Category Archives: Business

The HBCUpreneur Corner – Huston-Tillotson University’s Jasmine “Bobby” Oliver & VYRL Co. Design

Posted on September 13, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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Name: Jasmine “Bobby” Oliver

Alma Mater: Huston-Tillotson University, Class of 2015

Business Name & Description: VYRL Co. Design began from an honest place of desiring to have an opportunity to explore all that it means to be a creative entrepreneur, but also to showcase recent photography and web/graphic design projects that I have done. VYRLCoDesign.com became a space of passion, honesty, and inspiration where you can see a deeper side of a creative black-woman entrepreneur living, traveling, and pursuing a beautiful and fulfilling life that inspires others to do the same.

What year did you found your company? I first began as VYRL Media in 2010, then sometime in 2015 I started dabbling into design and the name evolved into VYRL Co. Design.

What has been the most exciting and/or fearful moment during your HBCUpreneur career? The most exciting and most fearful moments itself are when I realize that others are paying attention to my work and start asking me to do more challenging projects. Each and every project has allowed me to come out with a learning experience that I can take onto my next project.

What made you want to start your own company? Financial independence. Let’s be honest, this is probably the biggest reason people get into business from get-go. Which is a good thing! However we define ‘financial independence’ – retirement funds, unlimited cash potential or having the money to buy/do what you want….. entrepreneurship can allow you to achieve it. Another reason, I wanted to start my own company was because I had a hard time finding many places where myself, an African American creator/creative, could go to after graduation. So I figured that I would start small, build my own company and eventually hire other designers like myself.

Who was the most influential person/people for you during your time in college? Jeff Wilson and Clara Bensen. Jeff, the dean of our college, and Clara Bensen, local Austin writer.

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How do you handle complex problems? Creatives are wired uniquely. As such, I think we have to navigate the world in a slightly different manner than non-creatives. How I handle complex problems is by trying to slow down. This is one I’m still trying to work out. While i think that multitasking can be useful, sometimes it does more harm than good. This causes my creativity to plummet as well as my mood. So as a resolution I try to get a firm grip on my schedule. And I only take on what I can do. Next I prepare for disapproval. I don’t know about you, but for some reason, I’m always looking for validation. I suspect this has something to do with a lack of self-confidence. However, it’s important to recognize that some people ‘just don’t get it’. I am a Cancer sign which means I am a very emotional person. So I also try to keep my emotions in check. I have this habit of always dissecting my thoughts which tends to lead me to second-guessing myself. So, what seems like a good idea today, feels like a disaster later. Plus, I’m overcritical of myself. So I tend to try to remind myself that not every thought needs to be evaluated.

What is something you wish you had known prior to starting your company? I wish I had known how much entrepreneurship consumes your life. This has became something that has consumed my thoughts. You start with an idea then a hailstorm of ideas on how you could possibly execute the idea begins… and it never ends. You just keep thinking and doubting and thinking and execute.

Many African American companies and organizations suffer from a poor digital presence. Why do you believe there is not more investment in this by African American entrepreneurs and companies? I’m not particular sure about this. My guess is economics plays a part. It would be interesting to know how many of our businesses get e-commerce business. That certainly could play a role in how serious they take their web presence. If they are not getting much of their business from the web, then they may not think it is worth having much invested in it. However, these days the web is serving as the store front most customers encounter even before they get to your brick and mortar. A strong presence though is not cheap and as I stated, economics may play a major role in the lack of investment in this area. Do I as an entrepreneur invest more in my product or my web presence? It is a decision we are faced with more than other groups unfortunately.

Digital designers certainly get influence from a myriad of different places. What are some of the things that you believe influences your design personality? Things that influence my design personality kind of derives from my first experience as a photographer. I have always noticed that I was drawn to clean spaces and I’ve noticed that in my photography that I was always drawn to photographing in unison with landscape and architectures. I love clean lines.

What do you believe HBCUs can do to spur more innovation and entrepreneurship while their students are in school either as undergraduate or graduate students? I would love to see HBCUs encourage students to step out more and challenge them to find their passion, their why, and assist them in starting their own business even while in school. Not only should HBCUs provide the fundamentals, but provide them with hands-on tools and resources to develop action plans.

I’ve also noticed that many HBCU’s do not have many arts programs. I want to see more photography and design programs that are infused with business.I would be super geeked if I had seen a “Visual Identity and Creative Branding” course on my curriculum.

How do you deal with rejection? Bah! Rejection. It’s easy to say ‘don’t take it personally’ but it’s not so easy to do when you put your heart and soul into your work. I am still learning how to deal with rejection quite honestly so I don’t have an amazing answer but what I can tell you is that I try to respond to it by experimenting with new influences and making my work more unique.

When you have down time how do you like to spend it? I try to stay as far away from my desk and computer as possible. I love being outdoors so I may go on a quick trip to Conroe or Austin to visit friends for a day or two, go running with my dog, check out the museums downtown or simply do nothing. There are days well I feel mentally exhausted and I’ll opt to a movie on my iPad in bed and order a pizza and gather some snacks for easy access while in the bed. I’m keeping it simple these days.

What was your most memorable HBCU memory? Being apart of the student organization, Green is the New Black at my alma matter (HTU). GITNB is a organization that was created tin 2013 that tackled both environmental issues and race. We had events, raise funds and were advocates of environmental awareness in areas that weren’t particularly apart of the “sustainability conversation”.

The biggest moment was when I was even won first place prices for a $85,000 grant from Fort HBCU Challenge against much bigger named HBCU’s.

In leaving is there any advice you have for budding HBCUpreneurs?

Be focused. Very obsessively focused.

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Three HBCU Cities Rank Among World Economic Forum’s Best Cities For Women Entrepreneurs

Posted on August 23, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Everyone wants to thrive, but what makes some places better than others? According to the World Economic Forum, it is a mixture of technology, culture, capital, market, and good old fashioned talent. The study was limited to 50 cities globally and for women overall, so it should be noted that there of course will be limitations of what constitutes “best”. We will be providing some additional commentary as it relates to each city’s capacity for HBCU women.

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1. NEW YORK CITY

HBCU(s) in city: Medgar Evers College

City Analysis: The city that never sleeps certainly is hard to argue with in terms of the five pillars of entrepreneurship. In the Dell Women Entrepreneur Index it ranks number two in culture, number one in capital, number one in market, and number four in talent. No other city shows up in the top five of each pillar like New York, who shows up four times. However, it is not all sunshine when it comes to being an entrepreneur in the Big Apple. It is also listed as the city most expensive in the world to start a business, something that would obviously disproportionately impact African American women since African America is the poorest group by median net worth. Ultimately, there is no doubt though that New York City presents a breath of international opportunity in one of the world’s most global cities.

7. WASHINGTON D.C.

HBCU(s) in city: Howard University; University of D.C.

City Analysis: America’s capital affectionately known as Chocolate City. It shows up as number three in talent and number five in capital. The number seven city in the world for women entrepreneurs leads all states and territories with percentage of the population with a graduate degree which bodes well for a strong talent base. Some of the headwinds facing entrepreneurs in D.C. is their primary customer being Uncle Sam. With a culture of shrinking the federal government it would be of value for women entrepreneurs to focus on ways to help the government run more efficiently. The cost of living in Washington D.C. is also a barrier and having enough disposable income to actually get a business off the ground could be a real challenge in America’s third most expensive city by the cost of living index. However, where the heart of political power lies there is money nearby and if the right connections are made, then opportunities abound.

12. AUSTIN

HBCU(s) in city: Huston-Tillotson University

City Analysis: Austin has become the tech capital of the southern United States. The capital of Texas, also the economic bellwether of the south, it has seen a heralded growth over the last decade in terms of technology development. A large reason it shows up as number four in the world in the technology pillar for women entrepreneurs. This Texas city is more affordable than the previously mentioned cities, but not by much. The boom has led to massive gentrification in the African American neighborhoods there, so the feeling of community maybe hard to find for an HBCU woman in the city. Huston-Tillotson’s presence there while important is acutely dwarfed by the flagship of the state, University of Texas. Annually the city is home to the SXSW conference which brings even the big whigs from Silicon Valley and other tech giants from around the world. The city can be lonely culturally, but if one can navigate it opportunities for women entrepreneurs without forsaking poverty are available.

 

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How To Work With Friends as Clients, and Not Kill Each Other In The Process

Posted on July 25, 2016 by | Leave a comment

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By Jasmine Oliver

As a creative, it is inevitable that at some point in our career one of our close friends will either approach us for help with their project, or we will see how our skill sets could benefit their situation.

These can be tense situations to handle as there is more than just money on the table, a friendship is at stake as well.If these situations aren’t handled properly, you could lose a client and a close friend.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

1. Never work for free

One of the biggest mistakes that can ruin friendships and your business is volunteering your work for free. While we have the best intentions and want to help our friends, we are doing them an injustice if we don’t charge for our services.

If you’re a graphic designer looking for real-life advice and long-term success, The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Clients by acclaimed designer Ellen Shapiro is the book for you. Not only does she reveal the secrets behind getting the clients you want to recognize your name and brand, but she also discusses how to land those clients and create a positive and productive working relationship with them.

When you volunteer your work for free, you are putting that project at the bottom of your priority list.

Paying your bills will always come before doing free work for a friend.

Despite your good intentions, when times get tough you will end up pushing their project aside to get money in the door.

When you don’t charge your friends, you are disrespecting them and their business. This grave mistake has personally cost me several friendships over the course of pursuit to being a freelancer.

Every time I volunteered my work with true genuine intentions of helping the other person, but as paid clients picked up I had to prioritize my time on what was going to pay the bills.

Ultimately, my friends felt disrespected. They became very upset that I pushed their project aside and our friendship has never been the same ever since.

Never work for friends for free, its not worth it.

2. Only work with a friend if you truly believe you can provide value

Approaching friends as potential clients can be an awkward thing. Sometimes you may see a friend who could desperately benefit from your services.

But how do you approach them? Instead of thinking of approaching your friends as ‘trying to make a sale,’ try to think about it this way.

If you can really provide value to your friend, then you would be doing an injustice to them by not offering to help them. Never look at friends as just a source of income, only work with them if you truly believe you can benefit their situation.

3.Keep things professional

BAHHHH!!!! This part is hard, especially when dealing with friends that you even consider family. I know. I get it. Trust me.  When working with friends, it is essential that you keep things professional. You must treat your friends with the same professional care that you use on all of your other clients.Go through the same process and handle them just like you would with any other client.

Getting loose or unprofessional about the process with your friends is a quick way to bring uncertainty and doubt which can hurt the project and the friendship.

4. How to talk money with friends

Talking about the money, honey. Talking about the details with friends can be weird at first. As a result, many freelancers totally avoid this topic and end up with a loose scope or awkwardly dance around the money subject.

Instead of avoiding the topic, you need to face this head on and make sure everything is clear up front.

An easy way to do this is through e-mail. Having the money talk with a friend over the phone can be quite awkward, but doing it via e-mail tends to make it a bit less scary.

Whenever I send over my budget and proposal via e-mail I always give my friend the option out. I will say something along the lines of “If this project is out of your budget range, then no worries. I value our friendship more than this project and I won’t be offended if you say no.”

While that may not be the best sales tactic, it is essential in preserving the friendship.

5. Separate friendly talk from client talk

Another struggle for many friends is that working together can often mean that many once great friendships begin to diverge into a constant talk of the project at hand.

Set boundaries.

If you are out one evening having a good time, make it a rule to keep your work stuff out of the conversation. Or you can schedule regular work calls and keep those focused exclusively on the project at hand so that the rest of your life can go as normal.

Setting boundaries helps keep your friendships intact as the project moves forward.

6. Trade Agreements/ Bartering

Often friends can’t always afford to work with each other, but a trade of services may be something to consider.

Personal training in exchange for marketing.

Food in exchange for web design.

Accounting in exchange for business coaching.

Trade arrangements aren’t a bad thing, but the key is to make sure that you still structure those deals just like you do with any paid project.

Set clear expectations as to what each party will receive and put it in writing.

With trade agreements it is easy for one person or the other to feel cheated or undercompensated for their time. Get clear about what is being traded so that both parties feel equally compensated.

The bottom line

Working with friends as clients can be an enjoyable and profitable process. But you must handle these relationships with care because it is more than a project on the line, your friendship is at stake as well.

Jasmine Oliver is the creator behind VYRL CO. DESIGN. It is here that you will find a catalog of what inspired me, the struggles of growing as a creative and the joys, a place to share travels, and explore the journey of pursuing a beautiful and fulfilling life as a graphic/web designer and commercial photographer.  This rerun is with the consent of Vyrl Co. Design and may not reproduced otherwise. Visit her blog by clicking here.

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Texas Southern Alumnus Sharone Mayberry & Mayberry Homes Renovating Unity National Bank

Posted on July 21, 2016 by | 1 comment

“We must keep on trying to solve problems, one by one, stage by stage, if not on the basis of confidence and cooperation, at least on that of mutual toleration and self-interest.” – Lester B. Pearson

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All too often we hear about the need for African American consumers to support African American businesses to strengthen our economic ecosystem, but all too often there is forgotten component of this economic ecosystem and that is the business to business relationships. It is another part of the value chain that is vital to circulating the African American dollar. After all, businesses too are consumers. Have you ever walked into an African American owned restaurant and wondered where they get their food from? Did they buy it from an African American owned wholesaler the likes of Sam’s Club or Costco? Did the wholesaler buy it from an African American farmer? Did the farmer buy seeds and feed from an African American owned agriculture supply company? By the time a product actually gets to the consumer it has gone through an extensive value chain of business to business purchases. The B2B market is estimated to be four times the size of the B2C market just in e-commerce and probably even larger in the traditional market. That is why seeing something like what is happening between Mayberry Homes and Unity National Bank is socially and economically very important.

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Mayberry Homes, a company owned by Texas Southern alumnus Sharone Mayberry, has been an active buyer of land and builder of homes in Houston’s Third Ward community. Bringing many of the community’s dilapidated homes in the area back to life as demand for property in Houston’s inner loop near downtown has skyrocketed in recent year.  Unity National Bank, founded in 1985 is the only African American owned bank in the state of Texas, is also headquartered in Houston’s Third Ward. If you ride around Third Ward, there are Mayberry Homes signs popping up everywhere so to see their in front of Unity National Bank was quite a statement. The bank’s building has not had a renovation in its thirty years of existence and with the recent surge in demand for accounts, an aesthetic that says to customers we are current and with the times is vital to the customer psychology and rapport. That the renovation is being done by an African American owned company also says to the trust that has long been believed to be absent among the community in trusting each other in business. This is an opportunity to show on an institutional level that we do indeed trust, need, and want each other. That is something that then flows down to the individual consumer level.

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This is something that should be being taught in HBCU b-schools. That to improve the communities we come from as we launch businesses in those communities that it is important to do business as a business with HBCU/African American owned companies. Although, with less than 1 in 4 HBCU b-school deans and chairpersons having an HBCU degree, it is likely a lesson likely not being taught. Our business schools are teaching business from a general and not from a community or African American perspective. HBCUs have often served as conduits of institution to institution commerce within our community, but rarely is that taught in the classroom as something that should be done. That is something that should and must change if we are too leverage this new found renaissance happening as we see our banking institutions start to actually have the capital they need to eventually make the small business loans back into the community.

Seeing the change that Mayberry/Unity are bringing should be a gentle reminder as we go forth that the best way to lift the great weight of economic empowerment and development is to do it together.

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Not Just Deposits But Shares: Buying A Stake In African America’s Publicly Traded Banks

Posted on July 18, 2016 by | 9 comments

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Editor’s Correction: Broadway Federal Bank located in Los Angeles, California is also publicly traded and information added below (July 19, 2016)

“But not only that, we’ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.

It has been noted here at HBCU Money that after every tragic death of an African American by a police officer our site spikes. The primary cause for that spike has been a search for African American owned banks and credit unions and it usually last for a few days, then there are marches, pacification, and all returns to normal as does our site’s traffic. After the recent deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile though something changed and the current numbers say it may finally be the groundswell needed for a permanent paradigm shift in African America’s thought process of self-dependence and empowerment. Banks are the foundation of allowing a community, city, state, nation to control its money and circulate their dollars within the aforementioned entities. This has been at the root of African America’s problem with getting dollars to circulate within its community – simply put a lack of dollars within the financial institutions in the community. Deposits turn into loans and those loans turn into mortgages to increase African American home ownership, reduces predatory lending, and helps launch small businesses which translates into jobs and wealth in the community usually of the bank or credit union entity.

The shift has been profound as banks like Unity National Bank and Citizens Trust (featured here) are overwhelmed by the number of new accounts to the point that their staff simply can not process the volume. Lobbies are jam packed with African Americans moving their money. The seed is planted, but it can not stop there. Another leg of this has to be investing in these institutions from an ownership perspective. More demand for their shares will cause the institutions share prices to increase and increase the value of the company. This allows the company to expand, open new offices, hire more people, and eventually buy other banks. As it buys other banks, it can scale up and drive down cost, which it can then pass that savings on to customers. All of this is investment in our institutions leads to a cycle of economic independence and empowerment that begins to grow and feed on itself like a snowball rolling down hill.

Lastly, America has roughly 3,700 publicly traded companies, but there are only four African American owned public companies (0.1% of all American public companies) and three of them are banks. Below are their profiles. If you want to buy shares in these companies, visit our link on Opening A Brokerage Account.

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CITIZENS BANCSHARES CORPORATION

CEO: Ms. Cynthia N. Day, CPA (Above Right)

Ticker Symbol: CZBS

Citizens Bancshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Citizens Trust Bank that provides various commercial banking products and services. The company accepts commercial and consumer deposit accounts, such as non-interest bearing checking accounts, money market checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, individual retirement accounts, time certificates of deposit, sweep accounts, and regular savings accounts. Its loan products include consumer/installment loans, mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, construction loans, commercial loans, and small business loans. The company operates seven full-service financial centers in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia; one full-service branch in Columbus, Georgia; one full-service branch in Birmingham, Alabama; and one full-service branch in Eutaw, Alabama. Citizens Bancshares Corporation was founded in 1921 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

M&F BANCORP

CEO: Mr. James H. Sills, III (Above Left)

Ticker Symbol: MFBP

M&F Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Mechanics and Farmers Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in North Carolina. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides loans for real estate, construction, businesses, personal use, home improvement, and automobiles; and equity lines of credit, credit lines, consumer loans, and credit cards. In addition, the company offers safe deposit boxes, Internet and mobile banking services, traveler’s checks, notary services, and automated teller machine services, as well as electronic funds transfer services, such as wire transfers. It operates seven branch offices in Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

BROADWAY FEDERAL BANK

CEO: Wayne-Kent A. Bradshaw

Ticker Symbol: BYFC

Broadway Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Broadway Federal Bank, f.s.b. that provides savings and loan business services for low to moderate income communities in Southern California. The company accepts various deposit products, such as passbook savings accounts, checking accounts, NOW accounts, money market accounts, and fixed-term certificates of deposits. It also provides loan products, including multi-family mortgage, commercial real estate, single family mortgage, church, construction, commercial, and consumer loans. It operates three full service branches comprising two in the city of Los Angeles and one in the city of Inglewood, California. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Source: Company profiles provided by Yahoo Finance.

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