Fitzgerald Washington, incoming chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, greets participants during a Minority Business Council workshop at the Tuscaloosa Public Library in Tuscaloosa on Thursday.
Staff photo | Dusty Compton
TUSCALOOSA | Johnny Witherspoon knew his trade well when he opened a barbershop 20 years ago. But he admits he didn't know much about running a business and said he never anticipated the challenges and stumbling blocks he would face.
Witherspoon, owner of Style Connection at 1019 22nd Ave., Tuscaloosa, said he learned from his mistakes and his business survived with the help of others, hard work, a bit of luck and the grace of God.
Now he wants to use what he often learned the hard way to help other budding entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. He was one of the first to join the new Minority Business Council, part of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.
The council's goal is to foster growth and competitiveness of minority-owned businesses in West Alabama.
Witherspoon said he wants to be part of that and help mentor young people interested in starting their own businesses, so they will better understand what's needed to keep a business successful.
“There are costs to starting a business and there are costs to keep it up and running,” he said. “You have insurance, legal fees, government regulations and taxes. You need an accountant, an attorney and you need an ability to negotiate. And mentorship is so very important.”
Witherspoon said he already had the skills to be a barber before he opened the barbershop in 1992. But running his own business required different knowledge.
Witherspoon had been a professional barber for four years when he decided to go into business for himself. He took out loans on his car and just about everything he owned to get the start-up money. Friends also loaned him money.
He found a place to rent, bought the needed equipment and had scheduled his grand opening when he went to City Hall for a business license. That's when he discovered what he didn't know about running a business.
Initially he was told the property he had rented and fixed up was zoned for offices, but not for a barbershop.
As he left City Hall, he told a clerk that he chose that building because he remembered his mother patronizing a beauty salon that was once located there. The clerk rechecked the zoning records, and Witherspoon was lucky enough to get the business license. In hindsight, he said, he should have checked with City Hall first.
Many young people who want to start businesses have the skills to do the work but do not understand what's needed to succeed as a business owner, he said.
“People need to get behind someone running a business and learn the business,” he said. “Don't just show up for work if you are an employee. Learn the business.”
That's one area where an organization like the Minority Business Council can help, he said.
Fitzgerald Washington, who is slated to become the Chamber's chairman in January, said the Minority Business Council was approved unanimously by the Chamber's board of directors this year as part of the group's long-term strategy to grow the West Alabama's business community and the area's economy.
The council held its first training workshop on Thursday at the Tuscaloosa Public Library.
“We are reaching out to all minority-owned businesses,” Washington said. “We are reaching out to African-
Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Latinos and all females.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce's definition of minority businesspeople includes those groups and Native Americans.
A report from the department's Minority Business Development Agency said there are more than 5 million minority-owned businesses in the country and almost 2 million of them belong to African-Americans.
Most African-American-owned businesses are one-person enterprises. Only 6 percent have employees, the report said, but those with employees on average had nine workers and annual receipts of $911,000 in 2007, the latest year for which data was available.
The report noted that from 2002 to 2007, Alabama had the fifth-highest growth rate in the nation in black-owned businesses — a 98 percent increase compared with the national average of 60 percent.
But that growth is not without challenges.
The Minority Business Development Agency noted that many minority entrepreneurs nationally face difficulty in obtaining credit.
“Many minority entrepreneurs rely on short-term debt to finance their business,” using revolving lines of credit or personal credit cards to pay their bills. The current economic crisis, in which getting credit has become tougher, has not helped the situation, it said.
Washington, who is general sales manager for Buffalo Rock Co. in Tuscaloosa, said the Minority Business Council wants to educate minority entrepreneurs on how to deal with challenges. The goal is to make sure more of the businesses last and grow, he said.
“Tuscaloosa is in a major recovery phrase right now (following last year's tornado), but a lot of businesspeople don't know how to get on the list for recovery business,” he said.
Lisa Riley, the council's chairwoman, said she sees the organization as “a catalyst to assist small businesses to get to the next level.
“We want to give people the skill sets to grow their businesses and increase their profitability,” said Riley, a loan officer with Accion, a nonprofit microlender.
Lynne Cephus, manager of loan operations at Capstone Bank and member of the MBC, said education, which includes things like last week's workshop, will be a major component of the organization.
“There are a lot of resources to help businesses to prosper,” she said. “But people often don't understand how to get that information.”
The Tuscaloosa area's minority-owned businesses cut across different industries and include construction companies, car dealerships, restaurants, real estate firms, retailers and others, Washington said.
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Facts
Minority Business Council
The Chamber of Commerce’s new Minority Business Council has the following goals:
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Provide a support network to help minority-owned businesses
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Help the businesses with strategic planning and effective leadership
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Address members’ educational, financial and business concerns
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Offer workshops and other educational opportunities to minority entrepreneurs
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Work to ensure minority-owned businesses’ sustainability and success
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Build a base of minority businesspeople who can help fill leadership roles in the Chamber and civic organizations
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Help minority-business owners to use resources of the Chamber and local government to improve the local economy
Source: Minority Business Council
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Business Editor Patrick Rupinski can be reached at 205-722-0213.