This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR Executive Producer TaQuoya Kennedy speaks with Dante Lee, the founder and CEO of Diversity City Media and author of Black Business Secrets: 500 Tips, Strategies, and Resources for the African American Entrepreneur. Lee, whose award-winning African American marketing and public relations firm is based in Columbus, Ohio, is known for his groundbreaking online businesses, BlackPR.com and BlackNews.com.
Lee was a Black Enterprise Small Business Award finalist in 2006 and was also named to Ebony magazine’s 2010 Young Entrepreneurs list. Already a veteran entrepreneur at the age of 30, he shares the hard truth about what it takes for African Americans to succeed as business owners, providing expert insight and practical, no-nonsense strategies for building a profitable business.
Also on this week’s edition of The Urban Business Roundtable, contributor Renita Young speaks with Greg Marchand, the founder and director of Gizmos L.L.C., a communication and technology company based in Lusaka, Zambia that supports businesses and communities from the United States to Africa. Marchand shares how to push past fear in order to conquer new territory as an entrepreneur. He also shares how he became established in Africa and how he is helping other Black entrepreneurs to reach global markets.
WATCH: Greg Marchand on How To Get Into the Global Marketplace
In 2010, Marchand, was named to the Black Enterprise 40 Next list recognizing the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs in the 40th anniversary issue of the magazine.
In my “Alfred’s Notepad” commentary, I urge African American business owners to use Black History Month to celebrate the rich history of Black entrepreneurs ranging from Madam C.J. Walker to Reginald F. Lewis. The stories of these great
Black entrepreneurs, including both their trials and their triumphs, can be a source of valuable business lessons, as well as role models who can serve as sources of inspiration, especially during tough times. By celebrating milestones and titans of Black business history, Black entrepreneurs can get the motivation to raise the bar of business excellence for future generations. Don’t know jack about Black business history? Click these links to get a crash course:- The 10 Most Important Black Business Luminaries
- Required Reading on Black Business History
- Titans: The 40 Most Powerful African Americans in Business–And How They Shaped Our World
And speaking of celebrating business excellence, there’s still time to submit nominations for the 2011 Black Enterprise Small Business Awards and to enter the 2011 Black Enterprise Elevator Pitch Competition. Small Business Award nominees will be recognized at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, slated for May 22-25, 2011 in Atlanta. The deadline for Small Business Award nominations is March 15, 2011.
Finalists for the Elevator Pitch Competition will earn the chance to deliver their pitch live at the Entrepreneurs Conference for a chance to win prizes, including $10,000 in capital for the best business pitch. The deadline for contest entries is March 31, 2011. Once again I’ll also be sharing a special discount code that will allow UBR listeners to knock more than 50% off of the cost of registration for the Entrepreneurs Conference, if they register by this Saturday, February 12.
In addition, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today Business Correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR Economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.
If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, send me an e-mail at edmonda@blackenterprise.com or to me at Twitter or Facebook.
Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each Wednesday for The UBR Morning Post, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.PPP