By Marcus A. Williams
Special to the AFRO
A new talk show in the region is putting aside the celebrity gossip and addressing the issues the Black community has with venturing into the uncertain and often unstable world of entrepreneurship.
The fear of the unknown is what nationally renowned entrepreneur and lecturer, Joshua I. Smith, believes is the cause of the discouraging lack of a social support system in the Black community as it pertains to entrepreneurship.
Smith is an international business extraordinaire, who was appointed to lead a commission on business development by Former President George H. W. Bush and is currently serving on the on the Board of Directors at Caterpillar, Inc., FedEx, Corp., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Advisory Board of Sodexho, Inc., the United Methodist Church Foundation and Allstate Insurance Corp., Smith proves to be a leader.
Now, the world can hear the intellect of this fascinating business mind across the radio waves on “Biz Talk with Josh.”
The show will focus on the challenges small businesses face, explain the key roles that the business play in the national scope and evaluate how the environment can directly affect their success.
Smith began to develop his great business mind very early off but it wasn’t without struggles.
He came from a family where all his siblings were college educated and had profound accomplishments in the corporate arena.
However, they all were very confused about why a man, who was once Vice President of a consulting company, would want to let it all go to start his own small business.
The budding entrepreneur got little to no support from his family, whom he knew loved him and supported his career but just didn’t want to see great talent and a great opportunity in corporate America go to waste.
Smith says that this is even more accentuated when others in the Black community attempt to take that same leap of faith.
“What you see in other communities is that starting your own business is more of a cultural thing within the family, individuals see that as a ‘line of sight’ to where they want to go,” says Smith. “Children in other cultures grow up understanding and appreciating the principles of business and have the social support necessary to have a successful business, that’s what [the Black community] doesn’t have.”
Smith’s guests on “Biz Talk with Josh” will show how family support can go a long way when trying to start your own business.
For example, a local Virginia resident is scheduled to come onto the program and discuss how he started a business from of a loan his family gave him after they leveraged the family farm. Twenty years later his business has moved from having a net worth of $3 million to approximately $25 billion.
What breeds success isn’t always a team of cheerleaders standing behind the entrepreneur, individual attitude plays a big role as well.
“A lot of people in the Black community – when a business doesn’t work they just say ‘oh well’ and go their separate ways,” says Smith. “But an entrepreneur has to have the motivation and the drive to realize that what they need to know about business is not going to come from the successes, it’s going to come from getting your butt kicked.”
“Biz Talk with Josh” will air on CBS Radio, WPGC/HEAVEN 1580 AM 3 p.m. EST on Sundays. The show will also be featured via live audio streaming as it airs each week on www.heaven1580am.com. Listeners can call in during the show and talk to Smith and his guests at 1-888-432-1580.
For more information, visit www.biztalkwithjosh.com, email info@biztalkwithjosh.com, or contact Andre' Carrington of Joshua Smith Coaching Group, LLC, at 301-589-9800.