AUGUST 9 - 15, 1987 THE ICHIGAN CITIZEN ? • drive for Blae ealth - why do things fall apa By lame at n d 0 rt . aylor This wee ' column in ead of . trying to inspire Black to t e more concrete eps to build greater personal and community ealth will be m what neg tive. However, it i our hope that the comments will never­ thele rve to inspire positive ction. There are many ob tacles f cing success-oriented Blacks who desire to create greater wealth in America. any of the ob des are external to Bl ck and relate to the legacy of har di rimination and continuing anti-Bl k prejedice in the society at large. How­ ever, a lot of our wounds on the economic front are If­ inflicted. Belo are me of the major problems which mu be overcome and which can only be overcome by u . 1 - LACK OF ESS IAL BU ESS D F CIAL INFO TIO. Fi- nancial ignorance i wede­ spread among the U.S. population a a whole but it is especially acute among Blac . Talk ow host Tony Brown once said Blacks are the only group in America who rai their' children to get job . Everybody else rai their kids to start businesse . While that may be a slight overstatement, it neverthele drive home the point that in capitalist America you can't get rich working for someone el . The solution to this ob­ stacle is simple: SPREAD THE WORD. Every Blac news- JR expands advertising in Blae media W STO -SALE, .C. RJR abi 0 Inc. i increasing it budget for dvertisements in Bl ck new aper pple­ ment and m azine by more than I million annually, begin­ ning thi ye r. The company announced its pi s to incre BI medi ertising e penditure t the tional e aper Publisher ciation ann u1 convention in Detroit. arshall Bass, nior vice pre 'dent of RJR abi 0, out­ lined the ne advertising com­ mitment to the NP mem­ ber meeting in Detroit. "In addition to the millions of dollars we already spend annually to adverti ore, Salem and other tobacco pro­ ducts in the BI ck pre . Pro­ duct to be adverti d include Chips Ahoy, Ritz and Flei mann' argarine. Corpora e gi 0 AACP aid freedom struggle It m y b harder for minoritie to conquer the econom di dvant ge facing them today than it was to­ battle outright di rimination in the p , an official of RJR bi 0 Inc. id a he pre- nted 55 000 to the CP recently. 'Blac n Ion er have to go to parate hool drink from parate ater fount ins or sit in the b ck of the bu ' said r all B. B nior vice pre . ent of RJR abi 0 at the P annual convention. 'But blat nt di riminati n was pr cticed in this country for more than 200 year and its after-effects cannot be era d by a couple of dec de of civil right legislation. The RJR abi 0 donation included 25 000 earmar ed for the . AACP's Building Fund, which ha financed con ru ti n of anew, larger he dquarters f ility in Baltimore. An additional 30 000 as donated to the AACP' pecial Con­ tribution Fund, hich pports minority enterprise, educational ' si t nee and affirm tive action pr gram . & 's COO plant ran a ong country's most economical Indiana ichigan Electric Company' Donald C. Coo u­ cle r Plant is among the nation's mo economically efficient electric gener ting plant. ccording to recent udy by the Utility Deta In itute, Coo Plant ranked 12th out of 500 earn-electric generating plant located throughout t e United State. The tudy included 45 nuclear plant 295 coal-fired plant, 116 gas-fired and 44 oil-fired plants which were oper- ting during the 1981-1985 period. "Be in love with your own life and ith your respon- ibilitie for growth. Learn to enjoy yourself by discover­ ing your human potential." paper in America ould have a fmancial or busine column. The focu ould not be on being better con mer. It should be on begin a better wealth builder. The same is true of every Bl ck-owned radio tation. Bl k mu be encouraged to think in a new way when it comes to getting their fair share of the American economic pie. 2 - BILITY TO SUST BUSINESS REL T- 10 SHIPS. One of the most sad and often do might bizarre scenarios we encounter when we e ablish wealth-. building clubs is the follow­ ing: It is easy to get Blacks together for wealth building but it is a hard as hell to keep them together. Often disputes and bre - ups occur ju t a a group appeared headed for succe . Sometime it almo appear that we are afraid to succeed in busine or maybe some of us don't want anyone el to succeed before we do. We propo the following: Start your wealth building effort with a small group of no more than three to five oney Talks: people. Establish rong lead­ ership. The le der must be a hard driving person with a let' -get-it-done attitude. Insist upon strong open communi­ cations. We often find it amazing how many of us fail to engage in constructive confrontation at the fir t sign of a problem but in-stead sit on our-concerns until e ju t can't t e it anymore and then the only think in which we can engage i des­ tructive confrontation. Further, in a business or financial situation we mu adopt the position that an issue is not very important unles it has a direct relation­ ship to the wealth building effort. Too often we allow petty, per nal conflicts to get higher priority than they de rve. e are aware of a ituation where a young lady became disruptive in a wealth building club becau the club dmitted a member who 100 - ed ' e" her ex-husband. - THE DESIRE FOR S CCE UST BE S 0 GER TH THE E R 0 F fLURE. Some people are raid of failing until they almo never try anything. You simply cannot allo such people to be part of any busine effort with which you are a i ted. Given our economic status in America we h ve no choice but to t e chance for succe And even if an initial effort fails so what? Succe to the per n who ho to get up and try 4 -PLEASE SPREAD G THOSE TIVE ' BLACKS C 'T IT BUS ESS' STEREOTYPES. This i th wor possible type of ob­ scenity to give our children. These tereotypes get implant­ ed into the subcon ious and one re ult is even when our young work up the courage to try they are often half defeated becau they have been mentally programmed to a ume that failure is likely. The next time you get ready to say • w that ain't going to worx: or Blac folk ain't, go d t that" or " iggers will mes over you;" Stop and a yourself m I part of the problem or part of the solution. ' S arting a business a By J arne athan -Milton Hershey, founder of the chocolate candy empire, started hi climb to succes by mixing batches of candy in his Lanca er, Pennsylvania home. -Hugh Hefner put together the fir i sue of Playboy agazine on hi kitchen table. Starting a bu iness from your home allow you to te t your busine idea with a minimum of ri and expense. The best type of business to launch from your home is one ba d on ills knowledge and experti you already have. In addition, it is best that a home-b d business be one which does not require fre­ quent visits by your coustomer . It is best when you are able to deliver or mail your product to the customer when operating a business out of your home. The Census Bureau estimate that over 2 million Americans operate income-producing bu i­ ne from their home. The electronic revolution and the 'computer age are expected to push that number to 15 million over the next fe years. Further, any room or are of your home or ap rtment hich to set a 'de for your busine can al result in tremendou tax advant e. For example, protions of your rent or mortgage, utility bill and telephone expenses could immediately qualify as busi­ ness tax deductions. The following urce of information may prove very helpful if you are interested in starting a small part-time or full-time busine in your home: -The o. 1 Bu' Book Liberty Publishing Company, 50 Scott Adam Road Cockeys- ville aryland 21030 - 4.95. - omen Working Home: The Homeb Bu . e Guide nd Directory H Pre s P.O: B x 237, ew Jersey,0764 - If you desire to test a busi­ ness ide , fir t determine if that busine can be operated from your home without causing any major personal disruption and within the guidelines of local ordinances. If it meets both of these criteria give the idea a try. Succes seldom come overnight. 0 be prepared to ick with your idea for a while before it start to pro­ duce significant financial re Its. As far s motivation and inspiration is concerned, ple remember this: the over­ whelming majority of jobs in America do not and cannot provide enought p y to guaran­ tee a per n financial curity. n income producing busine is one of the mo t sure ways of providing financial succe . In addition, a busine of your own is the ultimate tax eIter. home Combine a good idea with hard-intelligent wor and adequate tart-up funds and you just might find your If on the way to a more financially cure life as your own bo . There are a host of part­ time businesse which can be tarted from your home. e en oura e people to tart the process of m ing extra money by spon ring an e ent u h as a financial seminar. The spon orship of an event d es not require a lot of tart­ up money. Financial minars, beauty contest , fashion show weight-reduction minars par­ tie etc, are all event you can spon r simply for the purp of generating initial fund . Get two or three pe ple t wor with you. Hundred and even thousands of dollar are to made ith a u ce sful one-time event. La t e , e wrote about the B t n woman who along with three friends spon red a celebration/ party which was attended by over 2,000 people paying 15 a piece. That resulted in over 30 000 of income in ju tone night. People are often wondering from where i the start up money going to come to tart a part-time or home-ba d busi­ ne. I y rai the money by ponsoring a money-m ing event.