Business Ideas for Minorities, Including Businesses That Could Benefit From MBE Certification
October 4th, 2009
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If you are a minority who is considering starting your minority owned business, there are several types of businesses you can consider. This article will explore some service oriented businesses, as well as some product oriented businesses, including the types of businesses that can benefit from a MBE certification.
Business Ideas for a Service-Oriented Business
Here are some ideas on the types of businesses you could start quickly, and with little to no up-front investment:
- virtual assistant
- personal shopper
- consulting
- typist
- graphic designer
When you are first starting out, you can locate projects by either responding to existing posts that others have placed, or submit your own posting or resume. For example, job postings for typists and virtual assistants are often posted on craigslist.org.
If you are a graphic designer, a great way to get work is through sources such as 99designs.com or elance.com. Those sites are where graphic design and other internet type projects get posted, and those who are interested in the project can submit responses or sample work to win the project. Elance is a great web site to consider for project-based work, even outside of graphic design.
Another minority business you could start is one where you provide services to the government or large corporations. The government and large corporations also buy nearly any type of service you can imagine, such as typing, training, and more. In fact, as a minority, you can obtain an MBE certification to certify that you are are a minority-owned business. By having such a certification, you can increase your chances of getting work from the government or large corporations.
That should give you a few ideas on the type of service business you could start from home. Now let’s look at some ideas you could consider for starting a product-based business.
Business Ideas for a Product-Oriented Business
If you would like to start a minority-owned business that sells products, then there a number of product-based businesses that you could start.
Here are some examples of product-based businesses that take little to no capital to start:
- Selling an information product that you create based upon some topic that is in demand (like an ebook, training product, videos, etc.)
- Selling products on eBay or other auction sites
- Becoming an affiliate and selling products offered by third parties. You can find such products through affiliate programs such as Commission Junction or Clickbank.”
And just as was noted above with respect to services, the government and large corporations also buy nearly every type of product you can imagine, from toilet paper, to computers, to T-shirts, etc.
So you may also want to consider exploring opportunities to sell products to the government and large corporations. If you do, you should also consider obtaining an mbe certification to certify that you are are a minority-owned business. By having such a certification, you can increase your chances of getting work from the government or large corporations because they are required to award a certain percent of their business to minority-owned companies.
Sue Clancy, President and CEO of BIZPHYX presents an education session on how minority and diverse suppliers can compete for corporate contracts and government bids by obtaining ISO 9001 quality certification. This session was presented in partnership with the CalAsian Cha
justine PETERSEN hosts a panel discussion on Access to Capital in Minority Communities during SBA Small Business Week 2010. Panelists Clifton Berry – President, Berry Advisors and former Director Fannie Mae St. Louis Partnership Office; Eddie Davis – CEO, Center for the Acceleration of African American Businesses and 2009 State of Missouri SBA 
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