Three Tips from Carlton Brown, Co-founder of FUBU, on Why it’s Time to Start Your Side Hustle
As of now, you’ve heard the President quote the “low” unemployment rate for African Americans. He’s tweeted about it, mentioned it often in speeches, and has presented it as a HUGE accomplishment from his administration. However, if you are part of the percentage of people unemployed it’s hard to join in on the praise party.
What may not receive as much coverage are the areas of the country with high unemployment rates and the gaps across race. Right here where the President resides, unemployment rates for African Americans were 12.9 percent compared to 1.5 percent for the White Americans. In 14 states and the District of Columbia, African American unemployment rates exceed white unemployment rates by a ratio of 2-to-1 or higher. For example, in Illinois' the African-American unemployment rate is higher than that of any other state in the nation.
What isn’t helping are layoffs of thousands of employees across the country. Some recent examples of large layoffs with thousands of employees include Sears, JC Penney, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Wal-Mart, Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Toys R Us.
Yes, I know layoffs are part of the business landscape however the Toys R US example is particularly disturbing. Since this company filed for bankruptcy those 31,000 employees are now fighting for their severance packages.
My point, don’t believe a company will take care of you in these circumstances. So #sisstayready by paying yourself first even if it’s only 1% percent of each paycheck. Lastly, you know how we talk about social security and retirement. Well, it is not an encompassing solution for income during retirement. Social Security benefits will be about 33 percent of the income received, according to the Social Security Administration.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Carlton Brown, the co-founder of FUBU about income generation at the Build Your Own Brand Retreat in Washington, DC. These were the tips he gave.
“You gotta start now. You can’t do it when you get laid off,” said Mr. Brown. “These companies look at us as not as people. It’s not one of those things where you can get with a company these days and retire with the same company after 35/40 years. “
Be Proactive. Don’t wait until you lose your job to start thinking of ways to create your own income. To get you started read this article from GirlBoss.com here.
Be Dedicated. Set aside a few hours of your day every single day to build that idea, so you are ready and earning before you are let go.
Be Ready and Learn. Learn all you can by using the resources available online. Once you know what you're good at try taking a class to build on that knowledge. There are online courses or try General Assembly.
My Bonus Tip: Learn about taxes now before you start earning income. This is especially important if your business will be service based and include having to become an independent contractor.
