Being a black business owner is one of the toughest positions across the world. Black businesses often face historic racial and structural challenges that affect their ability to maintain and expand their business.
In particular, many entrepreneurs struggle to raise venture funding on the account of their skin colour or are deemed too risky to advance loans to. At the turn of the 21st century, efforts have been made to reach out to black businesses although such moves are yet to have a real impact.
Amidst all these challenges, some black entrepreneurs have managed to find success and are today, celebrated business leaders in their own right. Face2face Africa has covered their inspirational journey to success. In their stories, they shared their inspiration and motivations, hoping that it will inspire billions around the world to be like them.
Below are quotes from leading black entrepreneurs to inspire you not to give up your dreams but to show resilience, however precarious it may be.
Net worth: $1.3B
Source of Wealth: Multiple, Self Made
“I’m hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That’s what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glows. I think that’s from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.”
Net worth: $13.2 billion
Source of Wealth: cement, sugar, Self Made
“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008, but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me 30 years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me, but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a business successfully, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme .”
Madam C.J. Walker is the first self-made black millionaire
“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.”
Net worth: $450 million
Source of Wealth: music, Self Made
“Whenever I feel bad, I use that feeling to motivate me to work harder. I only allow myself one day to feel sorry for myself. When I’m not feeling my best I ask myself, ‘What are you gonna do about it?’ I use the negativity to fuel the transformation into a better me.”
Net worth: $600
Source of wealth: self made
“If you’re a competitive person, that stays with you. You don’t stop. You always look over your shoulder.”
In 2021, she became the only Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company
“You can and should set your own limits and clearly articulate them. This takes courage, but it is also liberating and empowering, and often earns you new respect.”
Net worth: $6.3 billion
Source of Wealth: telecom, oil, Self Made
“The harder you work, the luckier you get.’’
Daymond John is the founder, and CEO of FUBU. He is also a Shark Tank investor
“Life is like business, 20 percent of what happens to you is 80 percent of how you react.”
