It's not every day that IBN members get the kind of national media attention they deserve, so when it happens, I'm all over it! This past Tuesday, I was all over longtime IBN member Dawn Fitch and her company Pooka Pure and Simple as they were featured on the CBS Evening News.
As you can see, Dawn was interviewed by CBS National Correspondent Byron Pitts about the growth of her company from $20,000 in annual revenues 7 years ago to nearly a half a million dollars in 2007.
Long before CBS took note, I knew of the great things Dawn and the other "Pookalitas" were doing. Dawn first joined IBN in 2005 and since then, her business has boomed. Dawn has been my guest on Indie Business Radio where she discussed the growth of her company and the story behind her book, "Moving Through Opened Doors."
So Much Business, So Little Money
While Dawn's news is exciting and well deserved, the news for Black American woman entrepreneurs is not as good. According to the segment, while Black American women are launching businesses at twice the speed of the national average, generating about $29 billion in sales nationwide, they are grossing an average of $38,000 a year while their counterparts are grossing an average of about $107,000 a year.
As a Black American female entrepreneur, these statistics are sobering and disturbing. They make me even more determined to do my part through IBN and otherwise to make sure that women everywhere have equal access to the time, capital, technology, emotional support and other resources that are necessary to own and manage a profitable business.
What do you think?
Why do you think it is that Black women are starting so many business yet grossing so little money? What is it that's keeping us from enjoying a fair share of the pie? $38,000 might be a good profit margin, but it's peanuts in terms of gross revenues. What's happening? How can we be launching so many businesses, yet making so little money?
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