How to Create and Run a Sustainable Business Enterprise — Equity is a Huge Focus

OUR BUSINESS: Flavor Profiles — Creation of a storytelling cookbook

MY ROLE & FOCUS:

IMPORTANT SKILLS

FIRST STEP: Foundation of Business

— the website l Creation of a website with content and images that allow customers to learn about the mission, vision and values creates interest and can lead to sales of your product. l Electronic mailing lists and shipping systems to ensure that customers could receive updates on time.

Ability to change plans and work on short notice. Often, I would have to set up and coordinate promotional events for the next day.

Through this, I learned to plan for all eventualities.

I’m the CTO, and my focus is on Internet-facing and technological aspects—authoring content for the website, curating images, and formatting and uploading blog posts, as well as implementation of transactional and payment systems to ensure that customers could purchase our product through the website.

REQUIREMENTS: l Always have supplies on hand. l A list of potential partners to help promote our business. These skills all helped to ensure the events could be set up and run smoothly with all necessary supplies and equipment in place.

TEAMWORK: l Learn how to operate a business and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, as well as gaining skills and insights valuable in the process. l Team needed to develop a wide range of experiences and skills; team members often required to step into other person’s roles. l Having a versatile team so that every base is covered.

Suggestions For Your Entrepreneurial Endeavors

1. Be prepared to adapt. When starting a business, it is common to find that initial assumptions were incorrect. Having alternative plans ready to go can save significant time and stress and can possibly work out better than expected in the long run.

2. Prioritize a good website and simple purchasing process. A well-made, informative, and streamlined website will not only interest customers but will also make them more likely to view your business favorably. When selling a product or service, make sure the process to purchase it is simple and works as intended to ensure the customer is satisfied with the experience. In addition, content and images that allow customers to learn about the mission, vision, and values of your business can lead to customers taking extra interest or potentially buying your product.

3. Promote your business. This allows more potential customers to learn of your business to catching the attention of a potential business partner or sponsor. Social media marketing is helpful. In-person promotion at events such as farmers’ markets or school events can allow your business to present a human façade and effectively inform others what your business does.

4. Leverage your community/resources. Different perspectives can provide valuable insights that you may not have considered and can sometimes raise questions that can lead you to new solutions or new ideas entirely. Such iteration is key to the process of finding an idea that translates to a successful business, and it can come from many places, from family and friends to teachers, co-workers and more.

5. Maintain professionalism in all public-facing aspects. Make sure company materials and products look professional. Quality, punctuality, and well-written content is critical here.

MY BUSINESS GOAL: TO EDUCATE AND INSPIRE

To create and promote a storytelling cookbook that informs people of the role that food and heritage played in the black community and the role it played in the lives of these victims of police brutality as well as the impact it has on the community now. The goal is to celebrate their lives rather than their victimhood.

SUMMARY: Persistence, adaptability, resourcefulness, teamwork, versatility, professionalism, and most importantly, a desire to learn and grow are the keys to success in creating your own business. I am fortunate to have garnered a wide range of skills from past internships and other experiences, requiring me to devise unique solutions for problems that present themselves, something I have gained a knack for over time. This prepares you for the rigors of the business. Through this, I now see the potential for the future of sustainable enterprises driven by the current generation of students like myself. I also witnessed the success of my other classmates’ businesses, driven by ideas and perspectives unique to members of my generation. The enthusiasm they received with helped me to realize the true magnitude of potential change this generation of youth can bring to the world. Better educated and more connected than ever, our generation is uniquely poised to take on the challenges that lie before us, now more than ever.