When it comes to business, it’s no secret that black consumers have tremendous spending power to the tune of over a trillion dollars. With that type of bread, and considering that black customers are such trendsetters and tastemakers that we influence non-black demographics to follow our lead, one would think that companies would put forth a bigger effort to earn our money and cater to our tastes. Some do, but there are many companies who flat out disrespect our purchasing power by either ignoring black consumers completely or catering to us in such an extremely poor manner that many times they offend and disrespect our culture, or lump us into a one size fits all black customer.
In keeping with Black Web Success’s ongoing theme of focusing business efforts on underserved and ignored black customers, we have compiled a list of entrepreneurs who recognized and filled a void in the black marketplace and found great success. See if you can follow in their footsteps.
#1 Robert Johnson
Founder of BET
Robert Johnson founded Black Entertainment Television when the cable TV industry was still in its infancy because he saw it as a way that he could create a diversity that broadcast networks never had. Cable companies were installing cable all over the country, and for cities with large black populations, they were eager to find low cost programming that would help convince black residents to install cable into their homes. Before BET, black people were rarely seen on TV and when they were, they were mostly portrayed in a stereotypical manner or presented in a way that catered mostly to white audiences. Johnson launched BET in 1980 and it became the channel where blacks could see themselves all day and every day with programming that catered to their tastes. Johnson was so successful with BET that he became the first black billionaire when he sold the channel in 2003. He went on to become the first black owner of a NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. He also founded The RLJ Companies, and Our Stories Films. His story is chronicled in the book The Billion Dollar BET: Robert Johnson and the Inside Story of Black Entertainment Television.
#2 Don Cornelius
Founder of Soul Train
Don Cornelius created the musical variety TV show Soul Train as a way to serve fans of Soul and R&B musicians who were famous among black audiences, but never appeared on shows like the popular American Bandstand because they didn’t have enough crossover appeal for white audiences. Cornelius launched Soul Train in 1970 as a local Chicago program and expanded rapidly to other markets through syndication. Known as the hippest trip in America, Soul Train aired for 35 years and was well known for popularizing the Soul Train Line that can still be seen at parties and barbeques all across the country.
Building on his popular brand, Cornelius co-founded Soul Train Records with Dick Griffey where they signed popular groups such as The Whispers, and Shalamar (whose members consisted of dancers from Soul Train). Another monumental way that Cornelius capitalized on the underserved black market was by presenting the popular Soul Train Music Awards which catered to the achievements of black musicians from a variety of black musical genres. Check out more of his fascinating story in The Hippest Trip in America: Soul Train and the Evolution of Culture & Style.
#3 Berry Gordy
Founder of Motown Records
Berry Gordy became famous for founding Motown Records in 1959 and skyrocketed black musicians to successes never before seen at the time. His label launched dozens of successful artists with some of the more popular ones being The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder.
Berry Gordy was not the first black person to run a record label, nor was his artists the first to have hit records. Before Gordy, most black artist could only go so far with a hit record due to the racist practices of those days which would allow little to no what was termed ‘race music’ on mainstream radio and TV programs. To add insult to injury, many of those hit songs would be covered by white musicians who would then go on to bigger fame and fortune leaving the original artists with few if any rights or monies from their songs. Berry Gordy change this by putting a polish on the rough social skills of his artists and their music in a way that appealed to white audiences, but maintained the blackness of their sound and in turn kicked down many racial barriers that existed at the time.
Gordy expanded the Motown brand by owning and distributing numerous record labels in varying genres and he had a successful movie production company. He chronicles his journey in To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown : An Autobiography.
#4 Magic Johnson
Founder of Magic Johnson Enterprises
As a kid, Magic Johnson looked up to the successful black businessmen in his thriving Lansing, MI community and aspired to be like them one day. Years later while traveling from city to city as a champion NBA player, Magic noticed that most black communities had become very impoverished due to factors such as drugs, crime, and a negative side effect of integration that saw black dollars being spent outside the community at white businesses while crippling black businesses. He asked himself, how did this happen to communities like his own. He further asked and acted on a more important question, how could he change it.
Technically, Magic got rich as pro athlete with lucrative endorsements, but he became wealthy when he started Magic Johnson Enterprises and focused on bringing popular businesses such as AMC theaters, Starbucks, and T.G.I. Fridays to underserved black communities whose residents would travel miles outside of their neighborhoods to spend their money with these same businesses. Magic made big money for himself, but more importantly, he created many jobs both from his own businesses, and from competitors who at first were scared and/or didn’t see the economic viability of setting up shop in the hood until Magic led the way and proved them wrong.
Magic has expanded his brand through his Burger King franchises, Aspire TV, minority ownership in the LA Lakers and LA Dodgers, and many other ventures. Magic tells how he achieved success and shows you how to do the same in his book 32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business.
#5 Daymond John
Founder of FUBU
Daymond John started out as a small time hustler who peddled clothes at hip hop concerts in neighboring states to fans who couldn’t find New York fashion trends in their local stores. He sold popular brands from other designers, but eventually started selling his own designs without even having a name for his line. It wasn’t until an executive at Timberland, makers of John’s favorite boot, dissed the black and hip hop community by saying that they didn’t make their products for drug dealers. This lit a fire under him and with the help of 3 of his friends, his line went from having no name to becoming called Fubu and (unlike Timberland) it was literally ‘For Us, By Us’ that generated hundreds of millions of dollars.
John is considered a branding expert and continues to grow his wealth by acquiring and partnering with multiple businesses such as Coogi, Drunkn Munky, and Heatherette and by investing in up and coming businesses as a star on the hit TV show Shark Tank. His tale of making FUBU a million dollar success story is told in his book Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding and Lifestyle.
There are many other black entrepreneurs who also got rich from serving the black marketplace and their stories need to be told and we need to hear them. If you know of other great black entrepreneurial examples that we can learn from, then please share their names in the comments section.
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