[00:00:06 .350] - Intro

Hey Friends , I'm excited to introduce season two of according to... The podcast, made to teach rising entrepreneurs and business owners like yourself how to navigate your way through the marketing industry, from public relations to digital advertising. We're going to cover it all. Whether you're a life coach, fashion designer, musician, realtor or influencer, you're sure to pick up bits of actionable advice from renowned industry professionals when you tune in for according to... On this episode of According To.., we will be hearing from Rebuild the Blocks, Alexis Akarolo and Zelnnetta Clark.

[00:00:39 .410] - Intro

The duo chats about why communication is everything when starting or growing businesses or nonprofits.

[00:00:52 .350] - Zelnnetta

"One big misconception that we found is a lot of business owners think when they're applying for funding that it's one size fits all. So the requirements for grants and loans vary by that entity, as we know, due to systemic oppression that black business owners face when starting up their businesses, these black business owners oftentimes must utilize their own personal funds to support and fund their businesses compared to many of their white counterparts that have developed that generational wealth and family businesses like mom and pop shops have just passed down right?

[00:01:27 .870] - Alexis

And therefore these black business owners take a huge risk with supporting their businesses, and they'll have to look for external financial assistance. However, what we tend to see when people were coming to us for financial assistance was that these owners were denied funding from banks and government due to lack of rapport and quality of relationships with bank institutions. And because of this, this may influence the sustainability of the business. I would say another misconception is the timing and duration of that processing period for funding. So many Black businesses were seeking immediate financial relief from the government and other institutions and failed to realize the process of obtaining funding and verification may take longer than expected.

[00:02:18 .510] - Zelnnetta

When you think about the beginning of Colbert, we had over 50% of black business owners shutting down in the beginning of the Pandemic, and many were in need of severe immediate financial assistance. And for many of these business owners that have applied for building block funding, they have expressed in some of their exit interviews and in their application that the existence of their business does impact the owner's livelihood and income and in turn, the family's livelihood and income. So those mixed concessions of how long it's going to take to receive funding, especially when you're in need, like, immediate need is one big misconception and another one is not all funding is one size fits all.

[00:03:00 .330] - Alexis

You have to find funding that basically accommodates your needs and you meet those certain requirements for that funding. So, as I previously mentioned, I would definitely say independent research that caters to your business situation. Again, not all funding fits all. Another one is looking for nonprofit organizations such as ours reaching out to them because oftentimes if they're about helping businesses specifically for us black businesses. They'll provide resources to assist in helping you obtain funds. And then another good one is, as I previously mentioned again, is building those relationships and quality relationships with bank institutions are really big and key to get your business running and increase your chances for funding.

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