Three lessons learned from my recent pro-bono consulting work for a Black-owned business

I’m grateful to SAP for the opportunity to be part of the first cohort of the Pro-Bono for Economic Equity program in 2022. The program is a classy stand-up move by SAP and is yet another proof-point of its commitment to its mission of helping the world run better and improve people's lives.

The Pro-Bono for Economic Equity program was launched in 2021 by SAP in response to the social justice movement. The aim is to foster economic equity for Black-owned businesses and social enterprises. It involves SAP employees leveraging their professional skills as pro bono consultants for these under-resourced businesses and helping them address their business challenges while strengthening their resilience and operations. On the other hand, the program also provides SAP employees the opportunity to become Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Ambassadors and helps them develop inclusive leadership skills and empathy.

Nine Black-owned businesses were selected as part of the first cohort. Shaun McClintock, Nadia Said, and I from SAP were matched and assigned to Inspire by Tyler, a black-owned business based in Chicago. Our gig was for six weeks. It started on May 2nd and ended on June 10th, 2022.

Here are my three lessons learned:

Be comfortable with being uncomfortable

Systemic racism in the US has a long history and, as a topic, is uncomfortable, to say the least. I’d recommend watching the Systemic Racism Explained video. It’s a short 4-minute clip. It was shared with us by Shan Cureton of Pyxera Global, a partner company that helps SAP execute this program. She also led an open and insightful discussion about this challenging topic amongst us during the pre-work that we did. I had read and watched movies and documentaries about racism in the U.S. but being part of this program gave me a different perspective. It made me and all of us involved in this program more aware of the deep-rootedness of systemic racism even in the laws of the land and its negative impact on the Black communities, the implicit bias that we all hold, and how we all have an essential role to play to fight it and take steps to improve. It got us more engaged and more empathetic. There is already a lot on a Black person, and then adding the complexities of running a business on top makes it much more challenging. Often, a Black entrepreneur is likely to be the first in their family to take on the risk of being an entrepreneur. They not only experience the same ‘typical’ challenges that all entrepreneurs do in starting and growing their businesses but with lower starting wealth, limited access to capital, and a ‘trust gap’ more acutely and systematically stand in their way of success.

Black-owned businesses are savvy and hungry for expert feedback to help them navigate their path.

Inspire by Tyler is owned by Tyler Clark. Check out her fascinating story and her artwork here. Her art has gone viral multiple times over social media, and she has created art for celebrities, including Chance the Rapper, Saweetie, and Common.

We were very impressed with her from day 1 of our interactions. And it only grew from there as we worked closely with Tyler and her team over the next six weeks. Her purpose, motivation, and openness to listen to our observations to make her business and operations run better inspired us. I believe the sky is the limit of success for her. And here’s why:

• Inspire by Tyler is purpose and faith led
• Tyler’s artwork is unique
• She has excellent business acumen and instincts
• She is amazingly adept with technology
• She is hungry, and she is humble

In the six weeks we collaborated with her, we touched on many topics, including strategy, go-to-market, pitch deck, pricing, business processes, and operational best practices. Here are some examples of how we helped:

• Bring in an objective and outside-in point of view of her current business
• Prioritize what she should focus on in the short, medium, and long term. The idea was to enable her to drive a sustainable cash flow from her two-dimensional (2D) product line while allowing her to free up time for her original three-dimensional (3D) artwork and branding activities
• Develop a mission, vision, and value statements
• Streamline social media ala Facebook and Instagram order-taking process
• Develop a high-level actionable marketing plan, including an advertisement campaign to drive more traffic to her website and grow sales
• Walk through her order-to-cash business process for both her product lines and identify gaps, discuss best business practices, documentation, and training for new employees that could be bolstered
• Hiring sources and skillsets
• Introduce her to marketing contacts within our network

We are excited about our joint work’s impact on Inspire by Tyler in 2022 and have decided to be her virtual expert network with quarterly check-ins. She also knows she can call us anytime.

Talking about expert networks, from what I observed, all nine business owners in our program mentioned the importance of having one, so they can tap into it and navigate their optimal path. 

S of ESG needs to be further elevated.

The pandemic disproportionately hurt black-owned businesses. But this group is making a comeback. Per the latest US Census Bureau information that I have seen, an estimated 134,567 Black-owned companies employ about 1.3 million employees across the US. This number could be increased exponentially if the Black-owned companies are given the right fuel. This will have a meaningful impact on the Black community and our society.

Call to action

In closing, I’d say that my experience working with Inspire by Tyler and my talented colleagues in this program was enriching and fulfilling. I’m a better person and leader for it. I can only encourage my fellow SAP leaders and colleagues to join and help more Black-owned or BIPOC lead businesses. I’d also advocate for SAP’s customers and our ecosystem of partners to add similar programs within their companies to further scale and help black-owned enterprises to grow sustainably. Every little contribution will help level the social and economic equity.

Additional information on social equity:

SAP has recently invested in money market funds supporting the higher objective of eliminating social inequity. Please read about it here: https://news.sap.com/2021/04/social-investment-one-idea-changes-everything/.