Top African American Brands

In the United States the month of February is recognized as African American History month (or Black History month, depending on how old-school you are). In honor of that I’d like to do a series of blogs highlighting the achievements of African Americans in entrepreneurship and business. Right away, as soon as I thought of this idea I thought of some really admirable and heavy-hitting business owners that I’d like to profile… and then I thought “I should try to interview them!”

As I try to make that happen behind the scenes I’d also like to draw your attention to the top black or African American run companies from the Inc-500 list of 2012. Now, I have a love-hate relationship with the Inc 500 list. On the one hand, I appreciate it as a resource to be able to see how rapidly growth can happen for a business. On the other hand, Inc 500 does not take into account PROFITABILITY, which means a company can have tremendous growth, ie, have a substantial amount of revenue coming in… but still not be profitable. You can go from making $100,000 to $1,000,000 in a few years, but if your expenditures are close or equal to your revenue I don’t really see the growth in that…

In any case, there’s no way of knowing the “profit margins” of these businesses at a glance so I won’t get too distracted by it. For the interim, I love the inspiration that the Inc 500 list provides, and I do still see it as a great achievement for most. There are 6 businesses that made the list in Inc 500 list, and an additional 70 0r so that made the Inc 5,000 list. That’s 1% of businesses in the Inc 500, and 14% in the Inc 5,000. I do admire that achievement. Take a look at the list and see if you any of these businesses are in your neck of the woods.

As I gather my thoughts on which brands I’d like to highlight this month I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Inc 500/5,000 list in the comments below. Do you strive to get such recognition in your business?