How to succeed as a Black-owned business

Local entrepreneurs say it’s tough getting started. Race plays a role. Rewards come from persistence.

Black people comprise more than 14 percent of the nation’s population but only 2.3 percent of businesses are Black-owned, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures. The most recent American Communities Survey shows that while Black businesses make up approximately 11 percent of all businesses in Illinois, they comprise only two percent of the state’s businesses that employ more than one person…