Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Financial Motivator: Insights on Supporting and Scaling Black Businesses with Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Founding Director Tiffany Bussey.
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. I am Rashwan McDonald, the host
- 0:08Speaker 1: of Money Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to
- 0:11Speaker 1: stop reading other people's success stories and start planning their own.
- 0:16Speaker 1: Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,
- 0:19Speaker 1: talk to celebrities and ask them how they are running
- 0:22Speaker 1: their companies, and speak with nod profits who are making
- 0:25Speaker 1: a difference in their local communities. Now sit back and
- 0:28Speaker 1: listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on
- 0:31Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Hi, I'm Rashaan McDonald, our host
- 0:37Speaker 1: is weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and
- 0:40Speaker 1: information that this show provides off for everyone. It's time
- 0:43Speaker 1: to stop reading other people's success stories and really start
- 0:46Speaker 1: living your own. Next us is the director of Morehouse
- 0:49Speaker 1: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. They are assisting the development of
- 0:53Speaker 1: minority entrepreneurship through scholarly research, training and consulting services. Please
- 1:00Speaker 1: please walk with the Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Doctor Tiffany Bussy.
- 1:03Speaker 1: Are you doing, Doctor Bussy?
- 1:05Speaker 2: I am doing Wonderfulora Sean, And first of all, thank
- 1:08Speaker 2: you so much for having me. It is indeed a
- 1:10Speaker 2: pleasure to be here and congratulations on your show.
- 1:13Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. I really appreciate that. Now I
- 1:16Speaker 1: gave out a big title here Director of the more House,
- 1:18Speaker 1: which is Morehouse College HBCU, one of the big more
- 1:22Speaker 1: prominent HBCUs in the country. Director of the Morehouse Innovation
- 1:26Speaker 1: and Entrepreneurship CE. What is that?
- 1:30Speaker 3: Wow?
- 1:30Speaker 2: Yes, it is about bull But we are really really
- 1:33Speaker 2: proud of the work we've been doing here at We
- 1:36Speaker 2: call it our loving name for it is the MIEC.
- 1:40Speaker 2: We've been doing this work for the past twenty years,
- 1:42Speaker 2: which is really really just focused on helping businesses, black
- 1:47Speaker 2: and brown businesses scale. We believe that our entrepreneurship and
- 1:51Speaker 2: small businesses but one of the pathways in closing the
- 1:55Speaker 2: racial income inequality GAMP in this country. So that's the
- 1:59Speaker 2: work we've been busy doing for the past twenty years,
- 2:02Speaker 2: whether it is working with our students right here on
- 2:05Speaker 2: campus or working with businesses in the community. We see
- 2:08Speaker 2: this work as an important piece in really driving wealth
- 2:13Speaker 2: within our community.
- 2:15Speaker 1: Well, you know, some doctor busy. The stereotypes drive this
- 2:18Speaker 1: country and drive the world, really because when they start
- 2:21Speaker 1: talking about black businesses, you know what the stereotized do
- 2:25Speaker 1: you have to deal with and trying to understand and
- 2:29Speaker 1: navigate the world of entrepreneurship people with people who are
- 2:32Speaker 1: people of color, who are interested in trying to be
- 2:35Speaker 1: small business owners.
- 2:36Speaker 2: Sure, and so we hear that every day. Right. The
- 2:40Speaker 2: group of businesses that we work with, and we've learned
- 2:42Speaker 2: this as we've pive our work over the like I
- 2:45Speaker 2: mentioned twenty years, are really what we call scalable mid
- 2:50Speaker 2: size companies. And some may wonder do they really exist,
- 2:54Speaker 2: and I would say yes. We've touched over four hundred
- 2:58Speaker 2: of these businesses over the past twenty years and have
- 3:00Speaker 2: helped them to create over eight hundred and fifty new jobs.
- 3:03Speaker 2: Now that's significant. And the work we do is to
- 3:07Speaker 2: really help these larger what I would call large primes
- 3:11Speaker 2: that say they can't find these businesses to be a
- 3:13Speaker 2: part of their supply chain or their supply and diversity programs,
- 3:18Speaker 2: and we help these programs to really grow in scale
- 3:20Speaker 2: and to make them accessible to these larger companies. I
- 3:25Speaker 2: think with you would agree that we've been doing a
- 3:27Speaker 2: fantastic job because these companies, as they have gone through
- 3:31Speaker 2: all programs and as we've touched them, have really gained
- 3:34Speaker 2: over thirty four million in access to new capital, which
- 3:38Speaker 2: has been one of the biggest barriers we hear about
- 3:40Speaker 2: quite a bit and have really helped them to generate
- 3:44Speaker 2: over eighty two million in new revenues. Now that's not right.
- 3:50Speaker 2: You know.
- 3:50Speaker 1: The thing about it is that, you know, we thought
- 3:53Speaker 1: all these numbers, we thought about all the success stories,
- 3:56Speaker 1: but it also comes back to the opportunity to get
- 4:01Speaker 1: the shot at the big prize. Now, this center, how
- 4:04Speaker 1: does one you know, how does it? How do you
- 4:08Speaker 1: use your the purpose of the center to impact a
- 4:11Speaker 1: person like me? Say, I'm coming through the door, I'm
- 4:13Speaker 1: contacting you them, Why am I contacting you? And what
- 4:16Speaker 1: will you be able to allow assist me in my
- 4:20Speaker 1: career goals as a small business owner.
- 4:22Speaker 2: Sure, and thank you for really asking that question, because
- 4:26Speaker 2: one of and it's in the design of our programs.
- 4:29Speaker 2: We know that basically we have heard about the lack
- 4:32Speaker 2: of capital or access to capital. What we don't talk
- 4:35Speaker 2: about quite as much is access to opportunities, as you
- 4:38Speaker 2: have nicely placed it. So in designing our programs, we
- 4:42Speaker 2: are attached to what we call opportunity partners, those large
- 4:46Speaker 2: primes and by the way, we work mostly with companies
- 4:50Speaker 2: that we call B to B. They're really generating services
- 4:54Speaker 2: to serve other businesses. That's the business model that we
- 4:58Speaker 2: work with. So what does that that look like. We
- 5:01Speaker 2: work with these large companies such as your large general
- 5:05Speaker 2: contractors that have huge construction jobs or work and we
- 5:10Speaker 2: design our programs so that when the companies come in
- 5:13Speaker 2: and work with us, they're not only getting access to capital,
- 5:17Speaker 2: but also access to contracts the other see that is
- 5:21Speaker 2: often not talked about. So it's the intentionality of really
- 5:26Speaker 2: creating those opportunities on working side by side with these
- 5:30Speaker 2: large firms to ensure that these small businesses such as yourself,
- 5:35Speaker 2: as you through our programs. This is not just technical
- 5:38Speaker 2: assistant for technical assistant's sake. I like to say, this
- 5:41Speaker 2: is not about bucks and seats. This is about how
- 5:44Speaker 2: do you impact and create opportunities to have these companies
- 5:48Speaker 2: meet and engage with these large primes that have the
- 5:51Speaker 2: opportunities to learn how to navigate that landscape and to
- 5:55Speaker 2: make the contracts available for them as they go through
- 5:58Speaker 2: our programs. We all like to say that we create
- 6:01Speaker 2: a community. This is not a one off for us.
- 6:04Speaker 2: So these four hundred businesses that I told you that
- 6:06Speaker 2: we touch, we are in constant communication with them, sharing
- 6:10Speaker 2: opportunities and making sure that they leave with not only
- 6:14Speaker 2: the information, but also how to implement and to be
- 6:18Speaker 2: ready to deploy for those contracts and to engage with
- 6:21Speaker 2: new revenue. At the end of the day, it's revenue
- 6:24Speaker 2: that drives and scale businesses.
- 6:27Speaker 1: You know what frustrates me the most. And now what
- 6:29Speaker 1: you just said is that the reputation that the black
- 6:33Speaker 1: community have of not having skilled labor their jobs out there,
- 6:37Speaker 1: that we are not educated or qualifying for. How are
- 6:42Speaker 1: you assisting us in tearing down that wall or that
- 6:46Speaker 1: stereotype that we are not ready and if opportunities presents
- 6:50Speaker 1: itself to us, we're not qualified.
- 6:53Speaker 2: Yeah, and so one of the things that again is
- 6:57Speaker 2: the intentionality and understanding where these opportunity it is are.
- 7:01Speaker 2: I will share with you that just as recented today,
- 7:03Speaker 2: a few hours ago, as a matter of fact, I
- 7:06Speaker 2: had the opportunity to visit with the good Will industries
- 7:09Speaker 2: here in Georgia. Goodwill, Yes, good Will, the same one
- 7:14Speaker 2: that you know of that provides you know, perhaps use
- 7:18Speaker 2: goods and things like that. Availability. Well, they also do training,
- 7:23Speaker 2: job readiness training. But the reason I was there.
- 7:27Speaker 1: Doctor busty, old hodly. You just slid through that real quick. Now,
- 7:31Speaker 1: I've been passing good Wills all my life, all right,
- 7:34Speaker 1: I've lived in Houston. Good Will. You go there, you
- 7:37Speaker 1: get closed that you can't afford. You go there and
- 7:39Speaker 1: probably get an old chair or old furniture piece and
- 7:43Speaker 1: you bring it home and hey, you live with it.
- 7:46Speaker 1: That's what you got, that's what you can afford. Now
- 7:49Speaker 1: you're telling me that Goodwill has job training that's not
- 7:53Speaker 1: tied to the in store sales.
- 7:56Speaker 2: That that's correct. One of the other things that they
- 7:59Speaker 2: do and I'm out here too. They didn't pay me
- 8:02Speaker 2: to sell someone theath of Goodwill. But one of the
- 8:04Speaker 2: other things that they do very well is job training.
- 8:08Speaker 2: I like I said, I was so impressed. I visited
- 8:11Speaker 2: one of their newest training job training facility here in Atlanta, Georgia,
- 8:16Speaker 2: and I must say it was top of the art.
- 8:19Speaker 2: And what we're looking at is to collaborate with Goodwill
- 8:23Speaker 2: in terms of its clean tech training jobs. Now, I'm
- 8:27Speaker 2: gonna break that down a little bit because we talked
- 8:30Speaker 2: about knowing opportunities and being ready for opportunities, and the
- 8:34Speaker 2: way you do that is by being ahead of the opportunities,
- 8:38Speaker 2: and that's exactly what we're looking at. What does that
- 8:41Speaker 2: look like for black and brown businesses to be a
- 8:44Speaker 2: part of this ten trillion dollar global market in sustainability.
- 8:51Speaker 2: Now those are some big fancy words, but all it
- 8:54Speaker 2: means is that we know that global warming is a
- 8:58Speaker 2: thing and it does exist, and that in order to
- 9:01Speaker 2: address that, there is a huge industry that is being
- 9:05Speaker 2: developed and that is about to be launched and is
- 9:09Speaker 2: already launched because the rest of the world is ahead
- 9:11Speaker 2: of us on this in terms of what that means
- 9:14Speaker 2: and how do we create businesses and jobs in that
- 9:19Speaker 2: particular sector to be an active part and to be
- 9:23Speaker 2: at the table and not after the fact. And so
- 9:26Speaker 2: as we have been talking with Goodwill, who is now
- 9:29Speaker 2: doing this training for those that would like to think
- 9:32Speaker 2: of new careers and new opportunities, we are engaged in
- 9:37Speaker 2: helping businesses understand what that market looks like and also
- 9:42Speaker 2: giving them access to these employed individuals. We often hear
- 9:48Speaker 2: and we have already talked about this access to financial capital,
- 9:51Speaker 2: which is usually one of the barriers, the other piece
- 9:54Speaker 2: that we often don't talk about, and businesses will tell
- 9:57Speaker 2: you that is a real thing for them. Is access
- 10:00Speaker 2: to human capital. How do they find the workers? How
- 10:04Speaker 2: do they find skilled workers to meet the demand that
- 10:07Speaker 2: they have? And so, not only are we getting ready
- 10:10Speaker 2: to prepare these businesses to be a part of this
- 10:13Speaker 2: whole sustainability market, but engaging them and connecting them with goodwill?
- 10:18Speaker 2: Who is training the employees that become part of that
- 10:23Speaker 2: work and employable. I'm going to pause it because I
- 10:26Speaker 2: know I said a lot.
- 10:27Speaker 1: Well, don't pause too long. But I do have a
- 10:30Speaker 1: question because of the fact that whenever you hear courses
- 10:34Speaker 1: and all that money, how can I afford this are there?
- 10:38Speaker 1: You know? Did the word free mean that it's going
- 10:42Speaker 1: to be something that I can take somewhere with a certificate?
- 10:46Speaker 1: How do I enable this relationship to benefit me and
- 10:49Speaker 1: get me out of the indulgence of the lifestyle finances
- 10:53Speaker 1: I'm living in right now? How does that work?
- 10:56Speaker 2: Well, Rashan, I don't know if I'm here to bring
- 10:59Speaker 2: good use all around. But and I don't like to
- 11:02Speaker 2: use the word three because there's always a cost associating
- 11:05Speaker 2: to everything.
- 11:06Speaker 1: But on the point they told you you can't use free,
- 11:09Speaker 1: because I'm on the website, I see free now see
- 11:11Speaker 1: see don't tell you, doctor Bussy. I just couldn't believe
- 11:14Speaker 1: you when you say good Will didn't did more than close. Actually,
- 11:19Speaker 1: while we talking, I typed in Goodwill training program bad
- 11:24Speaker 1: No good Will's door popped up. It was about certificates
- 11:28Speaker 1: and the word free was right there. So I'm verified
- 11:31Speaker 1: that doctor Bussy is about to tell you guys the
- 11:34Speaker 1: truth on money making conversations, masterclass, Doctor Bussy, the floor is.
- 11:37Speaker 2: Yours, and I have a double coupod if you will.
- 11:44Speaker 2: Not only is the training for and we talked about
- 11:47Speaker 2: at the employee level. Right, So I'm an individual out
- 11:51Speaker 2: of a job, looking for a job, looking for reskills. Yes,
- 11:54Speaker 2: I could go to Goodwill and it's at no cost
- 11:57Speaker 2: for me. Not only is it at no cost, Goodwill
- 12:01Speaker 2: in many instances will actually pay you and give you
- 12:04Speaker 2: a stipend for participating in that causs and the time
- 12:09Speaker 2: that you're involved with that retraining number one, there are
- 12:12Speaker 2: many other opportunities on. Like I said, I get no
- 12:15Speaker 2: compensation from Goodwill to talk about their program, but I
- 12:19Speaker 2: know it benefits our community and that's why I am
- 12:21Speaker 2: sharing that. The second piece, however, that I can absolutely
- 12:25Speaker 2: say with all certainty, if you are a business which
- 12:29Speaker 2: is the work that we're in in training businesses and
- 12:33Speaker 2: helping business and soon to stand up a certificate in
- 12:36Speaker 2: sustainability for these businesses that want to be part of
- 12:39Speaker 2: this sustainability sector. Our training is also of no cost
- 12:44Speaker 2: to those companies. We are fortunate and what does that
- 12:47Speaker 2: look like. We are fortunate to have the support of
- 12:50Speaker 2: some wonderful philanthropical organizations such as JP Morgan Chase, Wills
- 12:56Speaker 2: Fargo that pays and provide the resources for us to
- 13:02Speaker 2: develop these training programs that I've talked about. All the
- 13:05Speaker 2: programs that I've mentioned in terms of our small Business
- 13:09Speaker 2: Executive program that I touched over four hundred companies. We
- 13:13Speaker 2: have a particular program called the Assen National Program, wonderful
- 13:18Speaker 2: program sponsored by JP Morgan Chase that was the initial
- 13:21Speaker 2: founder for this. It is a network that brings in
- 13:24Speaker 2: these small businesses and we really focus on how do
- 13:28Speaker 2: we scale them so that they may provide those jobs
- 13:30Speaker 2: for those people that are being trained at Goodwill. You
- 13:33Speaker 2: see how that works and how that connects and in
- 13:36Speaker 2: building that ecosystem. That's what we're about, really creating opportunities
- 13:40Speaker 2: for new jobs, to create pathways in closing this racial
- 13:46Speaker 2: inequality gap that we have in this country that.
- 13:48Speaker 1: We always talk about, but we don't ever have a
- 13:50Speaker 1: plan or see the options. Are you telling me right now?
- 13:53Speaker 1: Goodwill is offering a plan and options.
- 13:56Speaker 2: And let's not forget more house because we're on the
- 13:59Speaker 2: other se also, So Goodwill does the training of the employees.
- 14:03Speaker 2: We do the training of the companies that can hire
- 14:06Speaker 2: those employees and come part of the supply chain for
- 14:10Speaker 2: the larger such as the electrical companies and the other
- 14:14Speaker 2: huge companies hopefully like Tesla that are building these wonderful
- 14:18Speaker 2: electrical vehicles, so that we can create that infrastructure to
- 14:23Speaker 2: provide and support those electrical vehicles. That's one example. There's solar.
- 14:29Speaker 2: There's also other sustainable efforts within that sector, but I
- 14:33Speaker 2: just wanted to point those out as examples.
- 14:36Speaker 4: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
- 14:39Speaker 4: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
- 14:49Speaker 4: Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
- 14:55Speaker 4: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
- 15:00Speaker 4: Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- 15:04Speaker 1: So let's let's go back four hundred small minority owned
- 15:07Speaker 1: businesses are positively impacted eight hundred and fifty new jobs, created,
- 15:12Speaker 1: thirty four million dollars in capital access, and nearly eighty
- 15:16Speaker 1: two million in revenue growth in the local Atlanta area.
- 15:20Speaker 1: And that I'm speaking to the director of the Mohouse
- 15:23Speaker 1: Innovation Entrepreneurship Center, doctor Tiffany Bussy, doct Tiffany Bussy. Electric
- 15:29Speaker 1: vehicles dominate the industry best the voice one of my employees.
- 15:36Speaker 1: He's thinking about getting an electric vehicle. Black people will
- 15:40Speaker 1: not buying electric vehicle, but that industry is booming because
- 15:45Speaker 1: you got to have someplace to plug that car up.
- 15:48Speaker 1: Talk about the EV industry and talk to my listeners.
- 15:52Speaker 1: They might not be the one, but they might know
- 15:54Speaker 1: somebody who needs to really clearly understand this pathway to
- 15:58Speaker 1: success can't be through EV.
- 16:01Speaker 2: That and I'm happy to talk about EV, which is
- 16:04Speaker 2: about one hundred and sixty three billion dollar industry. It
- 16:08Speaker 2: has its what I would call its downside, because there's
- 16:12Speaker 2: this what they call anxiety about electrical vehicles. And you're right,
- 16:16Speaker 2: perhaps the lowest segments of those quartering vehicles is perhaps
- 16:20Speaker 2: in our community, which is why we must intentionally build
- 16:24Speaker 2: out the infrastructure to address that issue. I know I
- 16:27Speaker 2: don't have one because I'm going how far can I
- 16:30Speaker 2: drive before I see the next charging station?
- 16:32Speaker 3: Right?
- 16:32Speaker 2: We got to have more of those. But I really
- 16:35Speaker 2: want to quickly share that the sustainability industry is only
- 16:39Speaker 2: about one segment with ev There's the Green Bill, which
- 16:42Speaker 2: is about how do we build our homes? How do
- 16:44Speaker 2: we make them more efficient? And that's a three hundred
- 16:47Speaker 2: and twenty four billion dollar industry. So anyone out there
- 16:51Speaker 2: that's in construction, that's listening to your podcast and your
- 16:55Speaker 2: many millions of followers, if you're in constructions and you're
- 16:59Speaker 2: not thinking thinking about how do you build sustainable, don't
- 17:03Speaker 2: leave that behind because you are going to be left behind.
- 17:06Speaker 2: We are thinking about how do we do all these
- 17:08Speaker 2: things in a more sustainable fashion. If you're in agriculture,
- 17:12Speaker 2: a twenty billion dollar industry, we are thinking about how
- 17:16Speaker 2: do we grow our products more sustainable and what does
- 17:18Speaker 2: that look like? Renewable energy again huge nine hundred and
- 17:22Speaker 2: fifty two billion dollar industry. We are talking about a
- 17:26Speaker 2: lot of money and a lot of opportunities, which is
- 17:29Speaker 2: where we started this conversation in terms of how do
- 17:32Speaker 2: we as we think about business opportunity. Let's not think
- 17:36Speaker 2: about that starting another nightclub. We don't need that. What
- 17:39Speaker 2: we need are business within this sector of sustainability in
- 17:44Speaker 2: these eras that I've just mentioned. That's what we're talking
- 17:47Speaker 2: about when we're talking about building successful companies. We got
- 17:50Speaker 2: to think outside the box and our traditional ways of
- 17:53Speaker 2: how we look at businesses.
- 17:55Speaker 1: We know some I don't even think is outside the box.
- 17:58Speaker 1: It's just open your eyes. That's what we tend to do.
- 18:01Speaker 1: We tend to only see what we feel we are
- 18:05Speaker 1: have access to. And that's what this interview is about,
- 18:08Speaker 1: is that what you're doing at more House and what
- 18:11Speaker 1: Goodwill is doing is providing access an opportunity. What we
- 18:15Speaker 1: have to do is not be naysayers and seek and
- 18:20Speaker 1: jump upon or jump up to the opportunity that's being
- 18:23Speaker 1: presented yourself. And that's why I keep going back when
- 18:25Speaker 1: I'm talking to you about there's so many people standing
- 18:29Speaker 1: at the door not going in. Why is that.
- 18:35Speaker 2: We do the other side of the work we do
- 18:37Speaker 2: is really about the research about why this is right?
- 18:40Speaker 2: And I think that number one, as a people, historically
- 18:46Speaker 2: we have good reasons for that right. We have not
- 18:49Speaker 2: been treated fairly Historically, we know that if we were
- 18:54Speaker 2: not entrepreneurial in our very nature. Entrepreneurship is in our DNA,
- 18:59Speaker 2: we wouldn't be here as a people number one, because
- 19:02Speaker 2: we survive, right, and that's being entrepreneurial. So I really
- 19:05Speaker 2: push against when people say that you've got to be
- 19:08Speaker 2: born and this cannot be taught. We as people have
- 19:12Speaker 2: all the characteristics I would say of being those calculated
- 19:17Speaker 2: risk takers. Now we also are I would say, not
- 19:24Speaker 2: as open to failure because of so many things that
- 19:28Speaker 2: whatever we do, we have to perform at exceedingly deep
- 19:33Speaker 2: level for folks to accept us, because there are always
- 19:36Speaker 2: that level of doubt. There's always that we cannot do it.
- 19:41Speaker 2: And so one of the things, especially as I work
- 19:44Speaker 2: with my students who are black men at Morehouse, is
- 19:47Speaker 2: truly to break down some of those historical traits that
- 19:51Speaker 2: we understand that our psychological barriers. Right. I could recall
- 19:56Speaker 2: when my son was leaving for college and he you know,
- 20:00Speaker 2: you would think because I teach this, I would certainly
- 20:02Speaker 2: encourage it. But one of the things I thought about,
- 20:04Speaker 2: if he comes back to me after four years of
- 20:07Speaker 2: going to college and perhaps in debt and tell me Mom,
- 20:10Speaker 2: I'm going to open that business. I don't know how
- 20:13Speaker 2: I would react.
- 20:14Speaker 3: I would go get that job first, pay off that debt,
- 20:17Speaker 3: and then maybe come back and talk to me about
- 20:19Speaker 3: a business. Right, So, we as a community are not
- 20:25Speaker 3: as privileged as perhaps our conterparts, from our Caucasian counterparts,
- 20:33Speaker 3: able to take those calculated risks that I'm talking about
- 20:36Speaker 3: that you need to do and to accept the failure.
- 20:39Speaker 2: The fact is that eighty six percent of our small
- 20:41Speaker 2: businesses are going to fail within the first three years.
- 20:44Speaker 2: That's a given, and that is part of the process.
- 20:46Speaker 2: So we have to have some things on the table
- 20:49Speaker 2: and be willing to accept that failure as part of
- 20:53Speaker 2: the process. We're not quite there yet. We have loans
- 20:57Speaker 2: we got to pay back once we get out of college.
- 21:00Speaker 2: We have families we have to take care of, and
- 21:02Speaker 2: so those opportunities and those are real things that we
- 21:06Speaker 2: must consider. So I would say that, yes, entrepreneurship, but
- 21:11Speaker 2: we cannot all be on entrepreneurs and let's not romanticize entrepreneurship.
- 21:16Speaker 2: It's perhaps one of the hardest things that would ever do.
- 21:19Speaker 2: And you probably can speak to that.
- 21:21Speaker 1: That's Rob Landford. It's not a forty hour way job. Everybody.
- 21:25Speaker 1: It's no guarantee your vacation. If you're sick, get up
- 21:28Speaker 1: and go to work, because sick days don't happen when
- 21:30Speaker 1: you running your own business. And guess what you can't
- 21:33Speaker 1: beat You can't let the customers beat you to your business,
- 21:36Speaker 1: that's the bottom line. So that means that you have
- 21:38Speaker 1: to be there, set up and ready to go. Whether
- 21:41Speaker 1: you running a business or provide product, you have to
- 21:44Speaker 1: understand that as a small business owner, it is the
- 21:47Speaker 1: most rewarding for the most fatiguing thing that you can do.
- 21:51Speaker 1: But when you do it right, ownership and that's what
- 21:54Speaker 1: we need, ownership. And I want to make that transition
- 21:57Speaker 1: statement to the Small Business Executive Program and the three
- 22:01Speaker 1: seeds of the Small Business Executive Program. I wanted to
- 22:04Speaker 1: ask you about doctor Bussy because of the fact that
- 22:06Speaker 1: you're throwing theres so much knowledge you know about the
- 22:09Speaker 1: program that's available at ball House, telling us what good
- 22:12Speaker 1: will doing not only providing free opportunities for job training,
- 22:16Speaker 1: but also providing paying you for some opportunities over there. Now,
- 22:21Speaker 1: we talked about pushing past stereotypes walking through that glass door.
- 22:27Speaker 1: We are always heard about the glass ceiling, but for minority.
- 22:30Speaker 1: It's just walking through that door. What is the three
- 22:33Speaker 1: seeds of the small business Executive program?
- 22:36Speaker 2: Capital, connections, and contracts. I ensured capital dominates the conversation
- 22:44Speaker 2: right every time, access to capital, access to hack and
- 22:48Speaker 2: brown businesses don't have access to capital. I like to say,
- 22:51Speaker 2: equally as important, again, are those contracts. If you have
- 22:56Speaker 2: capital and you don't have revenue, and you can't sell
- 22:59Speaker 2: like you said to your customers, and you don't have customers,
- 23:02Speaker 2: your business probably will not succeed. In order to get
- 23:06Speaker 2: those contracts. You might be equally as qualified. What you
- 23:09Speaker 2: need is the connections. You need to be in the room.
- 23:12Speaker 2: You need to be in front of the folks that
- 23:14Speaker 2: have the decision power in making those contracts available. And
- 23:19Speaker 2: so we like to see our three seeds capital, connections
- 23:24Speaker 2: and contracts.
- 23:25Speaker 1: Now, let me ask you this doct about will connections
- 23:28Speaker 1: carry the same value as relationships?
- 23:30Speaker 2: It is exactly the same thing.
- 23:32Speaker 1: Okay, cool?
- 23:33Speaker 2: Well, relationships you might say. I might say I know
- 23:36Speaker 2: no Rashan, but does Rashan know me? So that's the difference. Right,
- 23:41Speaker 2: So that network has to be a two way thing.
- 23:44Speaker 2: You need to know about me and my capabilities, and
- 23:48Speaker 2: I need to know about you and what you offer.
- 23:51Speaker 2: Many times, what we hear from the large primes that
- 23:53Speaker 2: have all these contracts is that we think that a
- 23:56Speaker 2: one size fits all and we think that by saying
- 23:59Speaker 2: I do information technology and you need to do business
- 24:03Speaker 2: with me. Well, that's not the way it works. You
- 24:06Speaker 2: need to find out what the problem that that potential
- 24:09Speaker 2: customer has and be able to offer a solution. People
- 24:13Speaker 2: don't buy products and services for the heck of products
- 24:16Speaker 2: and services. They buy solutions. So when we start understanding,
- 24:21Speaker 2: and that's the way we teach and the way that
- 24:23Speaker 2: we do our technical assistance is really about falling in
- 24:27Speaker 2: love with that problem that you think you're solving. Because
- 24:30Speaker 2: if you approach a customer or a potential customer and see,
- 24:33Speaker 2: this is how I can help you and help you
- 24:36Speaker 2: solve your problem, more than likely you will get that business.
- 24:39Speaker 2: As opposed to you going and say this is what
- 24:41Speaker 2: I sell and this is the price, and you don't
- 24:44Speaker 2: make that value proposition very clear to that potential customer,
- 24:49Speaker 2: you probably won't get that new customer.
- 24:52Speaker 1: Wow, I tell you. Her name is doctor Tiffany Bussy, Chief,
- 24:56Speaker 1: the director of the Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. I
- 25:00Speaker 1: don't know what you expected when you came on my
- 25:02Speaker 1: show or got invited to come on the show, Doctor Bussey,
- 25:04Speaker 1: but the information you've given me is it's going to
- 25:07Speaker 1: change people's lives. It's going to give them an opportunity
- 25:10Speaker 1: to see life a little bit different and also value information.
- 25:15Speaker 1: And that's what this show is about, giving information that
- 25:17Speaker 1: can change their lives. In closing, you want to wrap
- 25:20Speaker 1: up with any thoughts or any information that we may
- 25:23Speaker 1: have missed that you want to tell about what you're
- 25:25Speaker 1: doing over that more House.
- 25:27Speaker 2: So, first of all, Rashan, what you're doing is invaluable.
- 25:30Speaker 2: I think, so really kudos to you and your show.
- 25:34Speaker 2: I think one of the most important things is sharing
- 25:36Speaker 2: of information. So many times I hear we have no idea,
- 25:41Speaker 2: we didn't know this was happening, and that is happening.
- 25:43Speaker 2: So there cannot be anything as too much information. So
- 25:46Speaker 2: please continue doing what you're doing, and I hope that
- 25:49Speaker 2: you will have me back in sharing this. But I
- 25:52Speaker 2: want to share also that folks that would love to
- 25:54Speaker 2: know more about our programs, and again being in mind
- 25:57Speaker 2: that we serve what we call mids scaled up companies,
- 26:02Speaker 2: right looking to go to the next level, really helping
- 26:05Speaker 2: to have these businesses grow perhaps three to five years
- 26:08Speaker 2: in business, looking to scale from about two million in
- 26:12Speaker 2: revenues to get them to five and twenty five million.
- 26:15Speaker 2: Our information can be found at the MCE Center that's
- 26:19Speaker 2: m C E C E N T e R dot com,
- 26:23Speaker 2: or off the Morehouse College website which is Morehousecollege dot edu.
- 26:29Speaker 2: I would also say that one of the things that
- 26:31Speaker 2: we have is part of our organizational structure is the
- 26:35Speaker 2: Small Business Development Center at Morehouse. That center provides services,
- 26:40Speaker 2: again to small businesses looking to scale and grow through
- 26:45Speaker 2: our partnership. We may be a touchpoint through our small
- 26:49Speaker 2: business executive programs, but we then hand off to that
- 26:52Speaker 2: Small Business Development Center and they stay with you through
- 26:56Speaker 2: the life of your company. So it is about building
- 26:58Speaker 2: community and really making sure that you sustain and grow
- 27:02Speaker 2: as your company really exists until you're ready to perhaps
- 27:06Speaker 2: exit or sell that company.
- 27:08Speaker 1: Wow, you're fantastic. Let me just say that, honestly, you're fantastic.
- 27:12Speaker 1: And the fact that I've allowed to interview you on
- 27:15Speaker 1: my show Money Making Conversations Master Class, let me know
- 27:17Speaker 1: I've got this platform, this podcast hitting in the right
- 27:20Speaker 1: direction again. You will be coming back on my show because,
- 27:24Speaker 1: like I said, you shut it down with the good
- 27:26Speaker 1: Will shower because I didn't know Goodwill did that. So
- 27:28Speaker 1: I know you got a lot more information you're gonna
- 27:30Speaker 1: pick back up and tell me about in three months.
- 27:32Speaker 1: So every three months, let's come back on this show
- 27:34Speaker 1: and shock the world. You over the more House, Okay,
- 27:38Speaker 1: thank you, associate you you stay in touch with me
- 27:41Speaker 1: over here. Money Making Conversations Master Class again Doctor Tiffany
- 27:44Speaker 1: Bussey over the more House doing her thing. See you
- 27:48Speaker 1: next with y'all. Bye bye. This has been another edition
- 27:51Speaker 1: of Money Making Conversation Masterclass posted by me Rushaun McDonald.
- 27:56Speaker 1: Thank you to I guess on the show today and
- 27:58Speaker 1: thank you. I'll listen to the audience now. If you
- 28:00Speaker 1: want to listen to any episode I want to be
- 28:02Speaker 1: a guest on the show, visit Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our
- 28:06Speaker 1: social media handle is Moneymaking Conversation. Join us next week
- 28:10Speaker 1: and remember to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning