Businesses owned by women of color have risen an astounding 467% in the past two decades, making them the nation’s fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs. And the growth rate of firms owned by black women is even greater with an eye-popping gain of 605% during that period. As of last year, there were over 2.2 million businesses owned by African American women with revenues of $56 billion and 398,400 employees. Plus, black-owned women businesses are beating the trend of declining growth for most business owner segments, according to The 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.
Despite the robust growth, black women entrepreneurs still often fall short in securing capital to launch new businesses or expand existing ones. Black female founders raised an average of $36,000 in venture funding, while startups owned primarily by white males have collected on average $1.3 million,” according to findings from ProjectDiane. But William Michael Cunningham, a Washington, D.C.-based economist and banking expert, aims to help black women business owners discover various ways to land capital. He will host a webinar titled, “How to Finance a Black Women-owned Business in 2018.” The online event will be from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 18.
The webinar is being conducted by Creative Investment Research, an impact investing research firm that Cunningham founded in 1989. The webinar will discuss the state of black-owned women businesses, as well as offer information women can use to get financing for their business. Cunningham says among the topics to be discussed will include what type of products, sources, investors, and lenders are the best financing options for your business. Are they bank loans, credit cards, crowdfunding, initial coin offerings or other types of business financing tools?
Another topic that will be reviewed: Why you should seek out venture capital funding these days? For instance, which venture capitalists should you consider and how should you approach them? Gwen Hurt, the founder and CEO of Shoe Crazy Wine, will speak about her goals to make her firm a national brand and discuss her entrepreneurial journey. On June 15, her firm was invited to present Shoe Crazy Wine during Walmart’s open call initiative. As a result, Shoe Crazy Wine will be sold in Walmart stores starting in 2019, Cunningham says.
Black Enterprise readers can attend the webinar for free by sending an email to info@creativeinvest.com. Tickets for other attendees range from $15 to $100.