Black Entrepreneur – Hamp's Corner of America

Unnecessary use of an Adjective

Do you ever notice many people who use words like Unconditional or Unapologetic are often making an obvious point?

For instance, I’ve noticed some like to use say “Unconditional Love.” Frequently they are putting another person on notice as to how they should behave in a relationship. To love, regardless of the relationship, doesn’t require an adjective to improve the intensity of the emotion. All that is needed are reasons to feel that way about something or someone.

Love is a given; one doesn’t have to describe it in some unique way. We don’t wait for someone to fall in love with us before we, in turn, love them. If they are our offspring, siblings, or parents, we love them because of our relationship. There are no other qualifications they have to go through to earn our love. The emotion is not always mutual or shared between two people. The explanation could be for numerous reasons. Whatever the reason, placing such an adjective in front of the word, love is not going to enable the other person to love you.

Say, for instance, your sibling, son, or daughter is socially challenged. They don’t interact with other people. Their social ideas are out of whack. Don’t have or can’t keep a friend, immature; they depend upon others to keep them fed, clothed, housed in a place to exist. Attempting to motivate these individuals is an endless exercise with no end in sight.

No one wants to take care of a grown man or woman. Relatives want you to succeed, show improvement, or at least try to become independent. If there are no signs that you are trying, one might be confronted with another adjective. Your relatives may indicate “Tough Love” is what you need, in place of money, or providing other subsistence items.

Tough Love may not be what they envision as assistance, yet it is the best remedy for individuals requiring motivation. Sometimes people need a reason to achieve the basics of need. Don’t underestimate a swift shove in the rear to get a person headed in the right direction.

Then there is the boisterous individual. The one who feels they have to get in your face to facilitate some response. We as Americans tend to overstate the urgency of something or the other. For instance, a man trying to make a point by stating he is “Unapologetic Black.”

The individual places his picture on a poster advertising his business. Keep in mind he wants some cooperation from outside his company. First of all, they can tell his race by looking at his picture on the poster. Or if there is no poster, those who he approaches will know his skin color.

“Unapologetic Black” is a way of puffing up, sticking your chest out, which can intimidate the very people you need to cooperate with your plan. If not intimidation, then think of it as a turnoff.

It’s like sending an email to someone, whereas the entire communication is in capital letters. In such cases, one cannot get to the message because the all-caps smothering the wording.

That may not be the person’s intention, but someone will conclude the senders’ personality as uneducated. Or in the case of the guy on the poster, an angry, uncooperative individual.

As the face of your business, you have to show you’re able to converse in a way to satisfy investors, customers, or your employees. Any correspondence that reaches those people before you do will reflect your personality. In other words, your ability to listen to other ideas may get you that contract, loan, or donation.

One may consider these ideas as you are preparing a resume. You don’t know the personality of the Human Resource person. You must be smart when you are listing your hobbies. Somebody might be impressed if you are a dog lover, musician, or love Rhythm and Blues. That might interest the employer to place you above another individual.

Another way to think about this entire thought process is pretty much self-explanatory words matter in all types of communication. Words express how one feels, what they are going to do, even explain what one has done.

In summation, an adjective is a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to, or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it. Think before using them carelessly. Make sure they help you rather than turn people away from you. It applies to business or life.

Peace, blessings, stay healthy, vigilant for our American rights. Make it a day in which Jesus Christ would be proud of you,

Codis Hampton II

Follow Hamp at https://twitter.com/#!/HampTwo

Join us for the live broadcast of our bi-monthly BTR Musical Shows at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hampscornerofamerica. Or play the broadcast at your leisure.

We present the republication of the Authors’ tour of South Korea as a 17-year-old GI with Unchon-ni, South Korea; I Remember 1962-63. Check out the details at https://outskirtspress.com/Unchonni

We are in a continuing effort to publicize, Gracie Hall-Hampton, the Arkansas Years 1917-1953. Based on the life of the Authors Grandmother. The Novel examines an era of Jim Crow that many in our society may have forgotten occurred against people of color. Meanwhile, we celebrate the publication of his fifth book, Misguided Intentions. A book where family relationships are questioned to the core. Read MI’s review at https://redheadedbooklover.com/gracie-hall-hampton-codis-hampton-ii/ Click on the publisher-Authors page at https://outskirtspress.com/MisguidedIntentions

Our Parent Company and sponsor is CHIIA Group, online at https://hcofa.net/

And we are off, Literally that is.

And so, it goes. A perfect example of a carefully planned Iowa 1600 statewide political caucus sites botched by their attempted use of an App to report results into a central location. Yes, you would be correct in thinking that most of the candidates tried to spin the news to their advantage. Most campaigns had ways of collecting info to gage where they would finish in the voting process. Nevertheless, they all tried to put the best spin in their favor. Those who finished lower in the count were glad that it was over, eager to get out of town on to New Hampshire and beyond.

In the words of Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure, “This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down, and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will take time to report the results further.” Their official word is they are withholding the official results because of those inconsistencies.

I don’t know about you, but I am still trying to make up my mind for whom to vote. My criteria for service are simple, who can restore the integrity of the United States at home and abroad. And who can beat trump at any game he tries during the 2020 election process.

Issues like health care cost, voting rights, immigration status, partisanship, jobs, infrastructure repair, criminal investigation of illegal political bribes, and climate care are at the top of my concerns. It is going to take time to correct Trump’s errors. Not to think of issues that he never addressed.

The last three years seem like double or triple that amount. Every day and I mean every day, there is an obnoxious, even outright lying tweet about something or the other. It’s a complete turnoff unless you happen to like the author.

Citizens look back at a time when there was at least civility in our politics. Now there are unflattering nicknames of anyone who disagrees with the white house. We ask for fairness in our elections. We hope to hear words that inspire our children from our political leaders. We wonder if there are senators who realize their images, words and votes are subscribe for history daily. Can they foresee their adult grandchildren reading their words, trying to understand why they voted a certain way during the impeachment trial? For all that matters, it looks to the outsider as if they don’t care how they come across to others.

Now, we all must do our part to prevent another term from the current president while we all wonder how can survive another four years, if reelected, of Trump. Our vote in November is mandatory. Just as it must go to someone who can oust the current president, God bless and save this nation.

Codis Hampton II

Follow Hamp at https://twitter.com/#!/HampTwo

Join us for the live broadcast of our bi-monthly BTR Shows at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hampscornerofamerica

We present the republication of the Authors’ tour of South Korea as a 17-year-old GI with Unchon-ni. Check out the details at https://outskirtspress.com/Unchonni

We are in a continuing effort to publicize, Gracie Hall-Hampton, the Arkansas Years 1917-1953. Based on the life of the Authors Grandmother. The Novel examines an era of Jim Crow that many in our society may have forgotten occurred against people of color. Meanwhile, we celebrate the publication of his fifth book, Misguided Intentions. A book where family relationships questioned to the core. Read MI’s review at https://redheadedbooklover.com/gracie-hall-hampton-codis-hampton-ii/ Click on the publisher-Authors page at https://outskirtspress.com/MisguidedIntentions

Get any of his books by visiting my Amazon.com Authors page at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B017TYFKBI?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070

Look for new books, updates of current titles, and submission of short articles to major magazines upcoming in 2020. We love to pass on our written word. – Hamp

Our Parent Company and sponsor is CHIIA Group, online at http://hcoa.net/ and http://www.chiia.com/home.html. Our Retail Site is https://frostyltd.com/frosty-ltd-com

Black Hair Care Industry Update of 2017

There has been an overall change in the way consumers buy hair over the last few years. They have joined consumers of other goods and services in the shift to online purchases. That doesn’t mean the collapse of sales of hair and associated products from brick and mortar stores market. It does say that a smart entrepreneur would be advised to sell both in-store and online. The feeling being one system may augment the other. The point is, versatility is the operative word as it is in all sales these days.
Sam Ennon, the founder of BOBSA (Black Owned Beauty Supply Association), has been bobsa_main_profile pic.jpg NEW JDlogo associated with the black hair business for practically a lifetime. BOBSA (www.bobsa.org) was created to meet the needs of the black consumer of hair products. At the website, one can find answers and current information in all aspects of the hair business today.
Recognized as a voice in the industry when related to consumer behavior, sales and product from the entrepreneur side, and the current state of affairs, the top Chinese hair manufacturer sought out Mr. Ennon last year. That cooperation resulted in the formation of EBHA (https://ebhahair.com/ ) or Enterprise of Black Hair Alliance. It was created to directly challenge the Koreans domination of the 9 billion dollars black hair care market. Along with providing black entrepreneurs direct access to products and supplies that the Koreans were sharing only with fellow Korean Beauty Supply owners. In fact, their mission statement reads as follows,
Enterprise of Black Hair Alliance (EBHA) is dedicated to a shared effort to create and develop a beauty industry that bridges with the black community. Our vision embraces the belief that our alliance will provide meaningful opportunities for all parties to generate revenues and manifest premium products and brands.
Our collaboration will enable the black community to fully realize the potential opportunities in committing to the creation of industry brands that will bring price and recognition to everyone involved in this collaboration.
An Entrepreneur reading that statement could conclude that he/she can become a player in a market whereas before anyone, not Korean was shut out of the management process. The intention is excellent so how is it working on a day to day basis? An evolving entity is a short answer. I’ll have more about that process at a later date. For now, you can go to the website and ask your question of interest. As you can see by the pictured ad, competition for quality products at competitive pricing is not a problem.
With the market being so versatile, even EBHA has gone through changes to meet the needs of the consumers. As they look for packaging and pricing that attracts an avid buying consumer. The Korean beauty supply industry sells what is known as Commercial hair. Since they have dominated the industry for the last decade or so, many users think this is the better grade hair.
Meanwhile, Sam Ennons’ developed a website, http://www.thecollectionhair.com/ , to sell directly to consumers. He and EBHA sell what is known as Bundle Hair. It takes four The_Collection_5x7_Front.jpgnew bundles to make a full and complete hairpiece. A grade that is superior to the Commercial Grade of the Koreans. If you look at The Collection site as well as EBHA’s you will notices the display layout and ease of selecting a product. That is not an anomaly.
People are creatures of habit and are already used to buying from the Koreans. Most continue to think that is the best quality hair. So to get them to switch over to another vendor can be a monumental task. Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to build a reputation. Short of having that kind of word-of-mouth time, the website is your introduction and should provide the tools that are helpful to the consumer. It must be simple yet attractive for most. It should make for a comfortable transactional visit while allowing the user to carefully examine the hair. The supporting products must be packaged and displayed in a way that is slick and informative. And in the end, once a buyer receives their product promptly and uses it, they must be satisfied. They will pass their experience on, good or bad, so the impression your site makes is critical to your bottom-line.
Mr. Ennon’s site provides incentives like a thirty day 100% no questions asked money back guarantee. There is Free Shipping on orders over $75. Some items are dropped ship; others are sent from the US with a 5-8 day arrival date. There are no customs, tax or other duty fees on imports. Sam also has a growing following through BOBSA. He has a program that will provide a BOBSA entrepreneur a complete inventory and stock their shelves for the grand opening. Thus, a shopper can say this site is not only innovative but indeed consumer friendly and competitive by design.
Sam, an idea man, has another entity that is one my favorite concepts. Think of it, you, a consumer, are sitting in a beauty shop, barber shop, or visited some other type retail outlet and you notice this large black vending machine that offers black hair products. Your first impression is the uniqueness of the idea. As a hair care consumer, you may see some of the product you use for sale in the box. I won’t go through the full concept here, but you can visit the website at http://theblackboxbarbercaddy.com/
There is The Black Box Barber Caddy for men’s hair and skin products, The Black Box Beauty Supply for products catering to women and The Black Box Natural Products filled with natural products. For clarification of details, you can email Sam Ennon at info@theblackboxbarbercaddy.com. Or you may want to give him a phone call at 650-863-3491.

All in all, the black hair care product industry is alive, competitive and now servicing their consumers in many more ways. No longer is it dominated by the Koreans. Although depending on where you are, it may physically look like it via the sheer number of Korean brick and mortar stores in our neighborhoods. Look for a following up video interview with my friend Sam Ennon before the end of this month. We both subscribe to the idea that black dollars must be circulated within the black community to gain wealth. We will talk more about that concept on the interview. He will also bring us up to date on his collaboration with EBHA. Watch our social media sites for the date of that interview.

Peace, stay vigilant for our American rights. Make it a day in which Jesus Christ would be proud of you,

Codis Hampton II
Follow Hamp at https://twitter.com/#!/HampTwo
Subscribe to this blog at http://wp.me/p65rCa-il

Join us for the live broadcast of our bi-monthly BTR Shows at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hampscornerofamerica
We are in a continuing effort to publicize my book, Gracie Hall-Hampton, the Arkansas Years 1917-1953. It examines an era of Jim Crow that many in our society may have forgotten occurred against people of color. Meanwhile, we celebrate the publication of my latest and fifth book, Misguided Intentions. Click on the publisher-Authors page at https://outskirtspress.com/MisguidedIntentions
Get any of my books by visiting my Amazon.com Authors page at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B017TYFKBI?ref_=pe_1724030_132998070

Our Parent Company and sponsor is CHIIA Group, online at http://hcoa.net/ and http://www.chiia.com/home.html.

Forming Co-operatives is a Smart Business Decision

The right kind of Co-op is a boost in spending power, product and inventory management for the small Entrepreneur. Wikipedia defines a Co-op as “an autonomous association of people who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit.” The operative word is cooperative. Further, it means that a group of individuals has decided to band together because it makes them stronger in some manner than trying to go it alone.

Back in the day, my wife and I was the owner-manager of a Gift and Record Shop. We got lucky enough to be located next door to a pizza restaurant. During one of the hot and muggy summer weekends, say like…Thursday nights through Sunday night, my eyes were opened. After the bars had closed, the parking lot filled up with a lot of couples, or people stopping to get food before turning in for the evening. I extended my hours to accommodate this crowd. Now I was getting the spinoff from that jolly and enthusiastic crowd who’d had a few drinks and noticed that we were still open too. After eating or ordering a pizza to go, they would stop in buy a record or some pretty little gift to impress their date and head off into the night, smiling from ear to ear. Oh, don’t be coy…you know what would come next between those couples.

That particular summer saw a big threat to the mom and pop record stores. They were being chased out of business by the large record store chains. Now that I had a good customer base, I thought I would try to talk to some of the other small shop owners into forming a co-op of sorts to buy records directly from the large record labels.

Five of us met in the shop of another record store after business hours. We will call him Jim for this article. I presented my plan to the group. It fell flat on its face. There was no debate; the plan was no good, according to Jim, the oldest shop owner in the group. Even though we all were currently getting our records from the same downtown wholesaler (let’s call him Bossman), paying the same price regardless of the quantity, we could not strike up a deal.

I’d already spoke to a large chain out of Chicago that was willing to sell us records at an average savings of fifty to seventy-five cent less than we were currently paying Boss man. And, depending upon the size of the record (45 single or 33.3 LP), artist, and label, some purchases were returnable if we didn’t sell them over a certain period of time. It was a sweetheart of an offer, but we had to buy in certain quantiles to get the deal. It was an ideal reason for forming a co-op.

The co-op deal fell through not because it didn’t make sense, but because of the old “who died and made you the big chief” syndrome. It was quickly noted that I was the youngest of the group. Jim, approaching his tenth year of business, did not see any value in the proposal. He and one other guy, who I later learned was a friend of his, didn’t want to anger Boss man. I never could find a way to validate Jim’s wholesale price. I suspect he had a different kind of deal. His shop was smaller in size, as opposed to others, only sold records. Although he said, we all were paying the same price. I’d already been told that every business owner paid the same prices by Bossman. He also gave me a printed wholesale price sheet.

The Bossman supplied almost all of Milwaukee Record stores, white, black, Hispanic or whoever bought records wholesale. He even shipped to the suburbs. The biggest problem I and others had was that Bossman would put his LP’s & 45 on sale for the same price he sold them wholesale. He was not trying to help you out in any shape of form. If you bought 4, 5 or ten copies of a record, no matter the format, you owned it. No returns unless it was discovered the records was scratched. So you either had to sell the record at some price, usually at a loss if it was old or eat the cost and get rid of it any way you wanted. Either way, Bossman had been paid his price and was also selling the new release at the same sale price he asked us for at wholesale. Now day’s people are savvier about their industry than we were at the time.

Today allows for a much more level playing field. There still may not be much profit margin between wholesale prices versus a retail price, especially for small stores. Product cost is always going to be the number one concern of the consumer, thus the retailer. Yet, now I believe an invaluable difference is how you market your product, the quality of the same and your shops customer care and service. You hear certain entrepreneurs talk about it all the time. After you have settled on a competitive price for your goods and product, you have got to produce an environment in which to offer the same.

As people, we always remember how we are treated, was it a pleasant experienced at say…a dentist office? I have a local dentist I’ve used since moving to Pittsburg in 1996. He was recommended to us by my wife’s co-worker. I was nervous on my first visit to his small office. Normally I am one of those people who warn (which I did) the dentist before I sat down. “Don’t start anything and there won’t be nothing. Doc, I cannot stand pain so…watch it.” He just smiled, while reassuring me that I was in good hands.

First of all, you sit in his dentist chair, serenaded by soft jazz music. The pain you ask, I don’t remember. I do remember the precision he showed as he went about his work. He shook my jaw and gave me a shot to numb the area he needed to drill and fill. I never lost consciousness as he carried on a conversation with me trying to contribute with my mouth wide open. My ears were also fixed on the sounds emitting from his office speakers. Suddenly it was over; he was telling me he will see me in six months. I got in the car and could not wait to tell my wife what a wonderful experience I had at this dentist office.

I know, this might be an extreme example, but you can equate this experience with any profession. Look at today’s restaurants, displays in the mall windows, on the department store’s floor. They don’t only make attractive displays for holidays. You walk in one of the malls quaint shops or a high-end jewelry store, the temperature’s just right and they have impeccable display lighting. The product is laying there as if it’s saying “Hi there, take me home with you.” Not trying to shock your system while you daydream but now think of WalMart. Do you see the difference?

As a small entrepreneur, there are many subtle changes you can make to create atmosphere. And there is no doubt you can and should create it, especially if you want staying power. That goes for websites, as well as brick and mortar stores.

Use your business associates to help you improve, buy in quantity or bounce ideas off them while networking. If you do not remember anything else about this article, remember this…pick those business associates, and people who you interact with on a daily basis very carefully. The one mantra one continually hears when attending “Success” seminars in any field, including personal growth, is to choose your associates and friends wisely. The difference between me back in the day and now, is I do not waste time interacting with people who have no plan or in the extreme case really have no clue. I am not mean or anti-social. I love people, but I know some type of people is not good for my state of well-being. So I just avoid them as much as possible. It’s for personal and business reasons. I can now report that I have a great group of people that I interact with on a continuous basis. They all bring something to the table as I hope I do the same for them. People who have your type of goals and aspirations are not hard to find these days. You just have to reach out and network with all kind of people. This attitude is also the reason I love communicating that fact to all of you via my articles and books.

No matter what anyone says, there is still room in the retail and even services marketplace for creativity and cooperation. Don’t, believe me, sat down in a quite area and turn on your laptop or tablet. Disregard the news headlines on the portals; listen to your electronic friend talking to you. It’s saying, “Where we going today Boss? What is it you want to know? What can I do for you?” Let your creativity flow and you will find the answers to your questions are not that far away after all.

Peace, make it a day in which Jesus Christ would be proud of you,

Codis Hampton II

Follow Hamp at https://twitter.com/#!/HampTwo

Subscribe to this blog at http://wp.me/p65rCa-3V

Join us at the live broadcast of our bimonthly BTR Shows at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hampscornerofamerica

Get my latest book, a collection of my Blogs/Articles from 1999 through 2014. It’s entitled The Episodic Thoughts of Hamp. Go to the following Authors page link for details. http://www.outskirtspress.com/webPage/isbn/9781478746232

Our Parent Company and sponsor is CHIIA Group, online at https://hcofa.net/