What Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Taught Us About Black Entrepreneurship From His Life

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught America what it needed to learn. He taught nonviolence in a nation which was built on violence, endless violence and injustice. In that, there is so much that can be learned from his life as a civil rights leader and reverend when it comes to Black Entrepreneurship, and those things are listed below.

Keep Praying

A praying people is a believing people, and the one thing you have when you have a body of believing people who know how to pray is success in all forms. This same belief system works in business because the foundation of prayer is faith. Without faith, it is literally impossible to accomplish anything – even in business.

Keep Marching

Soldiers march. Soldiers are trained and they remain in step. Soldiers go in with a plan and their goal is to come out with victory. No smart soldier goes into battle unequipped. He or she must be armed with the proper tools and be comfortable using those tools of battle in order to win.

In business, Black Entrepreneurs are soldiers because they must arm themselves with the knowledge and power to gain access to what they need and to build on that. An unequipped business owner is like a house without a foundation. Any storm will knock it down. In order to keep marching, one has to prepare to conquer and prepare to rise again.

Stay True to Who You Are

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was true to who he was. Everyone knew exactly who they were getting when it came down to the basics of who he was. The same should be true for your business. If the specialty of the restaurant is ribs, then the restaurant should always have ribs. There should never be a time when a patron cannot get ribs from the rib shop! The chocolate milk may be out, but not the ribs.

The business must remain true to what it is regardless of what is added to the menu as time goes on. Basically, DREAM WITH A PLAN and…

Keep the Vision Plain

The vision was so plain for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the masses, and that vision was justice and equality for all. That was the business plan, and he it was solid and plain.

Don’t confuse people with what you are trying to do and accomplish as a business owner. Write the vision down as the goal and objective of the business plainly and make it come to pass.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.