New Ontario network for Black business owners aims to make being an entrepreneur a little less ‘lonely’ | 24CA News
Even earlier than beginning her business, Cherie Warner-Richard stated she had an “entrepreneurial bug.”
Growing up round her entrepreneurial grandmother and her “crafty” mom impressed her to turn into who she is in the present day.
“I feel like they laid the foundation for me to be brave enough to take on this challenge,” stated Warner-RIchard, who owns Cee Wee Designs, a bag and equipment retailer.
Cee Wee Designs was amongst companies on the launch of the brand new Southwestern Ontario Black Entrepreneurship Network (SWOBEN), which goals to function a “dynamic resource for Black business owners, entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders” within the better Hamilton and Windsor areas, in accordance with their web site.
From the island of Tobago to Hamilton
Warner-Richard stated her business began again house within the island of Tobago round 10 years in the past, when she made a bag for herself.
“People saw it and they would ask me, ‘I like your bag. Where did you get it from?’ I said, ‘Oh, I made it.'”
She stated when individuals began asking if they may purchase one from her, she was confused, however thought, “You want me to make one and you pay me for it?”
As extra individuals requested, Warner-Richard began to understand it won’t be such a loopy concept.
She began shifting backwards and forwards from Trinidad and Tobago to Canada eight years in the past when she acquired married, and finally stayed in Hamilton.
Today, she sells her baggage and equipment on her web site.
She stated her house conjures up her designs.
“I am from the Caribbean. We have a [bright] sun, we like bright colours … I like to create statement pieces. I want you to love your bag, your earrings, whatever it is.”
‘I used to be satisfied I had one thing’
For Beko Mbeko-Edem, who was additionally on the SWOBEN launch occasion Dec. 5 in Hamilton, inspiration for his hot-sauce business Beko Foods Inc. additionally comes from household, as he grew up fascinated with cooking.
By age 4, Mbeko-Edem was already serving to out within the kitchen making brownies.
But it wasn’t till he visited Nigeria as a baby that he was actually blown away by the method of bringing meals “from farm to table.”
Mbeko-Edem graduated from Humber College in 2010 and determined he needed to start out a business.
“There was no representation of African food on a major level, or major scale. It wasn’t sought after in a way that was [accessible] to the public.”
He stated he tried a few various things, however in 2017, his third business try was profitable.
“One day I decided to make a pepper sauce. I didn’t really sell anything, because it was too hot.
“But I used to be satisfied that I had one thing and simply determined to say, ‘You know what — I’m gonna get this flavour on the market.'”
His hot sauces are now sold in several locations across the Hamilton and Toronto areas, including the Nigerian restaurant Taste of Lagos, and through his own website.
A network for Black entrepreneurs
The SWOBEN launch event also served as a pop-up market.
“Our focus is to see how we will empower Black entrepreneurs to achieve their area of business to turn into the perfect,” said Henry Elui, manager at Empowerment Squared, which leads the network.
The network was funded through a $1.9-million investment from the federal government to Empowerment Squared.
“I actually hope as many entrepreneurs as potential are in a position to entry the applications that they are going to offer,” said Warner-Richard.
She added that, in her case, making the bags is only half of the business.
“You nonetheless must be taught the abilities to do your accounting and bookkeeping, to do your taxes or contracts. So I’m actually wanting ahead to the programs that [SWOBEN] will probably be providing, and the help that they will be giving to entrepreneurs.”
Elui said programs like SWOBEN help Black entrepreneurship, which is very “distinctive.”
“Entrepreneurship is a really lonely job, and the proper recommendation doesn’t suggest you’ll be able to excel.
“So that’s what we want to achieve with this … our strategy is to work with different partners and advisers who consciously work with these businesses to accelerate their goals.”
Leo Nupolu Johnson, govt director of Empowerment Squared, stated he hopes occasions just like the one Dec. 5 “are not a one-off.”
“I’m hoping that we can leverage this opportunity to sustain it so that even after the lifespan of this program, the effort does not end.”
For extra tales in regards to the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success tales inside the Black neighborhood — try Being Black in Canada, a CBC challenge Black Canadians may be pleased with. You can learn extra tales right here.
