V % > ■* • « • Page 12...The Portland Observer...October 14,1992 A Portland Observer Special Issue Minority BY PROF. MCKINLEY BURT T h a t is e xa ctly rig h t, “ R e a lity ” . Its the reason 1 chose the title , “ Real M i­ n o rity B usiness” fo r the five -p a rt series I w ro te here fro m A ugust 19 thru Sep­ te m b e r 16. D ire c tio n s fo r obtaining p hotocopies appear at the end o f this a rticle . T h e y w ill be a useful and re l­ evant supplem ent to this essay. O n O cto b e r 10,1990, m y c o n trib u ­ tio n in th is area was an a rticle in the O bserver title d , “ W hatever Happened T o M in o rity Business?” . A re p rin t is p ro vid e d here, this essay describes a large-scale personal venture w ith a “ q u a lifie d ” success that m ay expand the horizons o f some m in o rity entrepre­ neurs beyond the “ store fro n t” form at. U s u a lly , m y articles seek to p o in t out the m any p itfa lls aw a itin g the A fric a n A m e rica n w ho, w ith o u t mainstream experience, capital o r tra d itio n (in m ost cases), seeks to fin d his way through a disheartening maze. Em phasizing that reading about business is one thing, “ re a lity ’ is qu ite another. Fur her m a jo r emphasis has been placed on “ info rm a tio n retrieval,” where I m y experience has indicated a m ajor “ how to and where to ” gap in practical business know ledge on the part o f both m in o ritie s and lo w e r incom e whites. Those d isa b ilitie s that were the re s u lto f econom tc o r social background, I sought to rem edy in both w ritin g s and in m y P ortlaiu U n iv e rs ity business classes in a section labeled “ Supper table in p u t” . T h a t is, I w ished to make both readers and students aware that the fa m ily circle in to w h ich one was b om and reared has an a w fu l lo t to do w ith your so-called “ smarts ” , Y o u can catch up. I t makes a b ig diffe re n ce in your a b ility to deal w ith the system (especially the w o rld o f com m erce) i f you have that conversa­ tio n a l and explanatory in p u t about such matters from fa m ily members w h ile you are g ro w in g up. I am saying that a w o rld -b e entrepreneur whose im m e d i­ ate and extended fa m ily includes o w n ­ ers, supervisors, forem en., profession­ als, adm inistrators, salesmen, h ig h ly s k ille d craftsm en etc. w ill have quite d iffe re n t “ suppertable” in p u t than the sons and daughter o f laborers, truck d rive rs and c iv il service personnel. There are exceptions, o f course, but dam fe w . One group hears and learns about contracts, invoices, pay­ ro lls , m ortgages, b ills o f sales, leases, “ hom e” department. A t F irst, my “ C olleagues” fro m Harvard Business School, Stanford,and W harton School o f Finance gave me strange looks because they had heard 1 had nothing that even looked lik e a doctorate in business o r finance. Dean Parker sim p ly bided his tim e, w a ilin g fo r them to “ wake up and sm ell the roses” . That d id n ’ t take long because each quarter that firs t year at the re g is­ tration tables in the school g ym , there was a line o f w hite fo lks a m ile long w a itin g to sign up under the “ B la ck S tu d ie s ” b a n n e r; “ M in o r ity B u s in e s s ,I,II,III or B la ck E conom ic o f “ m in o rity ” business. Keep in m ind, though, that “ busi- ness-is-business” no m atter w ho is tr y ­ ing to succeed at it. Y o u break the rules o r ignore the realities o f the m arket place and you are gone no m atter w ho you a re -b la c k , w h ite , hispanic, asian, Experience” . M y “ colleagues” soon found out the reason fo r that lin e o f fo lk s w ho were signing up fo r m y courses instead o f theirs w hich were a ctu a lly listed under “ business” in the catalog. I had people fro m T e k tro n ix, F re ig h tlin e r, green, blue o r a g riz z ly . N o federal o r Oregon Steel M ills , U nited parcel and other m ajor industry, also there were “ students” fro m finance companies and federal, state and c ity /c o u n ty agencies. I had the o n ly “ re a l-tim e ” business classes in the school and the people in the “ real w o rld ” , above, found it out state assistance can help you no m atter the rhetoric o r enthusiasm i f there is not enough capital, equipm ent, m erchan­ dise, m arket research o r self-d iscip lin e . T h is brings up another concern. I ’ 11 bet you have never seen among those ads these agencies run in the classified pages fo r personnel a single one saying, “ W anted! A n Experienced Business Person T o A d vise A n d Assist N ew M in o rity Entrepreneurs” and you w o n ’ t. W hat you w ill see are requests fo r the a cadem ically prepared, m a in ly business degrees, n othing about expe­ rience in the knock d ow n-dragout, fe ­ rocious w arfare that is the business scene. People mean w e ll (at the e x ­ pense o f the entrepreneur and the tax­ payer), b u t how fa r and w here to can the b lin d lead the b lin d ? I observed m any tragic circum stances w h ile c o n ­ tracting w ith a m in o rity business p ro ­ gram d u rin g the 1970’ s. I should note here as a relevant p o in t that d u rin g this period, 1 was teaching at Portland State U n iv e rs ity - - three courses accredited w ith the B u s i­ ness D epartm ent and M in o rity S tud­ ies. The business courses I taught were o f m y o w n design and structure, de­ riv e d o f 25 years experience in indus­ try and m y o w n enterprises. T hough I was hired by the B la ck S tudies D epart­ (MEN & WOMEN) Sharing proven methods to help men & women and their families earn extra income Program: excellent for: college students, house wifes, families, white collar, teachers, small business owners, ministers, athlet­ ics, child/care/elderly care providers. 24 hour message (503) 288-3420 code 317 or call J. Olive direct (503) 248-8790 for more information. NAMCO \ . ’v ‘ r - .¿ -K Í ■ t si: ► ■ Wants you to support All Minority Owned Businesses in Oregon r. r.’T*' ' . j - , ' , 1 j. r,-* m ent, Dean Parker, head o f the B u s i­ ness School, had me attend a ll o f his fa cu lty meetings as w e ll as those o f m y equities, torts, investm ents and the like. The other group learns how to deal w ith the system as a “ wage eam er” -- and to be som ew hat triv ia l, hears a lo t about “ ho w mean the boss is !” 1 cite these facts so that when you read that series o f business articles I hope you w ill obtain fro m us, you w ill understand that m y advices are “ re a l” - -and that you w ill also understand m y constant insistence on “ in fo rm a tio n re­ trie v a l” at the p u b lic lib ra ry business and p e rio d ica l sections. The same w ith m y frequent referrals to pa rticu la r fe d ­ eral agencies and m anuals and to cer­ tain pu b lica tio n s, both texts and m aga­ zines. Included in y o u r “ packet” w ill be a lis tin g o f those organizations de­ voted e x c lu s iv e ly to the enhancement ATHLETES FOR HEALTH u s / „ \ ■: Signposts usiness: A Reality Check b b b b loan process. And we ll provide information and support after your home loan closes. We also sponsor community seminars on home ownership. And if you already own a home we can help, too. We ll show you how to use the equity you've built up in your investment to make home improvements or repairs. So when it comes to any aspect of buying, owning or maintaining a home, call First Interstate. We re here to show yon how. Community Lending Center 57.30 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 Phone: 225-3751 t=) (OUAl HOUSING First Interstate Bank b b b b b IFNOCR b b r r r r r r r r r r r . ,-< £ t I