thing. Become so familiar with it, that you know it’s ugly contours like the back of your hand. You reach a point when you experience and observe it’s dehumanizing and guttural impacts as if in third person. At some point even the macro begins to resonate micro….even taking on an air of anonymity, like being forced to inhale carbon dioxide emissions. It’s very presence, by definition antithetical to the expression of your humanity, but you learn to co-exist. Or do you?
Perhaps, a select few do. But most simply learn to become highly effective at pushing it down.
You can walk into a boardroom full of its sympathizers and progenitors, and narrate a meticulously planned strategy that gains you temporary victory. You sit across the table and communicate an immaculately curated value proposition, knowing you may be staring into the eyes of one of it’s minions. You push it down deep into the recesses of your gut.
You push down the knowledge of knowing that though you may have won the day, the economics aren’t on your side. The economics of attention. The economics of financial interests. The economics of eating, raising children, sleeping in a warm bed. The economics of self interests and avarice. The economics of hate. Of obliviousness. Of indifference.
You push it down.
You avoid watching the grotesque displays of the economics splashed across the television set, of ebony and brown people being accosted…..their gyrations ugly, violent, infected by the economics, gallivanting as late night news.
Because you still have to win. You push it down. Collect your victories how and when you can. Carve out some semblance of sanity and safety. Find a space of self-definition. It’s all fiction anyway.
You push it down.
The anger, the rage, the disappointment. To tally the losses on a daily basis would surely lead to insanity. The lives being lost.
Trayvon Martin, you push it down.
Amadou Diallo, you push it down.
George Floyd, you push it down.
Philando Castile, you push it down.
Ahmaud Arbery, you push it down.
Breonna Taylor, you push it down.
Michael Brown, you push it down.
Eric Garner, you push it down.
Atatiana Jefferson, you push it down.
They tried to kill Assata Shakur, you push it down.
Fred Hampton, you push it down.
Emmitt Till, you push it down.
The Tulsa massacre of Black Wallstreet.
I’m no longer shook or surprised to have a gun pointed at me. What does that mean?
I’m not an anomaly.
They know. Women. White, black, yellow, purple, blue. Men. White, black, yellow purple, blue. They know what they’re doing. Amy is nothing new.
You push it down.
When you call a business owner or prospective client and they answer the phone with excitement, and you forget to lower the bass in your voice temporarily. You listen intently (cursing your sloppiness) as they’ve heard your complexion and their mood changes.
Down.
You have to perfect your craft. Be obsessed with your craft. Your value prop is your freedom. Your waking moments pregnant with knowing there is a highly effective agenda being executed to exile you to the fringes of society. Can you imagine all the latent talent being denied expression because of it. The inventions not created. The solutions buried in graves. All the energy and potential extinguished. The value of their labors.
Then again, there is the prison industrial complex. You push it down.
You still have to compete. Eat, live, laugh, screw, drink. Take vacations. Enjoy holidays with family. Travel. Enjoy comedy shows and read great novels. Dream.
So you push it down.
A church gets bombed. Ebony bodies discriminately shot up. Children die. You watch.
You watch people being reduced to a biscuit in an oven. The psychological beat down. The literal knee being applied to the neck. The blatant, unapologetic terrorism and it begins to bubble up. He was out taking a jog. The anger and the rage. You fight not to see them all the same. Like agents in the Matrix, you know they could be anyone or everyone. Smiling in your face, but secretly placing a knee on your success.
The Washington Red Skins, you push it down.
The theft of land from Palestinians, you push it down.
Europeans first, now China exploiting Africa, you push it down.
People lock their cars when you walk by, you push it down.
Anita Hill, you push it down.
Grab them by the pussy, you push it down.
People clutching their purses on the elevator.
Seeing babies. Young brown babies on the border being treated like animals.
Seeing people being shot in cold blood because of who they desire to love and sleep with.
Watching ethnic cleansing in China, you push it down.
The funding of drug cartels that slaughter people, followed by the transfer of the proceeds to a militarized police force that slaughters people…… further down.
The continuation of slavery via the prison industrial complex. Down.
The systemic mis-education of ebony and brown people, and mutilation of their identities in so called schools of higher education. Down further.
They came to this land under the auspices of God. Claimed to arrive first. Afflicted people with all manner of disease, pestilence, and violence. Systematically removed them from their land and homes.
And then mock them by literally attempting to take ownership of their names and heritage, and display them like emblems or tributes to a blood thirsty, murderous, and inhumane conquest.
It simmers, slow, and violently underneath.
Waiting, seething. Collecting energy.
You want to go out and break some shit. You want to kill it.
This is the double consciousness. Two identities. Two realities. Warring against each other. Threatening to tear the other apart. To be African American and aware. To have read enough history to know.
Some inebriate themselves constantly.
Some deny its existence.
Some betray to gain favor, in hopes of gaining some breathing room.
And some try to pray it away.
You want to be around your people who haven’t been infected with it.
Be free from the eye of Sauron’s gaze.
You want to seek out environs where your greatest desires and passions can freely find expression.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
The aforementioned quote by Mark Cuban could not be more accurate, as at some point you realize that 99% of your success or failure in business is an inside job. However, while the colloquialism “get your head right” is ubiquitous in its use verbally, very few understand its application in business, or in life for that matter. At the end of the day, how do you get your head right as an entrepreneur?
THE STORY YOU TELL YOURSELF, ABOUT YOURSELF IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY YOU’LL EVER HEAR IN LIFE.
Who or what is shaping your world view, your place in it, and you’re overall self concept? In other words how much time are you spending writing, reading, and reviewing your vision statement, your goals and affirmations, and looking at the action steps you’ll need to achieve your chief aims? Versus, how much time are you spending listening to constant negative news, sifting through social media content, profiles, and commentary, or listening to the most recent radio show gossip?
If you’re willing to answer this question honestly, the answer may and should alarm you to no end. From the time you wake up in the morning, the world’s agenda is waiting for you. And the question you have to ask yourself is are you ok with it? And are you really in control of your life’s trajectory, or are you a shiftless human, happening?
If you think of your mind like an emotionless, computer programming system (which is kinda what it is), ask yourself who’s making the most inputs into your mind: the corridor to your thoughts, feelings, physical doings, and spirit. Are the very first inputs of the day determined by you? Or are you taking inventory of what your boss wants you to do via email? Or what the news wants you to be scared to death of today? Or your bill collectors demands for your wages? Or the opinions of people, who wouldn't attend your funeral on a rainy day?
Whoever is determining or making the most inputs into you, is ultimately determining your trajectory in life. Are your thoughts being dominated by things that build up your self esteem and give you energy? Are you consuming content that you are the author of, speaking to your dreams, ambitions, and the life you truly want to live? Is your mind inundated with your victories -small and large alike? Financial independence deposits? Information, new learning, or data that will help you become 1% better each day?
Show me your social media feeds, or lack thereof, and I’ll show you your life. Who is ultimately penning your life’s story. Who’s really pulling your strings? Are you the pilot? Or are you asleep at the wheel, or worse, allowing others to steer you here and there. You say, God’s got his hand on the wheel. I don’t think God would appreciate his name being taken in vain, and substituted for Facebook, your supervisor, or the bank that financed your car.
Don’t be flippant, or allow yourself to skate past these questions. Take inventory right now.
FAMILY, FRENEMIES, AND NEIGHBORS
The people that you spend the most time interacting with are either breathing life into you, or siphoning it away. They are either challenging you to live up to your potential, or happily introducing you to their shared life partner, Mr. or Ms. Mediocrity. They are either contributing to your goals, strivings or ambitions, or sabotaging your efforts.
There is no in between. Just like there is no in between when a hyena is chasing a zebra. You’re life’s energies are either being consumed and torn asunder by the words, actions, and inaction of those around you. Or they are being replenished and edified like a sunflower, being kissed by the sun.
This is not a call to diss those around you. However, if you’re not moving forward or making the progress you desire, perhaps it’s time to distance yourself from some people, and befriend others who are achieving and succeeding at the work you desire to pour yourself into.
I’m not a motivational speaker, or social media influencer who is going to fill your brim with curated sunlight. Entrepreneurship is empowerment, but it can be grueling. The rewards of entrepreneurship can by far exceed the alternative, but so does the price. Being an entrepreneur means you’ve decided to swim upstream against the current (the opinions of naysayers and haters, and a system that is constructed to reduce you to a duracell battery for the matrix), and it requires that you have some people who are willing to spot you when the physical, psychological, and spiritual fatigue sets in periodically.
Talent wins games. But TEAMs win championships. Remember the Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA Championship team.
YOU MUST LEARN
At the end of the day, entrepreneurs are compensated commensurate with the volume and size of the problems we are able to solve, and or the needs, wants, and desires we are able to fulfill. The bigger the problems solved, or appetites fulfilled, the bigger the paychecks. The most successful entrepreneurs repeatedly summon the courage and the humility to step into the fringes of society, and see things first. And this type of commitment requires that you must be better informed, more acutely aware, and attentive to the ever changing conditions coloring people’s lives.
By the time most of us reach adulthood, we’ve attended 12 to 17 years of structured learning and preparation to become a more effective worker bee. Why would you believe that the entrepreneurial journey you’re embarking upon…..the vehicle that you intend to transport you to, and deliver a lifestyle of satisfaction would require a lesser commitment to learning?
Goal setting and goal achieving is skilled trade. Understanding how and why people make decisions is skilled trade. Learning and implementing systems that will allow your business to scale beyond simply surviving is skilled trade. Effectively influencing and communicating with people is skilled trade. Listening and interpreting the winds of change is skilled trade. Leadership is skilled trade. Balancing your personal and business checkbook is skilled trade.
The super-majority of us haven’t been exposed to or inundated with these skilled trades in a structured, extended learning environment. Reading ten pages of a good book a day (or an equivalent audio) pretty much ensures that you’re reading approximately 1 book a month, which is tantamount to approximately 15 books per year. Entrepreneurship is leadership, and leaders are constant learners.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
At NextOppSocial, we are proud to introduce to some and reintroduce to others, Sharon Madison, Owner of Madison Madison International, M2 International.
Sharon Madison is a third generation entrepreneur and leader, continuing a legacy of success in the architectural, real estate development, construction, and engineering industries across the United States and internationally. Madison’s business interests involve the management of a portfolio of projects in excess of billions of dollars.
Madison has made an indelible mark in the business community, specifically downtown Detroit, operating the Julian Madison Building - named for her father - providing an invaluable space for business commerce, development, and entrepreneurial growth.
Madison serves as chair of the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority, a representative on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, and contributes her wealth of leadership to several other industry and civic organizations.
LESSON #1: ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS NOT SECURITY, BUT IT’S WORTH IT
Madison was transparent about the difficulties often associated with starting a business and committing to entrepreneurship. Unlike the YouTube & Instagram extravaganzas speaking to the grandeur of business ownership, Madison recalled vividly the shared family sacrifice that was required: the moving around frequently, the never being off, and having to be on 24/7. Vacations never quite being vacations. The real pressures of constantly having to evolve, grow, and develop. The challenge of repeatedly having to prove yourself, and the awareness that you’re only as good as your value proposition every single day was ever present.
Our exchange reminded me that entrepreneurs are problem solvers. There is a direct correlation between the value we bring to others, and the quality of the lives we live. There’s something pure about that. And while the accouterments of success in business can be spectacular, the cost of admission doesn't come at a discount. The Madison family was not born high on the hog. Someone had to stand in the gap, and pay the price.
LESSON #2: THEY SAY NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF ALL INVENTION & ENTREPRENEURS ARE BORN AND FORGED BY IT. BUT DEFINE LET'S NECESSITY.
Madison spoke proudly and solemnly about her grandfather’s struggle to find work. Robert James Madison was a brilliant, industrious man, and in today’s environment would have easily elevated himself and gained recognition as a renown engineer, architect, or mathematician. She believed he died of a broken heart, as he was never able to find anything above what was considered menial work (despite his advanced training and education), absent the opportunity to display or showcase his full potential.
(click photo to learn more)
As I've watched up close and from afar the brave, young African American men and women protesting in the streets, I recognize the anger and frustration they must feel. Some view them as aimless dissidents, and will inevitably attempt to brand them as brazen, volatile, irresponsible children; simply destroying property and spreading COVID19 recklessly.
Yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
They have taken up arms against a system and environment that is denying them the most basic of desires. I see young ebony men and women crying out, inflamed by a system that is denying them the opportunity to become their full selves. They are raging against a society that historically, and systemically denies African Americans the opportunity to achieve to the extent that their latent talents may take them; unfettered by white cupidity and racist savagery.
These same struggles led Madison’s grandfather, her parents, and Madison today to build successful business enterprises. To become more than pawns on the chessboard, but rather captains of their own destinies, and provide the subsistence, the means, the space, and the inspiration for ebony brothers and sisters to benefit from and aspire to. As has been historically and contemporarily the case, entrepreneurship for African Americans has never been about simply filling a niche or necessity in the marketplace, but an extension of the struggle to be human beings, rather than human happenings, and a labor of love to empower the community.
HOW THE ACQUISITION OF THE JULIAN MADISON BUILDING CAME TO BE. A WHOLE LOT OF NO’S. PLENTY OF STUBBORN FORTITUDE AND BELIEF.
Madison drew strength from her family. Watching her parents succeed, despite being denied loans. Being shut out of business opportunities they were overqualified for. Being denied jobs. Repeatedly being denied the capital to expand into highly appraised neighborhoods and hold commercial properties. And yet, succeed anyway, informed her of what was and is possible.
Madison shared a story about how one day, her father requested that she seek out a commercial property for the family to expand operations into. There were a number of buildings on the grocery list that were much nicer, more luxurious, with much higher price tags. However, she settled on what would become the Julian Madison building, believing that it would be more attainable, despite it needing significant renovations.
She began the process of seeking capital for the acquisition and was declined over and over again. Until one day she received a call, and was asked by a bank officer how much she wanted. Madison responded by asking for what was needed, bracing for the declination and fully prepared to let the person know she didn’t give a rip. Madison secured the needed financing.
There are no silver bullets. There are no guarantees or one magical approach to do anything. But the universe has a funny way of conspiring in favor of those who exercise an unbreakable will, work ethic, and tenacity. You have to believe you deserve and belong. And while many of us are not fortunate to be born into a household with such powerful examples, we can find them in books, audios, and various recorded artifacts of those who have achieved, lived on the fringes, and found success.
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH EXPERTISE & WISDOM. DON’T BE TOO PRIDEFUL TO ASK FOR HELP.
Entrepreneurship is not a game for chumps, and too much pride will certainly result in you getting your teeth knocked out. In fairness, the super-majority of us have been trained to adopt the mantra, “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself.” And due to much of the miseducation most of us receive, we buy into the adage that in order to succeed we have to know everything; be the expert; be more capable in every way, and in everything in.
You can't build a sprawling brand or enterprise by yourself. Or in other words, you can't manage 28,000+ Starbucks locations by yourself.
These commonly passed on beliefs will not serve you well if you’re goal is to scale a large business. You must get over yourself, and concerns about what other people think about you, and get the BIG questions answered. Seek answers from other entrepreneurs who have transversed the ground you’re negotiating. Seek the expertise of others who have demonstrated their value: meaning they earn money from actually building things; they have the receipts, the battle scars, and verifiable success stories. Seek tour guides, and avoid the travel agents out there.
The bottom line is you can’t pay your vendors, your service providers, your employees, feed your children, and keep a roof over your head with prideful ignorance. This is about results. Suck it up, know that you’re not perfect, nor anyone else. Lean in as ask for help.
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS & LET PEOPLE KNOW WHO YOU ARE
One of Warren Buffet’s many axioms for life and investing, is to invest in what you know. Past performance does not equal future results. At the end of the day, successful entrepreneurs are highly compensated problem solvers. And just as society, people’s appetites, the challenges facing households are constantly evolving; you must be constantly evolving, refining and redefining your knowledge base, and your craft as well. Whether you're a grizzled veteran in a specific industry, or you’re starting a new venture, inculcate a thirst for learning as if you know nothing.
“I met a gypsy and she hipped me to some life game
To stimulate then activate the left and right brain
Said baby boy you only funky as your last cut
You focus on the past your ass'll be a has what
that's one to live by or either that one to die to."
One of the most significant statements I recall from the interview with Sharon Madison was the words she uttered, “Let people know who you are.” Madison shared this advice she received from Ms. Irma Henderson at a time when she didn’t feel confident in herself. It was a timely reminder, that we all start out crying, crawling, helpless and hapless when we come into the world. No man nor woman is above you. Stand on your talent. Stand behind your work. Stand on the shoulders of those who have poured into you. And make them know your name.
HARD WORK, COMMITMENT, SACRIFICE, DEDICATION
You don’t like him. Good. It will make this most important takeaway more stark and hopefully more biting.
Floyd Mayweather is undefeated, and one of the wealthiest athletes in the world. Despite much of the rightfully deserved criticism thrown at him, he will inevitably be recognized as one of the most decorated and successful athletes of his era. And if you were to ask Mayweather, and more importantly his opponents what has been the key ingredient to his success, they will all attribute it to one trait above all else.
Hard work.
Mayweather willingly admits that he is not the fastest, the most athletic, or gifted boxers or athletes in the world. He simply works harder at perfecting his craft more than anyone else.
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, infomercials, most media outlets, and the super-majority of influencers aren’t being 100% with you. Especially, if you are African American.
Yep, I said it, because it would be irresponsible not to. The rules are still different for ebony people.
Untimely deaths and heartaches don’t disappear because you choose entrepreneurship. Car accidents happen. Basic accounting principles and the consequences of not reinvesting in yourself, in assets, and in learning don’t disappear. Tiny slights and little affronts, are not going to stop, but rather grow cumulatively and can have deleterious psychological effects if not addressed.
The police pulling you over for no other reason than your ebony complexion isn’t going to stop. Amy Cooper situations will continue to dog you in the boardroom, at the park and grocery store, in the courtroom, and perhaps even your living room depending on your circumstances. Marriage disputes aren’t going to stop. Financial strains aren’t going to stop. Family conflicts aren’t going to stop. Your skinfolk will not behave like kinfolk. The questioning of your expertise or the veracity of your receipts doesn’t stop. You still will not be given the benefit of the doubt. When the bank tells you NO, you’ll have to learn how to eat rejection with the glee of a child popping skittles into their mouth. And proceed to the next without a loss of enthusiasm and belief.
And summon the will to go collect soda cans if you have to, until you cross paths with someone who recognizes your value. All of us who were not born on 3rd base have to do this. There are no overnight success stories, just stories we learn about overnight.
As entrepreneurs, we are ultimately compensated for what we are able to endure, ignore, and transcend; simply plowing ahead without loss of enthusiasm for the work.
"Work like there is someone working 24-hours a day to take it away from you." - Mark Cuban
PARTING THOUGHTS AND TOUGH LOVE.
THIS IS ABOUT RESULTS, NOT EXCUSES. NOT A DISCUSSION OF RIGHT OR WRONG, BUT CONSEQUENCES.
You have no choice but to invest (you get what you pay for) in an online social presence (with time or currency) or your business will die.
Get your documents in order. If you don’t have an operating agreement, contracting agreement, non-circumvent, and confidentiality agreement in your tool box, along with a host of business resources, stick a fork in your business….it’s over. What are these documents and why are they important? Read this article. And re-introduce yourself to your personal banker TODAY!
Excuses and complaining won’t save you. No one is coming to save you. You either make it your business to show up unannounced, learn what you need to learn, invest where you need to invest, or simply fail. This is entrepreneurship, not flag football. The market doesn't care about your tale of woe.
You are an entrepreneur building in a capitalist economy. Capitalism is competition. And it doesn’t care about your hunger pains, or cries for equity. What if Jesse Owens simply resigned because the cards were stacked against him?
The pandemic exposed the fact that ebony business owners have a fragility problem: fragile savings habits; fragile adherence to basic business principles; fragile employment accounting tools, CRMs, marketing tools, HR tools…..
Too many are too busy trying to siphon money out the cash register without employing basic accounting and tax principles. The result being when opportunities present themselves (Paycheck Protection Program - Small Business Administration), too many are ill equipped to seize the opportunity.
If ebony men and women do not make the decision to invest in African American businesses, nothing is going to change. Remember, Malcolm & Martin, were gunned down when their commentary began to focus on economics.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
