Facts About Black Owned Businesses
It’s Black History Month and a great time to share some facts about Black owned businesses. There are over 2.5 million Black-owned businesses in the United States and growing every single year. Most of these businesses are small with only a few employees and they often go under the radar. While researching black businesses in the US I discovered a lot of interesting facts that I want to share with you. So, grab yourself a drink, put up your feet, and enjoy learning more about black businesses in the United States.
Did you know?
1. Almost 40% of Black-owned businesses are in the health care, social assistance, repair, or laundry services field. However, other popular fields include media firms, consulting firms, restaurants, and beauty, auto dealerships like BMW of Hudson Valley, it is the largest BMW dealership in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York tri-state area.
2. New York state has the highest number of Black-owned businesses in the United States, including Captivate Marketing Group and Harlem Fashion Row to name a few. You need to head over to Washington DC to find the highest percentage of businesses that are black owned. There they account for 28% of all businesses.
3. Nearly 1 million, okay about 900,000 or so people are employed by Black owned business.
4. There are more than 2 million Black owned businesses in the United States. The majority of are small businesses owned and operated by one person.
5. The largest black-owned business in the United States is World Wide Technology, Inc. The company employs more than 5,000 people and makes more than 11 billion dollars every year. You might have assumed it was Oprah’s Harpo Inc, but they are actually down at number 52 on a list of the top black-owned businesses according to Black Enterprise Top 100 List.
And there’s more…
6. According to the Minority Business Development Agency, Black owned business generated 150.2 billion in gross revenue in 2012.
7. Black women own nearly 40% of all Black owned business.
8. 44% of Black small business owners use cash to fund their business.
9. 77 % of Black business owners launched their own independent business, instead of buying a franchise or an existing small business.
10. 40% of Black-owned businesses had to shut down during the pandemic and it is still unclear how many will ever return.
During the protests that spread across the country, there was a massive upswell in support for Black-owned businesses. Some were so overwhelmed they had to temporarily close just to get through their backlog. Others are still working hard to pull through. Especially this month, please support Black owned businesses.
