Life as a black male entrepreneur with Rodney Perry

It’s no easy journey when you’re an entrepreneur, as most of the time you’re wading your way through the big business world alone, and not really sure what you’re doing. But how about if you’re a black entrepreneur? That just adds a whole new level of obstacles to face.

We’d like to think that it’s 2022 and there are a lot fewer racists in the world now, but sadly, there are still a fair few. And it may not even be outright racism that causes the problem, but there is still a huge element of discrimination that can be found everywhere.

Black entrepreneurs face disadvantages in Britain

In this article featured in Forbes, stats show that the average white entrepreneur earns 40% more than the average black entrepreneur. The figures for black female entrepreneurs is even less!

The British Business Bank reported that 28% of black entrepreneurs were in the red, and 37% of black female bosses made no profit! They said that no single factor could account for this sort of disparity.

However, this article in the Guardian stated that black-owned businesses were twice as likely to get rejected for loans! So, if they’re being denied capital that helps them grow their business, is it any wonder that they’re struggling?

Considering that official stats show that ethnic groups earn less money as it is, how are they going to succeed in entrepreneurship if they’re not getting the support they need?

Life as a black entrepreneur in the USA

Sabrina caught up with Rodney Perry, who is a digital creator and entrepreneur based in the US and she asked him what it was like out there with racism, and if he found it difficult as a black man.

The way race is handled out there seems to be very different compared to that of the UK, but it’s great to see from this Fundera report that there are now more than 2 million black-owned businesses in the US. However, only 4% of startups are founded by black females.

Again, the stats around the loans is horrifying – 37.9% of black-owned businesses are discouraged from taking out a loan, and only a measly 1% of black-owned businesses are actually approved for business loans in their first year.

How the Coronavirus has impacted black-owned businesses

The pandemic has hit everyone hard. There are very few businesses who have actually done well in the pandemic, and several who haven’t even survived.

We found this Reuters article which goes into detail about why some black-owned businesses in the US were hit the hardest from the Coronavirus shutdown.

Another Forbes article investigated why COVID had such as disproportionate financial impact on black-owned businesses.

No Bullsh*t Talks Podcast Episode with Rodney Perry

Listen to the full episode with Rodney Perry on No Bullsh*t Talks to find out more about how Rodney navigated his way through entrepreneurship to become a successful business owner and podcast host. The Simply King podcast is also a great listen and features several other successful black entrepreneurs.