PEORIA (25News Now) – Roughly 16% of Americans are entrepreneurs but when some of them cannot find money for their business they are forced to close: a common theme seemingly for minority-owned businesses.
“I didn’t know anything about access to capital. I did not have too much financial literacy. I had to teach myself that type of literacy,” begins Bridget Booker, the CEO of Reign Construction.
She says she built her company from the ground up and she is not unique among minority business owners.
Denise Moore from the Minority Business Development Center says many entrepreneurs are self-taught, “if they have property, they will mortgage the property. If they have 401Ks, because they worked at a company for a long time, they will pull money out of their 401Ks.”
“My parents sold a house, and he took the profits from that house and put it into the company,” explains Kia Sutton, the Business Development Manager for Infrastructure Engineering, a firm owned by her father.
According to Forbes, in 2021, only 93 black and 58 Latinx women received $1 million dollars or more from investors but by the end of 2022, Black entrepreneurs saw a 45% decrease in traditional forms of financing including investors, banks and other loan providers.
“Their business is being underestimated. They don’t think minorities and women have the wherewithal to run a business let alone manage the capital and that’s where they are wrong.”
It’s why events like the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce Convention is so important for business owners.
It allows them to network with others that look like them.
“Life is not worth living if you are not living out your dreams. You have to put your own feet down and trust in yourself. Invest in yourself. Have and put God first and you’ll get to where you are trying to go.”
On August 24th, the Minority Business Development Center is bringing in lenders to connect with owners.
It’s from 6 to 8pm at the Center on 2139 SW Adams Street in Peoria.
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