This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, contributor Renita Young speaks with Shatoia Starks, who transformed one of her great grandmother’s old recipes into a successful start-up food business, the Chicago-based Mama Green’s Gourmet Goodies. Today, those goodies are carried by Whole Foods and Starks is shopping for shelf space with other grocery retailers across the country. Starks shares how she invested energy and commitment to transform an idea into a viable enterprise.
And speaking of successful start-ups, UBR Executive Producer TaQuoya Kennedy talks with business start-up expert Bill Boudreaux, the founder
of Minority Business Options, LLC and the author of The Complete Start-up Guide for the Black Entrepreneur. Boudreaux, also a CPA, shares the many options available to entrepreneurs to position themselves to do business with the federal government. He explains why this remains a potentially lucrative area for business owners, while underscoring the steps, guidelines and what it takes to compete for opportunities.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.
And finally, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I review the key, indispensable elements of a good business plan–your revenue model, your financials and your operating plan–and how they must work together to justify your bottom line. UBR listeners who’ve registered for the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, scheduled for May 22-25, 2011 in Atlanta, will get even more information about smart business planning. Remember, the deadline to use the special discount code for UBR listeners to register has been extended. Get the code when I share it during the show, or connect with me at
BE Insider to get the discount.If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and 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.