This morning I came across an interesting article on the SouthWest Business website. The article is by Dr Stephen Fear aka The Phone Box Millionaire. Dr Stephen Fear is also the British Library Entrepreneur In Residence a position only held by one previous predecessor. The Bristol born serial entrepreneur and extremely successful business man Stephen is the classic self made millionaire. He has worked hard from a young age to acquire what he has today. Listening to his story its clear he has always been business savvy and never shied away from rolling up his sleeves and getting on with some hard work.
In the article Stephen goes on talk about how there are 10,000 black owned businesses in London but very few in Bristol. Considering Bristol’s rich cultural heritage there doesn’t seem to be enough he goes on to say. I have to agree with him as I too believe there is not enough black owned businesses in the city.
“One of the things I love about business is that essentially it is non-discriminatory. If you have a product or service that the market wants, it has no preference as to your ethnical origins.” Stephen Fear
Being an entrepreneur myself I can appreciate how daunting starting up a business can be, with constant fears of failing or anxiety on not knowing how or where to start. Then once you have started who can you go to for continued support as there is a lack of black business experts out in the open within the ethnic Bristol community.
One of the reasons I started the Mogul Minded Group is because I found there was a need to create a platform where people from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds can come together to be inspired, empowered and motivated whilst on their entrepreneurial journey. Providing specific advice and information regarding business as well as networking events is a way to ensure we know about the great businesses and services within our own communities. We at the Mogul Minded Group believes in buying local.
We have a long way to go but discussing these issues and creating solutions to encourage more black entrepreneurs to be brave and follow their dreams of running their own business is a definitely a start. Not only does this create wealth but it instills pride in ones self.
A wise man once told me ‘Think of business relationships being built to last at least 30 years’.
Read Stephen Fears Column Here – SouthWest Business