By Autumn Jackson
Special to the AFRO
Many entrepreneurs are struggling with the growth and profit of their businesses during COVID-19, due to social distancing, and city and state restrictions in place.
One of those entrepreneurs is Jasmine Slide, a Coppin State University junior, studying criminal justice. She chose this career path based on her father’s experience as a Maryland State Trooper. According to Slide, considering her background, majoring in criminal justice made her feel at home, but this year focusing on academics has been tough.
“So far this semester has been challenging. It can be overwhelming learning remotely. My goal is to overcome any hardships and continue passing all of my classes this semester,” Slide said.
J.S. Jewelry is the business she is working on, which she named after herself. With no prior knowledge of starting a small business, Slide uses YouTube to guide her through the brainstorming process. She uses a planner to set her weekly schedule around her education and business.
“Many of the generation Z’ers are exploring entrepreneurship either in place of college, while in college, or immediately after college. This generation wants to be their own boss,” said Ericka Covington, business professor and Faculty Senate President of Coppin State University. “They are not afraid to try new businesses, new ideas or create new products,” she said.
Due to COVID-19 it has been tough on the job market with shopping malls, movie theatres and other businesses forced to remain closed for months. In the past two months, Maryland’s unemployment rate has been hovering around seven percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Starting off this business, I did not realize how expensive it was,” Slide said. “To start my business, I would need at least $400. I also want to sell headbands, purses, sunglasses and everything girls and guys love.”
Experts say the future of small businesses can be unpredictable, especially for minorities and women during the pandemic.
Baltimore City’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Development office works to secure grants and loans for small businesses in need of funding assistance. MWBD Director Paul Taylor said, “Of the 700 businesses that we’ve worked with, we were able to help small businesses get grants up to $15,000 to help them maintain their businesses.”
Slide has postponed her business launch. Without having a dependable job, financial stability is a challenge to building a fully functional website for her customers prior to the launch.
There is a word of advice from Covington to all would-be entrepreneurs like Slide. “Many individuals believe that when a good money stream is coming in, it’s absurd to think that anything would interrupt business, but as COVID has demonstrated that surely isn’t the case.” She said this is the time to work on strategy and planning.
Slide said she is determined to launch her business by conducting raffles and sales, engaging with potential customers, and promoting her jewelry on social media. She is vowing not to give up.
Autumn Jackson is a Strategic Communication major in the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University.