Ready to make your hobby a side hustle or start your own business? The "Small Business and Side Hustles" Library U newsletter connects you to Library and community resources and programs to help you start or build your business!
February is Black History Month and Small Business and Side Hustles has some advice from a local small business owner. D. Smith is the owner of Oshi Salon, a medi nail salon. She's both a licensed nail technician and a certified podiatry assistant and nail educator. D. Smith has been a part of the nail industry for 15 years and counting. This month she shares some insight on running a small business.
# Interview with D. Smith of Oshi Salon
- A business book you would recommend or a book you wish you had when you started your business. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. This book provides valuable insights into building a successful startup by emphasizing efficiency and adaptability.
- What advice would you give someone starting a business in Jacksonville? Believe in yourself and take yourself and your business serious because if you don't no one else will either.
- What advice do you have on staffing, marketing, and choosing a location? Focus on customer satisfaction. Happy customers become loyal customers and are more likely to refer others. Additionally, in the early stages, wear multiple hats but delegate as your business grows. Efficient staffing and targeted marketing are keys to sustained growth.
# Life Lit
Life Lit are free workshops offered by trained professionals and volunteers that focus on improving your day-to-day life. These programs cover a wide range of workshops from gardening to small business needs. No need to bring anything but yourself to participate!
One-Page Marketing Plan: So you have an idea for a business. What’s the first step? Take the idea that has been forming in your head and see if you can turn it into an actual business. In this mini-workshop, we'll go over marketing concepts and integrating them into your business plan. Presented by the Small Business Development Center at UNF business consultants, Christian Evangelista and Taylor Kennedy.
Main Library, Thursday, February 29, at 10 a.m.
# Books & Articles We Recommend
Daymond John has never been a stranger to hard work. And he also knows how spectacularly a killer work ethic can pay off. As a young man, he started a hip-hop-inspired fashion brand on the streets of Queens, New York, with a $40 budget by hand-sewing hats between his shifts at Red Lobster. Today, his brand, FUBU, has over $6 billion in sales. While others might be searching for a shortcut to the top, says Daymond, the truth is that if you want to get and stay ahead, you need to put in the work. You need to outthink, outhustle, and outperform everyone around you. You've got to rise and grind every day.
Have you ever wanted to make a big change in your life but weren't sure where to start? Bestselling author, Founder & CEO of FUBU, and star of ABC's Shark Tank Daymond John shares the answer. To drive the change you want to see in your life, you'd better have your foot on the gas pedal and be ready to switch gears. But first, you need to lay out the groundwork so you're prepared to seize every opportunity you're given: by establishing a reputation and creating a sphere of influence, by learning how to negotiate for yourself and your position, and by working to maintain those essential relationships so you can call on them later on.
This invaluable "mentor in your pocket" by three dynamic and successful black female executives will help all black women, at any level of their careers, play the power game--and win. Rich with wisdom, this practical gem focuses on the building blocks of true leadership--self-confidence, effective communication, collaboration, and courage--while dealing specifically with stereotypes (avoid the Mammy Trap, and don't become the Angry Black Woman) and the perils of self-victimization (don't assume that every challenge occurs because you are black or female).
Provides a history of America's first black millionaires, former enslaved people who endured incredible challenges to amass and maintain their wealth for a century, from the Jacksonian period to the Roaring Twenties. They were self-made entrepreneurs whose unknown success mirrored that of American business heroes such as Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison. Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.
It’s no secret that these hard times have been even harder for the Black community. Approximately 35 percent of African Americans had no measurable assets in 2009, and 24 percent of these same households had only a motor vehicle. Dennis Kimbro, observing how the weight of the continuing housing and credit crises disproportionately impacts the African-American community, takes a sharp look at a carefully cultivated group of individuals who’ve scaled the heights of success and how others can emulate them. Based on a seven-year study of 1,000 of the wealthiest African Americans, The Wealth Choice offers a trove of sound and surprising advice about climbing the economic ladder, even when the odds seem stacked against you.
Read "The Millionaires Next Door: Atlanta’s Pinky Cole and Derrick Hayes on Building an Empire" from the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Essence magazine for free on Flipster!
