Are you looking to support black-owned businesses? With the help of Google, it's now easier than ever to find and support black-owned companies. Google has added new ways to help users find and support black-owned businesses, such as adding a black-owned company attribute to their profile so that customers can see that it is black-owned when they find that company through Google Search and Maps. This week, Google extended the black-owned attribute to the site's Purchases tab, so that people can more easily find and shop at black-owned businesses. In addition to Google, there are other resources available to help you identify black-owned businesses.
The Nile List is an application and website that publishes listings and references of black-owned companies and allows users to search for companies by category or keyword. Official Black Wall Street is another app with global reach, including more than 5000 companies in 10 different countries. Black Owned Brooklyn is a directory that only includes Brooklyn-based businesses, but also features stories of founders and business owners who can be a great resource for other merchants. The Virginia Black Business Directory is a 501 (c) 3 organization that uses community collaboration, provides educational opportunities, and hosts networking events and programs to amplify black voices.
Founded by Khadijah Robinson, The Nile List brings black creators of retail products closer to interested customers. ByBlack is another directory that allows black companies to be listed for free, as well as receive ByBlack certification. In July, Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders also began work with a first cohort of 12 startups. This is part of the company's commitment announced last month to support the black community with “initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions. As private companies are not required to comply with the strict SEC filing requirements, it can be difficult to obtain specific information about the success of a private company. However, public companies must comply with SEC rules; this allows us to learn much more about them.
Unfortunately, the SEC only requires companies to disclose financial performance data, which would not include the shareholder demographics needed to determine whether a company is minority-owned or not. Add the Black owned attribute to highlight your business when shoppers are deciding where to buy. With these resources available, it's easier than ever to find and support black-owned businesses.
