Create your own economy

As Black students facing an economy that has only produced 112,000 new jobs in the last fiscal quarter we must realize that we will not have the guaranteed jobs that we have come to expect as college graduates.
We must start thinking about producing career opportunities for ourselves and also those that follow us. Everyday we are bombarded by the statistics about the money that our peers spend on all types of goods and services. The same types of goods and services that we are learning to produce and provide.
Instead of spending those dollars with the other man spend them with your brotha man. It is time for us to take the training that we have spent money on obtaining for our own benefits. Whenever someone brings up the subject of black entrepreneurs we hear the same types of arguments:
1) I do not have the resources to start my own business. This is not true; we have on our campus the Center for Rural and Small Business Development. In this building you can find specialists to help you get your business started. They have the forms to get a tax id number and even obtain loans and grants.
2) What if my business fails, I couldn’t handle it. True many new businesses fail, but 90 percent fail because of poor management, so if you prepare properly you can drastically reduce your chance of failure.
3) Would anyone buy what I am selling? If it’s a good product I will buy it and so will everyone else. Think about it, the blue store has good chicken, so people buy it. Why wouldn’t we buy good chicken from you?
To encourage new black businesses we must support the ones that already exist. Try Phat Buddies for lunch instead of McDonald’s. Go by Effum’s for your next tattoo and if you get into legal trouble holla at my boy Cleo Fields.
The next time we hear the statistics there should be more than just a few black millionaires and billionaires and when future students go to the job fair they can stop at your company’s booth.