SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Black businesses are growing nationwide but are still underrepresented, according to a report from the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity.
As ABC 10News marks Black History Month, our newsroom wants to highlight programs making a difference here in San Diego.
10News anchor Wale Aliyu reported live from Daygo Performance, a Black-owned business in National City.
DeAndre Steward, one of the co-owners of the gym, told 10News that one of the keys to success is having business literacy.
"How hard is it being a business owner? How hard is it being a Black business owner, and how hard is it being a Black business owner in San Diego?" Aliyu asked Steward.
"It's difficult for all three cause when you start, you don't know how to distinguish personal and business," says Steward. "You just kind of tie it all into one, and then there's a Black business owner. It's kind of hard to get started. No one believes in you.
That's where Black San Diego comes in.
10News has featured the group before because of their "Daygo Eatz" event, which highlights the Black culinary community and entertainment.
"We only make up about 6% of the population, so it's not like when you drive down South and you know exactly where to go," says Sheri Jones, a co-founder of Black San Diego. "Because we are a transient town, we don't have a Black neighborhood, so we created an online Black community. It's about resources, events and everything Black San Diego."
The nonprofit established in 2016 not only connects Black San Diegans, showing them where to find their community, but it also helps businesses survive.
Their B-6 program teaches the essentials and cuts down confusion.
"When you Google the information, it's so all over the place, and it's overwhelming that you don't know exactly what you need. And so after a bunch of research, we just determined that it was like insurance, bank accounts, it was... Do you have a DBA, an LLC, or are you an S corp?" says Jones. "Do you have a license? Do you have a permit? An EIN? Those are things that we researched and found that 'Hey, you need these six things,' and once you have these six things we can take it to the next level from there."
Black San Diego has 50,000 members, including Steward.
"I'm pretty confident in my own skills and capabilities, but Black San Diego helped me excel a little bit more, a little faster," Steward says.
The organization says it has been able to help about 100 businesses get their footing so far, but it says there is still a lot for work to be done. In its 2024 business survey, Black San Diego learned that 17% of business owners still did not have insurance, so this year it I making a push to help all business owners get the insurance they need.
