MATTYDALE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The National Bureau of Economic Research reported that Black-owned businesses declined 41% from February 2020 to April 2020.
In a time where the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many Black-owned businesses, Syracuse native Mekhi Flagg decided to start one.
Flagg started a t-shirt line called NFM, which stands for “No Future Mistakes,” in 2018.
Flagg didn’t plan to open a store during that time, but that changed the following year when the shirts became popular.
“People was buying t-shirts, buying t-shirts, buying t-shirts, so we said we might as well get a location in the future,” Flagg said.
A space in the Mattydale Plaza strip mall became available, and Flagg opened NFM Clothing & Kicks in October 2020.
“Everybody kept saying ‘don’t do it now. It probably won’t work cause they gonna close, they gonna do this,’ and we say, yo, this is our chance to do it,” Flagg said.
Some of the neighboring business owners also tried to discourage him from opening the store.
“They told us it’s like the worse time ever,” Flagg said.
The decision to start a business during the pandemic was scary to Flagg, but he took a leap of faith. He and his family used their savings to open the store.
“We don’t take any grants or loans out. We plan on doing it in the future, but we wanted to see what we were capable of doing with our own money,” Flagg said.
Flagg looked into getting loans, but it was a process he wasn’t familiar with.
This is the reality of many Black entrepreneurs, according to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It reported that Black entrepreneurs lack strong relationships with banks, which makes them more likely to use personal funds or contributions from family and friends.
Dr. Juhanna Rogers leads community engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts through an organization called CenterState CEO and believes racial discrimination can lead to Black-owned businesses being undervalued in the marketplace.
“Many times with the wealth gap in this country, Black entrepreneurs are starting and their network doesn’t often have the connections to help them leverage access to cash,” Rogers said.
Rogers believes that many Black entrepreneurs not having access to business loans and grants may cause them to not recover to the level they were at before the pandemic or cause them to close permanently.
Furthermore, Rogers believes the pandemic has made many Black entrepreneurs get creative to stay afloat.
“I think it speaks to how even in the midst of times like these, we’ve always had to make a way out of no way,” Rogers said. “That’s part of our story.”
Flagg has shifted his business by heavily relying on online sales along with delivery and shipping options.
“Foot traffic haven’t been so great, but social media is where a lot of the money come from,” Flagg said.
In the future, he hopes to expand the business by opening a gaming facility for kids where they’ll have free activities and snacks.
Flagg also hopes to inspire others to go after their dreams no matter the circumstances.
