At this time of year many of us are spending our hard-earned cash buying presents for our loved ones and it’s clear that the real winners are the retailers who regard the festive period as their most profitable. But have you considered patronising the many, quality black owned businesses that are now available?
One entrepreneur has launched a campaign to encourage the black community to purchase at least three gifts from black-owned businesses this Christmas.
Nicola Lespeare, founder of a business (of the same name) that offers stylish celebration cards inspired by black culture and style, was inspired to create the 3 Gifts Challenge after speaking to her friends who wished to buy all of their Christmas presents from black-owned businesses this year. She began to think about the positive impact we could all make if we made an effort to spend within our community.
In the last few years there has seen a steady rise in the number of black owned businesses in the UK, not only in the industries of hair, beauty, food, art and fashion where we have always excelled, but also expanding into other markets and services such as personal development and coaching, in addition to digital services in branding and marketing. This is a truly exciting time for black entrepreneurs, who are pioneering fantastic brands and companies, with a focus on high quality merchandise and excellent customer service.
Nicola said:
“We are becoming more conscious about the strength of the black pound and recognising that we can and should elevate our community by spending within. This in turn boosts our own economic growth and creates jobs.”
“Many mainstream outlets simply don’t cater to our demographic, be it media publications, health and beauty options, nude shades of apparel, and greetings cards to name a few. We are often overlooked or misrepresented. In many cases we are still purchasing products from other demographics despite the fact that they have little knowledge, or a genuine interest in the goods or services we are buying from them.”
Showcasing black-owned businesses is something we’re extremely passionate about at Melanmag.com, particularly through our Melan-In Business articles so we couldn’t be happier to support this challenge and urge all our readers to do the same.
Your support, be it through a purchase, no matter how small or sharing by word of mouth about a great experience you’ve had with a black-owned service, can make a tremendous difference to a business succeeding and reaching a wider audience.
Nicola continued:
“Do make an effort to really think about what we can achieve together, we support and promote black owned businesses to sustain black economic growth. This Christmas, join me plus many others, and pledge to the 3 Gifts Christmas Challenge.”
Black-owned business directories for gift ideas:
Shop and Save with a discount card for black businesses:
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