It was only a matter of years before they blazed a path to success. These young go-getters are becoming game changers in the world of business. They are next – BE Next. Although these businessmen and women are under 35, they’ve managed to become key players in their respective industries. I caught up with the BE Next subjects on our January 2010 cover, and we talked about everything from their competitive advantage to how they turned their passion into profit.
Check out what these dynamic Gen-Yers had to say about success, business, and innovation:
Darnell Henderson
Founder & CEO
H.I.M.istry Skin Care Inc.
Specialized skincare is not typically associated with men and it could seem like a luxury item during a recession. How have you positioned yourself for success given the economic environment?
We don’t position ourselves as a luxury brand. We characterize skincare as more of a ‘healthy image male’ and that’s what H.I.M stands for. We tie that into fitness and health versus just grooming and trying to look good. [Also] our e-commerce business is really what’s keeping us afloat and driving our business right now. About 60% of our business comes from our Website. It’s huge right now, because on our Website there’s a lot of information for consumers. One of the things we do is help men figure out their skin type. You have to understand your consumer.
On our site, not only do we give professional advice, we also have tons of information — the more information the better. With skincare being such a female-dominated market and because that’s who it’s always been marketed to, men want to feel like they’re purchasing something that is for them.
Tip for young entrepreneurs: Get educated. Find someone who has already done it. An instructor I had gave me more information on skincare than anyone has in my life. There are a lot of roadblocks that you can avoid by having someone who’s already been there helping you navigate.
Natasha Eubanks
Founder & CEO
TheYBF.com
The YBF is projected to generate $500,000 to $1 Million in revenue this year. What makes your blog so attractive to advertisers, especially given the plethora of other celebrity gossip blogs?
It’s not the run-of-the-mill gossip site talking about anybody and everybody. [There’s] a certain type of audience [a negative, drama-filled blog] is going to attract and that’s probably not the type of audience advertisers want to tap into.
If you have a certain image that you’re putting out on your site, [advertisers are going to say] ‘Ok, we know there’s going to be a certain type of demographic that’s going to come to this site–that’s the demographic we want to reach.’ So it seems almost like a perfect match, [especially] if you have this niche audience that they’ve probably been trying to reach for years. For example, the 18- to 45-year-old young, black, professional [female market] is a really hard niche to get, but I have that. I can reach those people on a one-on-one basis. I get to talk to 15 million people a month. A lot of people can’t say that.
Tips for young entrepreneurs: Image is everything, and your credibility is everything. You have to really maintain your vision. What you say “no†to is more important than what you say “yes†to.
Nakia Stith
CEO
Top of the Clock Inc.
What are some of the challenges you face being a young black female in the security industry?
People never expect to see me when they think of public safety services. It is an advantage because it’s a little disarming. [But] a lot of the challenges I faced were
internal. [When I took over the company from my ailing father] there was a lot of waste and abuse and fraudulent behavior going on within the company. It really just took some time to clean house and start over again. Our brand was never damaged, so that was good, and people knew that we provided quality services. But in order for us to get to the next level, there were some things that I had to take care of and a lot of people that I had to get rid of to get us where we are right now.Tip for young entrepreneurs: Stay conscious. Stay focused. Know that it can get bad. Sometimes it will get worse before it gets better. But if you’re consciously focused on the goals that you set and you don’t allow anything else to deter you, it starts to work out.
Jamail Larkins
CEO
Larkins Enterprises and Asension Aircraft
Corporations with private jets have been under fire for wasteful spending. How do you work around a company’s reluctance to lease or purchase a plane given potential public backlash?
The most important thing is just showing them the facts. You show them a spreadsheet of how an airplane can actually save them
money, save executive time, improve quality of work life for their employees–whether it’s senior level executives or a mid-level manager. The reality is, owning an airplane can actually be more cost-effective than flying on an airline.If you’re travelling to multiple cities in one day with multiple people for meetings, a lot of the time, commercial airplanes only go to about 500 airports throughout the United States. There are over 5,000 private airports throughout the entire country. If I was flying myself privately, I could fly directly from my home airport, whenever I wanted, to a local, general aviation airport that’s typically [closer to my destination] than commercial airports. I could go to my meetings and leave when I wanted to leave.
Tip for young entrepreneurs: Make the most out of every opportunity and every meeting that you have. Ever single time you get the chance to meet someone, see if there’s anything you can pick up and learn and apply to your life or your business.
Check out our behind-the-scenes footage from Black Enterprise magazine’s January 2010 BE Next cover shoot here.
Renita Burns is a staff writer at BlackEnterprise.com.
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