The Hard Truth — Black Businesses: A Word in Your Ear

12th September 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Min. J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Columnist

It happened in Shreveport, but it could have been any Black community.

They called it Pete Harris. It represented much of what is right and much of what is wrong with Black businesses locally and nationally.

Pete Harris was a family business, a revered economic and cultural institution in the Black community. Black bigwigs went there to meet. On any given day you could catch your movers and shakers there. Pete Harris, to most people, had good food. It had ample space for people to sit and enjoy a meal, even a meeting space in the back that could be closed off. It had a nice relaxed environment…maybe a little too relaxed.

You see, Pete Harris had issues, the most obvious of which was horrible service. Long waits to get seated, long waits to place an order, longer waits to get your food, mixed up orders and general bad practices may have contributed to its demise. The men’s toilet got broken and stayed that way; and it wasn’t cleaned or stocked that often or that well either.

There are different versions of what killed Pete Harris Cafe, but as with most Black businesses that die, it was at least partly suicide. Surely they could have used every dollar that was lost to frustrated customers who did not return.

Folks, we can and we must do better. We don’t need to be losing Black businesses; we need to be opening more of them. Now more than ever we must help our people learn the value of supporting our own. But some of us must earn that support.
Here are a few basic suggestions that I believe could increase the revenues of many local businesses almost overnight.

Your place:

• should be clean on the inside and outside — many places could increase their

• traffic by simply washing (not painting) the outside of their business

• should be in good repair on the inside and outside — fix stuff!

• should have consistent operating hours and prices

• should have soap, tissue and towels in bathrooms

Your people:

• should have (or display) good attitudes toward the customers and each other

• should know what the heck they are doing

• should actually want to work and serve

• should answer or return phone calls

• should always do their best to provide great quality goods or services in a timely manner

You should:

• run a tight ship — handle all areas of your business — don’t blow the light bill trying to “floss” or impress people

• treat folks well

• be fair in what you charge and what you pay

• have clear goals for your business — it will help you get beyond the “survival” mentality

• advertise — at least get yourself in the phone book. Today you can get websites or do social networking for free or cheap – no excuses!

• support other Black businesses whenever possible be a resource for your community

There are at least another 200 things that could go on the list but you probably get the idea. Let’s do business better! One idea is for businesses to honestly counsel each other about specific ways to improve themselves.

On a broader scale, part of the problem is our thinking. The Black business community must stop seeing itself as grasshoppers, chasing crumbs and start thinking like the rulers you were meant to be. How ‘bout unifying and gaining control of a piece of the local economy instead of hoping some of it falls in your direction?

What if you saw other Black businesses as economic allies instead of competitors? What if they all suddenly realized that there are enough Black dollars alone (not to mention others) to make ourselves as prosperous as we make other groups? What if they said, “We’re going to increase the traffic to all of our businesses by two percent over the next year?” Such a campaign is very feasible and would create many jobs.

We have the money, the people and the skills. What we don’t have is an excuse for failing. If we don’t make ourselves accountable for using our potential power to save our communities then even God can’t be expected to save us from what is coming.

So Whatchagonna Do?

This article was originally published in the September 12, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper