Crowdfund Newbie: Gina and the Grocery Store
OhioMBE – March 15, 2014
By Ambrose Moses, III
In a couple of months, Gina will graduate from Central State University where she double-majored in biology and business management. She hasn’t made up her mind whether to attend grad school or medical school. In the meantime, she wants to start a small community grocery store.
Gina wrote a research paper where she learned that the African-American population has a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015. Gina concluded that a significant amount of this money must be spent on food because everyone needs food. So, why are there not many black-owned grocery stores serving those communities?
Can Gina use crowdfunding to get a piece of that $1.1 trillion?
Gina figures that there are African-Americans and others who live in urban, suburban, or rural areas who could benefit from and would be supportive of such a venture.
She learned there soon will be rules in place that will allow her to use crowdfunding as a way to raise money from investors. These investors will include regular, everyday folks from all walks of life who support Gina and the venture.
She envisions a chain of franchised, urban grocery stores that help to keep a portion of the $1.1 trillion in buying power circulating and building wealth within the African-American community.
Whether Gina’s efforts to help are successful will depend upon Americans’ and African-American’s choices concerning crowdfunding and investing in businesses that support and build wealth in the African-American population.
For more information on Crowdfunding, please contact the Ohio Business Development Center at www.OhioBDC.com
