For entrepreneur and investor Daymond John, deciding which projects to invest his time, energy and money in comes down to one thing: having a positive impact on the world.
In 2020 he founded Black Entrepreneurs Day (BED) wants to do something to encourage Americans suffering from the consequences of George Floyd’s murder. “People were in the streets burning down businesses when I told them to build them,” John said Entrepreneur. “So I called friends in the business world and some great brands to see what we could do to empower people and show them how we can overcome adversity and achieve success.”
“What began as a virtual call from Daymond’s basement has now become an annual in-person event attended by some of the most accomplished people living at the intersection of business and culture. The 5th Annual.” Black Entrepreneurs Day will take place on Friday, November 22nd at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and will feature a number of guests including Kelly Rowland, Flavor Flav, Charlamagne tha God, Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles and many others. In-person and streaming tickets are free and can be ordered at blackentrepreneursday.com.
Related: How Daymond John went from selling T-shirts on the street to running a $350 million company
BED isn’t just about inspiring entrepreneurs, it’s also about funding them. From October 24th to November 1st, business owners can apply for a $25,000 Powershift grant. (Apply here.) Together with partners JPMorgan Chase, Hilton, T-Mobile for Business and Constant Contact, a total of $100,000 in grants will be awarded to small business owners.
So what does it take to gain the trust and support of BED investors and win one of these grants? We asked and “The People’s Shark” himself.
When someone pitches you, what do you want to hear that will make you say, “I want to give this person my money”?
You want to hear them ask and answer the three questions: 1. Why me? 2. Why now? 3. And why that? You will talk about who you are, what you’ve been through, and why you chose this business. You have seen a problem in the market or want to make someone happy. And then we want to know that you know your numbers. We want to hear how obsessed you are with your customers. We want to know that you are moving and shaking, that you are agile and moving with the times. You work with AI. They ensure that you employ people from your community. If you have a real passion for it, it’s contagious. It’s kind of like, “Man, I want to meet this person. I want to support her because she is someone who enriches people’s lives.”
What advice would you give a young Daymond John?
I would tell a younger me that you already know the branding. You are obsessed with your culture. They are obsessed with the product. They want to make the best clothes ever. But you won’t be able to run this business and sustain it if you don’t know your numbers. What are the cost of goods? Who do you sell to? How many people do you have to employ? What value do you need to achieve to stay on your edges? Does your company have the necessary corporate structure to invest, or is all of your income in a shoebox? I would have told my younger self that.
If you were starting today and only had $1,000 in your bank account to work with, what would you do?
I would start with the homework: “What am I trying to solve?” And then I start with the OPMs. This stands for Other People’s Mindpower, Manpower, Manufacturing, Marketing, Money. I’m not spending my thousand dollars, I’m going to borrow their OPM. And then I will study for six months or a year to figure out how to enter this market and help solve the problem. And then 50 DM people a day are looking for funding, mentoring and collaboration. I won’t use my thousand dollars. I’ll try to use everything else.
Applications for BED’s Powershift Grant will be accepted from October 24th to November 1st.
