Goldman Sachs Proves Business Case For Diversity

Goldman Sachs Investment Research Addresses the Growing Influence of Hispanics in the U.S. Economy.

IBM Launches Powerful Free Toolkit For MWBEs

Florida Regional Minority Business Council Supports Launch of IBM and IFC Small Business Toolkit to Create Jobs and Fuel Growth in Underserved Markets

IBM and IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, recently launched this free small business toolkit specifically for women, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian entrepreneurs in the U.S., and small business owners in emerging markets to receive highly developed business information, tools, and training services usually reserved for Fortune 1000 companies.

The heart of Florida’s economy is comprised of small business with employer firms up 3.3 percent from the previous year and 7.6 percent in the non-employer category. While small businesses generated between 60 to 80 percent of the new jobs annually in the U.S. over the past decade, they can be disadvantaged by the lack of access to resources such as skills, knowledge and information that larger businesses routinely use to grow and succeed. The same applies to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world who also find that access to best practice and business management tools is a significant barrier to their growth and sustainability.

The SME Toolkit is a free program that enables entrepreneurs and small businesses to learn how to implement the sustainable business management practices needed for growth in areas such as finance, accounting, international business, marketing, human resources or legal.

“The success of local small businesses are vital to the growth of Florida’s economy,” said Beatrice Louissaint, President of the FRMBC. “We are proud to support IBM and the IFC in promoting the SME Toolkit., which offers good advice and business management practices. By offering this free, innovative and interactive site to our member businesses, we can help them improve their chance of survival and growth in our local communities, potentially serving as a source for new jobs.”

In the U.S., the SME Toolkit will focus largely on women and constituent-owned businesses. Globally, the IFC has joined with local partners to launch the Toolkit in more than 13 languages in 24 countries, all of which can now take advantage of the new enhanced version.

Amjad Shamim, an entrepreneur who is the president of AAJ Technologies recently used the toolkit. “This is a great source of information for businesses in the areas of management, planning marketing and human resources. The effort and technology IBM and the IFC have invested in the Toolkit to help freshmen entrepreneurs build and expand their businesses is highly commendable.”

Among the specially designed free tools are:

• an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing,
• free software to build a web site,
• free business forms used for employee performance evaluations,
• community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, group calendars,
• survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions, and
• a multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally.
  

Small businesses can also receive business training delivered via classroom workshops and partnerships with local support providers. The Toolkit can also help small businesses go global by providing detailed market access, investment and trade information for the 64 countries most exported to countries. In the U.S., an Advisory Group will review the more than 500 pieces of content, tools and resources and identify new tools specifically for Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and women-owned businesses.

“This truly is one stop shopping for small businesses and it levels the playing field. We know the tools that large businesses use and we know the role technology can play in leading to growth. Now, every business can have the same chance to succeed. It’s vitally important that we help small businesses who are the major employers and growth engines in developing markets,” said Stanley Litow, IBM Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs. “These are just the kind of tools that can help underserved markets be successful.”

The Toolkit was launched by IFC in 2002. IBM has dedicated more than $1.6 million to transform the Toolkit and rebuild it on an innovative open source platform using top talent in IBM research. The Toolkit now includes new Web 2.0 features such as live chat, online forums, business directories and survey capabilities to create a community where small and medium sized business can collaborate – anywhere around the world. For example, a group of small businesses could gather in an online forum to devise a strategy to bid on a large supply contract rather than as separate bids. The community tools also create an opportunity for peer learning.

In the future, the Toolkit will add new partners, markets and languages and is planned to allow users to connect to it using wireless devices, such as cell phones. In developing markets, mobile devices are increasingly becoming the way users connect to the Internet, and sometimes the only way.

The Toolkit is expanding to reach the massive small business market in India, South Africa and Brazil. The Toolkit is available in English and Spanish and translated in 14 other languages including, Nepali, Vietnamese and Urdu, with Hindi and Arabic set for release in 2007.

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About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing capital in the international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY06, IFC committed $8.3 billion, including syndications, to 284 investments in 66 developing countries. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org.

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com.

Broadcast-quality video clips of the small business toolkit (SME Toolkit) and discussion of its uses are available for download by journalists at www.thenewsmarket.com/ibm.

About FRMBC

FRMBC is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing access and growth for minority businesses in South Florida. The organization’s goal is to increase purchasing from minority businesses by government entities and corporations, while increasing MBEs’ operating capacity through hands-on business assistance, training, and access to technology and capital resources. FRMBC was founded in 1975 and is one of 39 regional councils affiliated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The Council acts as a liaison between Corporate America and Minority Business Enterprises in Dade, Broward, Monroe, St. Lucie, Collier, Charlotte, Martin, and Palm Beach Counties.

You may click on the SME Toolkit link in the "My Favorite Links" section of this site to take advantage of this service.

Dirty Laundry

I was speaking to a leader in the minority business community recently who (with great pain) told me the story of how he'd stepped up to help a few MBEs that needed guidance with regard to building their businesses. My friend gladly scheduled meetings with these MBEs - I believe there was three of them - and to his great disappointment, not one of them showed up, or even called!

This is much like the stories I've heard from Supplier Diversity executives or Minority Council staff members who tell of the frustration of putting on programming, setting appointments, or even scheduling one-on-ones for MBEs who fail to appear, without justification and without professional courtesy. This is a cancer that must stop. There are too many people who are working extremely hard to provide opportunities for minority-owned businesses. When those opportunities materialize, we cannot repay that hard work with indifference.

Minority businesses that conduct themselves in this fashion hurt more than their own reputations. They hurt every minority business. The struggle for economic parity and empowerment for minorities is an uphill battle, laden with misunderstanding and stereotypes. One huge stereotype is what I call the Minority Myth - the idea that somehow minorities produce inferior goods and services or are unprepared for success and are unprofessional.

Minority companies that fail to show up for appointments and events long planned for their benefit reinforce the Minority Myth, erode trust for minority companies, in general, and hurt the cause. I understand that this is a small "minority" of MBEs that engage in these practices. The overwhelming majority of MBEs are outstanding business-people who prove their professionalism every day. These MBEs appreciate the value of people's time and the stakes involved for their companies and the MBE community.

Nevertheless, the offenders should be confronted (professionally of course) and instructed in the art of professionalism and the ramifications of their bad behavior. I want to encourage anyone reading this to have the courage to address this issue wherever encountered. And if you don't know quite how to then talk to someone who can and will.

How can MBEs complain about lack of communication and commitment from mainline corporations when we do not demonstrate those values? There should be no double standards. We should hold ourselves to the same standards that we hold others. If we don't clean up the dirty laundry, who will?

The Power of Partnership

Today the Board of Directors of the Florida Regional Minority Business Council held its annual Board Retreat for strategic planning. The session was moderated by Dick Huebner, President of the Houston Minority Business Council, one of the most successful and well run minority business councils in the country. Dick did an outstanding job of helping the Board to crystallize a plan of action to fulfill its mission of fostering minority business development in South Florida through the work of the Council.

As I listened to the input and the respectful give and take among my fellow Board members, I realized that this is what partnership is all about. The room was filled with representatives from some of America's top corporations, minority-owned businesses, quasi-governmental entities and our awesome CEO, Beatrice Louissaint. Each participant had a point of view, each participant held strong beliefs about the proper course of action on a multiplicity of topics, but each participant checked his/her ego at the door, rolled up their sleeves and got down to work.

The day was stimulating, challenging and invigorating. As a Board, we are united in our mission and empowered to accomplish (and to exceed) our goals. This is the power of partnership at work. I am proud of and motivated by the spirit of rugged individualism that permeates America and the high-powered A-Type personalities that I serve with. However, there is definitely truth in the proposition that Together We Achieve More! That is what a TEAM is all about.

The great basketball player Bill Russell once said, "The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd make my teammates play." That is the essence of teamwork and I experienced it today and I'm thankful for the opportunity to make a difference with folks who I genuinely respect and admire. If you don't have a strong and supportive team, my friend, trust me, you need one!

Go FRMBC for 2008!

If You Build it They Will Come

Ten Years ago I attended a MED Week (National Minority Enterprise Development Week) Conference in Miami, Florida. MED Week is sponsored by the MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency), which operates under the U.S. Department of Commerce. In its own words, the mission of the MBDA is "to achieve entrepreneurial parity for minority business enterprises by actively promoting their ability to grow and compete in the global economy." The MBDA accomplishes this goal, in part, through its annual MED Week conference in Washington DC and select jurisdictions around the country.

I was enlightened and encouraged by the display of governmental and private sector support for minority businesses. One particular booth at the conference caught my attention: The Florida Regional Minority Business Council (FRMBC) - you've got to know your acronyms to do minority business. I quickly learned that the FRMBC is an affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) operating in South Florida - my home base. I was told that the FRMBC exists to connect minority-owned businesses to corporate America.

"Tell me more," I said. I was intrigued by the statement. I had worked in corporate America and for corporate law firms, but I was unfamiliar with the idea of an organization made up of corporations with a mission of contracting with minority-owned suppliers. Being "minority-owned" and in the start-up phase of my business at that time, I gobbled up the information and swore that I would soon affiliate with the organization.

The following day I got back to the grind of starting a new venture and quickly forgot about the council. I filed away the information and would review it wistfully from time to time as I continued to build my business and my brand. About a year later, through informal networking, I made a contact with an insider in a local Fortune 500 company. Through hard work and diligence, I won the corporation as a client. The influx of business helped me to grow the business rapidly.

Our firm developed a strong reputation and hired the talent needed to keep the business growing. During these formative or building years, we held no minority certifications and did not market ourselves as a minority-owned business. My business sold professional services (a law firm) and at that period in the supplier diversity evolution, professional services was still outside of the mainstream of minority business development. Thus, a minority certification was probably of little value at that time, in any event.

Eventually, we won additional large clients based upon word-of-mouth and up-selling our existing clients. It was at that time that we decided we had the girth and experience to seek even larger opportunities and pursued a minority certification. The point of the story is this: Many MBEs experience frustration in trying to build their businesses through Supplier Diversity channels because they seek to do business with major corporations prior to building a truly sustainable business. I would suggest that MBEs should do the opposite. They should first build strong businesses and then advertise their minority status.

If you build it (a great business) they will come!

You Must Give in Order to Receive

I have a passion for small and minority-owned businesses. We'll call them minority business enterprises (MBEs) for the purposes of this blog. One of the frequently asked questions I receive from MBEs is, "how can I get the attention of major corporations that I want to do business with?" or some other variation on that theme. There are many answers to that question, but I would like to focus on a few strategies that I've used and watched others use with great results over the years.

The first of these strategies is the principle of service. MBEs must learn to give in order to receive - to serve before they are served. MBEs that are certified through the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and its affiliate councils have the tremendous (and fruitful) opportunity of serving in their local minority business council. Typically, the local councils are under-staffed or thinly-staffed and in need of help from the certified MBEs in their jurisdictions.

There are numerous opportunities to serve. MBEs may serve in their area of expertise or may choose to volunteer time and resources to the council in another realm. There are excellent opportunities to serve, chair or co-chair several committees with interests as diverse as event planning to technology. By serving on one or more of the local committees, MBEs will obtain the ability to work closely with other MBES and corporate members.

In so doing, relationships will develop naturally and the MBE will eventually be able to present its qualifications/attributes in a non-threatening, non-salesman like fashion. As the MBE proves itself faithful in service over time, it will experience this breakthrough: Corporations will seek out its services without ever being approached or solicited! This is because people do business with people who they know and trust. Volunteering time, working hard and getting a job done right is a great way of developing trust.

From time to time I speak with MBEs who claim dissatisfaction with NMSDC Supplier Diversity programs. They claim that the funds invested to become certified have not yielded any dividends. They usually register complaints about the local minority business council and its seeming ineffectiveness. When I hear from these companies, I ask them if they are involved or serving in the council in any shape or fashion. The answer is usually no.

I then share with them the benefits of serving (on many levels) and the opportunities available to begin serving right away. Few follow the advice. The others simply make excuses why they can't serve and continue complaining about their lack of business.