I’ve been blessed for the past several decades to work with entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses, and leaders running organizations and countries.

What I have learned from them is this:

Starting a business in a minority/immigrant/under-served community is different than starting one within the majority community.

On the surface, it looks like we all have access to the same resources and information, but that is not the reality.

In many minority/immigrant/under-served communities, there are restrictions put on you, by yourself or by others.

I learned quickly from the individuals I’ve worked with that the trick is to find champions for yourself within the ecosystem you are planning to enter. Do this by getting involved, being engaging and performing. This way, they will know you and what you can do, even as a volunteer or as a member of the community. Try to integrate yourself with the majority within that community.

Listen, learn, and reflect. Surround yourself with individuals who also want to start and grow businesses — from all types of communities.

You will learn that you sometimes have to start smaller than you’d like, and then scale up, one step at a time.

I always tell people: Before you tell me you have started a business, think about who would buy your product or service. Can you find a customer first? If someone says yes to that product or service, you most likely can start building a business around it. Maybe slowly — maybe just one customer at a time.

Many people in minority/immigrant/under-served communities have few or no resources. Starting a business means starting with the resources you have, then leveraging them to build up the business.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What resources do you have right now that you could leverage and build upon?

2. What new works can you plug yourself into to leverage those resources?

3. What other tools have you used to start a business, being a minority in a majority community?

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