The reality of starting a business in America

Launching a business is hard. Starting a business as a black woman in the United States is even harder.

According to a report prepared by the U.S. House Committee called the State of Black-Owned Businesses in America, there are historic challenges and barriers that disproportionately impact Black-owned businesses. As an African American woman who is an entrepreneur, I did not need an official report to tell me that. I live this every day. I already know how hard it is to get a business up, running, and profitable enough to experience significant growth.

In fact, 41% of Black-owned U.S. small businesses closed between February and April of 2020. A staggering number of black-owned businesses were forced to close their doors in 3 short months due to the pandemic.

I launched my coaching company in September 2016 with very little confidence and even less money. I persevered because quitting was never an option. However, if I started over again today, there are several things I would do differently.

Today, I’m sharing 5 tips to start your business and set yourself up for success faster.

01:49 - Some small business statistics

03:22 – How Covid affected Black-owned businesses

03:57 – Why I didn’t apply for funding when I started my business and why many other marginalized communities don’t either

05:53 – The Christian Women’s Business Academy Podcast's mission

06:28 – 5 tips you can take to launch or relaunch your business

06:31 – Tip 1

07:52 – Tip 2

09:50 – Tip 3

11:54 – Tip 4

13:41 – Tip 5

17:41 – Bonus Tip

19:36 – Today’s scripture

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Do you want to start a service based business but have no idea where to begin? In today’s post, I am giving you 5 easy tips to get your entrepreneurial juices flowing.

When you finish watching this video and following the steps, you will have an outline for a profitable service you can offer, know why it’s the perfect solution to your audience’s challenges and understand exactly why you’re doing it. And be cause we incorporate God into every aspect of our business, make sure you listen for today’s scripture.

The Bible, one of the most well-known books in the world, is full of principles. It is laden with fundamental truths. However, because we are ignorant of the spiritual laws impacting us on a daily basis, we don't realize how we inhibit our personal and business growth.   

Let's go on a journey together. I am committed to studying entrepreneurs in the Bible and I’m inviting you to join me. As kingdom driven entrepreneurs, we will study how to align our lives and businesses with God so we can function in “Grace over Grind.”  

We will learn how to apply biblical principles to ensure we have sustainable success without sacrificing time with our families in the process.  

The enemy wants to keep us in the dark and have us chasing the world's definition of success. He wants us so busy, distracted, preoccupied and overstimulated that we fail to see the advantages of putting God first in everything.  

Today, we begin digging into the life of King Solomon. Scriptures referenced are:  

Get a copy of the Spiritual Gifts Guide here   

Join the Christian Women's Business Academy 

If you prefer to watch the video of this bible study, you can watch the replay here

Early last year I had an opportunity to interview Phil Boggess.  He's an attorney I met at a networking event in 2017.  In today's interview, we talk about the importance of setting up your business structure legally.

4:45 Phil Boggess and his law firm help with planning, wills, and real estate, but more importantly, he helps businesses protect themselves using a Corporate Veil.

6:25 Our audience has a lot of new entrepreneurs. Phil discusses some of the biggest challenges he sees with his practice for new businesses, including common daily violations and misdemeanors. Pay close attention as he gives some practical advice to avoid these pitfalls and give your business the best possible start.

9:45 Phil talks about business planning and how important it is.

10:15 We discuss the importance of separating business creditors from personal creditors.

12:57 Thinking about growth possibilities in other states. We talk about the different levels of regulation and how to find out what licenses may be needed depending on your business structure.

14:11 What is the difference between a sole proprietorship, LLC, a partnership, and a Corporation? We talk about the pros and cons of each to help you decide which one fits best with your needs as well as your budget.

15:55 Do you need to trademark your logo? Phil gives great insight into searching, and why names may change as you expand.

18:28 Do you cook and sell your products from home? How does the cottage clause help or hurt you?

21:29 Phil explains why people incorporate their businesses in other states.

26:08 Phil explains how taxes change depending on how you structure your business.

30:48 Phil emphasizes the important of withholdings and making sure they are taking care of accordingly

34:15 We dive deeper. We discuss some of the challenges to expansions out of state, when to file as a foreign entity, and how difficult it may be to file reformation of your corporation?

35:54 What if your business flop? Phil explains how to take a Hobby Loss to write off on your taxes.

37:22 We explore the importance of keeping corporate books to protect yourself and your business.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Sign Up for Zoom - www.coaching.damitamcghee.com/zoom

Connect with Phil via email [email protected] or on his website www.lawtpb.com

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Christian Women’s Business Academy Podcast.

Two weeks ago, I met Rhiannon Connor. She is the author of an upcoming book entitled Ethical Entrepreneurship. I had the honor of being one of the Faith-based Entrepreneurs she interviewed who are committed to putting God at the center of their business model. She asked me if I struggled with a pretty common issue entrepreneurs battle with in the faith-based community.  It's the idea that selling and faith conflict.  

It's impossible to have a thriving, profitable business without selling.  So how did I grow from someone intimidated to ask for the sale to someone who looks forward to talking to prospective clients?  Listen to today's show for all the deets!

Stay connected with the Christian Women’s Business Academy.  Join our community.

Get a behind the scenes glimpse of what it takes to grow a profitable business using biblical principles and get inspired and motivated.  Let's connect on social media.

Instagram 

Facebook 

Linkedin 

See below for links from today's episode and get your free chapter of my new book and learn how to operate your business using biblical principles:

The Christian Women's Business Academy Prayer Circle meets weekday mornings at 5:30 am CST - Join us on the Echo App

Grab your free chapter of Mompreneur Manifesto: 8 Biblical Principles for Sustainable Business Success Without Neglecting Your Family

Recently, my pastor taught a phenomenal series on spiritual gifts called Gifted. I have gone to church so pumped up, so ready to dig in!  And something amazing happened and I'm going to share that with you in just a moment. That’s kind of the purpose of today’s conversation.

(0:36) Natural Talent is amazing

Spiritual gifts are often misunderstood because we are all born with natural gifts and talents.

(1:37) Spiritual Gifts vs. Natural Talent - Aren't spiritual gifts the same as talents? Listen to Damita explain some key differences.

(2:16) Pastor Moses broke it down for me. - He explained there are 22 different spiritual gifts and he defined each one of them.

(3:15) I Thought I knew but there was more - Ever think you know yourself only to learn even more! Damita is understanding more and more about her spiritual gifts!

(4:12) Imagine what can happen when you truly know what your gifts are - Imagine what life could look like. I found out recently I have been operating in a gift I didn’t know I had.

(5:12) Don't be miserably misaligned - A lot of us are miserable. A lot of us are so unhappy, and that is because we have been doing things that don’t line up with what God created us to do.

(6:14) The ideal way to profit - Just imagine if you can get your entrepreneurial pursuits, your business, your company, your professional career, and even education lined up with the gifts that God gave you.

(8:09) God's True Motives - God the ultimate provider is ready to give you whatever you what, like a child to a parent. He's going to do what’s best for you, his true motive is love. What's yours?

(8:55) James 4:2-3 NLT - 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

Stay connected with the Academy.  Join our community.

See below for links from today's episode:

Instagram www.instagram.com/damitamcghee

Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/ChristianWomensBusinessAcademy

Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/damitamcghee

The Christian Women's Business Academy Prayer Circle meets weekday mornings at 5:30 am CST - Join us App: echoprayerfeeds.com/christian-women-s-business-academy

Identify  your Spiritual Gifts:  Spiritual Gifts Test - www.spiritualgiftstest.com

Grab your free chapter of Mompreneur Manifesto: 8 Biblical Principles for Sustainable Business Success Without Neglecting Your Family - https://coaching.damitamcghee.com/freechapter

Get a copy of Spiritual Gifts Guide - https://coaching.damitamcghee.com/spiritualgiftsguide

Welcome to episode 1 of the Christian Women’s Business Academy.  Today, get a glimpse into why the community started.

SHOW NOTES:

1.  Join us in the Christian Women's Business Academy, the premier Facebook community of women like you who are focused on building businesses using biblical principles.  Select this link for access:  www.facebook.com/groups/ChristianWomensBusinessAcademy

2.  Register here (https://zoom.us/meeting/register/e70e5ee9cb72b9ec7510d14dfea9e911) to join us for our next book club meeting on March 19, 2019.  Grab your copy of Business Secrets of the Bible by Daniel Lapin here https://amzn.to/2NO0dVq

3.  A tool you can use:  Learn a bit more about using Facebook Premier Video here https://www.facebook.com/UnapologeticallyPassionateMompreneur/videos/1098952870287753/

4.  Our scripture for this episode is Matthew 6:25-34

Stay tuned for the Christian Women's Business Academy.  Coming Soon to a podcasting platform near you!