Black entrepreneurs have statistically always had more problems with access to venture capitalists to help garner the necessary capital needed to expand their business. According to previous reports, despite leading the pack in business creation and entrepreneurship, black women business owners receive 1% of all venture capital funding.
Previously, we reported about entrepreneur Shontay Lundy behind the Black Girl Sunscreen brand. News came out this week that the founder will be expanding her brand with a lucrative $1 million boost with the help of a new female investor.
Black Girl Sunscreen is the only black-owned sunscreen brand in Target and is now available in over 200 stores around the country. According to a new report published by Forbes, after spending months vetting potential partners, Lundy partnered with a new investor, raising her company’s valuation to $5 million.
Since the start of the COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, pandemic, Lundy and her team have gone into overdrive ensuring that they had what they needed to keep the company afloat amid the public health crisis. While brick-and-mortar businesses have been temporarily closed under quarantine restrictions, the brand has managed to use its digital storefront to keep up with costs. Lundy still plans on launching a new product later this year.
In an interview with Forbes, Lundy offers advice to aspiring business owners to take advantage of free resources when they are pursuing investing opportunities. She states that her advice to entrepreneurs and “other minority businesses looking for funding is to take advantage of grants and available resources, participate in pitch competitions to learn how to sell your business and gain exposure, have buttoned-up financials; and put yourself in environments to meet investors/high-net-worth individuals.”
Despite being battered by the coronavirus pandemic this year, small local businesses have gained consumers as a new ally to give them much needed future hope and support.
A robust 75% of consumers plan to back local businesses more extensively once limitations on non-essential businesses are removed in their areas, a new report shows.
That is among discoveries from a new survey paid for by Groupon and completed by OnePoll. It is encouraging news for restaurants, retail shops, clothing stores, salons and spas, and bars, places where people first are expected to spend money when it is safe to do so. The study done in early May surveyed 2,000 people to get a feel of their shopping plans post-COVID-19 lockdown.
Some 67% of those questioned are more hopeful now than when the pandemic initially started. And Americans have been going out of their way to help small businesses. Some 86% of those surveyed report they continued to support locally owned businesses during the quarantine.
The study comes as states across America have started some type of reopening—including partially—in recent days. Some 57% of those surveyed know at least one business affected by lockdown restrictions.
So what are among the ways people favored small businesses during the quarantine?
Some 77% of respondents took an online class or took part in a virtual experience offered by a local merchant.
Sixty-five percent booked summer “staycations,” which included planning activities that are close to home and keep their kids entertained.
Around 65% boosted their takeout and delivery options from local restaurants.
Another welcomed survey statistic for small business owners perhaps is this: The average American plans to spend nearly $100 a week at local businesses post-COVID-19, up 16% from before the crisis. That could boost the local economy where people live, further helping small businesses.
A whopping 92% of small businesses have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, the National Federation of Independent Business reports. The survey findings offer small businesses a ray of hope.
“This crisis has disproportionately affected small businesses and our hearts go out to local merchants, who have often poured their life savings into their businesses,” Simon Goodall, chief commercial officer, Groupon stated in a news release.
“As some businesses begin to slowly and responsibly open back up, it’s encouraging to see that many Americans plan to continue to help their communities recover by supporting small, local businesses.”
Black entrepreneurs have statistically always had more problems with access to venture capitalists to help garner the necessary capital needed to expand their business. According to previous reports, despite leading the pack in business creation and entrepreneurship, black women business owners receive 1% of all venture capital funding.
Previously, we reported about entrepreneur Shontay Lundy behind the Black Girl Sunscreen brand. News came out this week that the founder will be expanding her brand with a lucrative $1 million boost with the help of a new female investor.
Black Girl Sunscreen is the only black-owned sunscreen brand in Target and is now available in over 200 stores around the country. According to a new report published by Forbes, after spending months vetting potential partners, Lundy partnered with a new investor, raising her company’s valuation to $5 million.
Since the start of the COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, pandemic, Lundy and her team have gone into overdrive ensuring that they had what they needed to keep the company afloat amid the public health crisis. While brick-and-mortar businesses have been temporarily closed under quarantine restrictions, the brand has managed to use its digital storefront to keep up with costs. Lundy still plans on launching a new product later this year.
In an interview with Forbes, Lundy offers advice to aspiring business owners to take advantage of free resources when they are pursuing investing opportunities. She states that her advice to entrepreneurs and “other minority businesses looking for funding is to take advantage of grants and available resources, participate in pitch competitions to learn how to sell your business and gain exposure, have buttoned-up financials; and put yourself in environments to meet investors/high-net-worth individuals.”
Despite being battered by the coronavirus pandemic this year, small local businesses have gained consumers as a new ally to give them much needed future hope and support.
A robust 75% of consumers plan to back local businesses more extensively once limitations on non-essential businesses are removed in their areas, a new report shows.
That is among discoveries from a new survey paid for by Groupon and completed by OnePoll. It is encouraging news for restaurants, retail shops, clothing stores, salons and spas, and bars, places where people first are expected to spend money when it is safe to do so. The study done in early May surveyed 2,000 people to get a feel of their shopping plans post-COVID-19 lockdown.
Some 67% of those questioned are more hopeful now than when the pandemic initially started. And Americans have been going out of their way to help small businesses. Some 86% of those surveyed report they continued to support locally owned businesses during the quarantine.
The study comes as states across America have started some type of reopening—including partially—in recent days. Some 57% of those surveyed know at least one business affected by lockdown restrictions.
So what are among the ways people favored small businesses during the quarantine?
Some 77% of respondents took an online class or took part in a virtual experience offered by a local merchant.
Sixty-five percent booked summer “staycations,” which included planning activities that are close to home and keep their kids entertained.
Around 65% boosted their takeout and delivery options from local restaurants.
Another welcomed survey statistic for small business owners perhaps is this: The average American plans to spend nearly $100 a week at local businesses post-COVID-19, up 16% from before the crisis. That could boost the local economy where people live, further helping small businesses.
A whopping 92% of small businesses have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, the National Federation of Independent Business reports. The survey findings offer small businesses a ray of hope.
“This crisis has disproportionately affected small businesses and our hearts go out to local merchants, who have often poured their life savings into their businesses,” Simon Goodall, chief commercial officer, Groupon stated in a news release.
“As some businesses begin to slowly and responsibly open back up, it’s encouraging to see that many Americans plan to continue to help their communities recover by supporting small, local businesses.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump to a White House bunker on Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the executive mansion, some of them throwing rocks and tugging at police barricades.
Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker, which was designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. The account was confirmed by an administration official who also on condition of anonymity.
U.S. President Doanld Trump speaks after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images)
The abrupt decision by the agents underscored the rattled mood inside the White House, where the chants from protesters in Lafayette Park could be heard all weekend and Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers struggled to contain the crowds.
Friday’s protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. The demonstrations in Washington turned violent and appeared to catch officers by surprise. They sparked one of the highest alerts on the White House complex since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
“The White House does not comment on security protocols and decisions,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere. The Secret Service said it does not discuss the means and methods of its protective operations. The president’s move to the bunker was first reported by The New York Times.
Members of the U.S. Secret Service hold a perimeter near the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the killing of George Floyd on May 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The president and his family have been shaken by the size and venom of the crowds, according to the Republican. It was not immediately clear if first lady Melania Trump and the couple’s 14-year-old son, Barron, joined the president in the bunker. Secret Service protocol would have called for all those under the agency’s protection to be in the underground shelter.
Trump has told advisers he worries about his safety, while both privately and publicly praising the work of the Secret Service.
Trump traveled to Florida on Saturday to view the first manned space launch from the U.S. in nearly a decade. He returned to a White House under virtual siege, with protesters — some violent — gathered just a few hundred yards away through much of the night.
Demonstrators returned Sunday afternoon, facing off against police at Lafayette Park into the evening.
Trump continued his effort to project strength, using a series of inflammatory tweets and delivering partisan attacks during a time of national crisis.
As cities burned night after night and images of violence dominated television coverage, Trump’s advisers discussed the prospect of an Oval Office address in an attempt to ease tensions. The notion was quickly scrapped for lack of policy proposals and the president’s own seeming disinterest in delivering a message of unity.
Trump did not appear in public on Sunday. Instead, a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the plans ahead of time said Trump was expected in the coming days to draw distinctions between the legitimate anger of peaceful protesters and the unacceptable actions of violent agitators.
On Sunday, Trump retweeted a message from a conservative commentator encouraging authorities to respond with greater force.
“This isn’t going to stop until the good guys are willing to use overwhelming force against the bad guys,” Buck Sexton wrote in a message amplified by the president.
In recent days security at the White House has been reinforced by the National Guard and additional personnel from the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police.
On Sunday, the Justice Department deployed members of the U.S. Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement National Guard troops outside the White House, according to a senior Justice Department official. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
___
Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.
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. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thank you @forbes @werque_dominique @forbeswomen for helping us celebrate this moment! #BlackGirlSunscreen #StayProtectedAndMoisturizeYourSkin
