Josettah RaySince the global pandemic Covid 19, entrepreneurship in the U.S has been growing. Covid 19 caused many people to become unemployed and the loss of jobs opened many opportunities for people to develop new skills and hobbies to pass time while the U.S shut down under quarantine.
Building personal businesses also helped increase employment among college students during that time. Entrepreneurship allowed people to stay active and make money whilst companies and businesses were forced to shut down and N.C. Central University is helping students grow and expand their businesses in a positive way.
“The hardest thing about being an entrepreneur I can say is multitasking. Being that you have to have other jobs, do other things outside of school on top of being an entrepreneur,” said Kyra Joyner, a business administration junior with a concentration in management. Joyner created her business “two boujee Co.” from her interest in creating a lip gloss not like the ones from the beauty supply that leave a ring around the lips. However, it hasn’t been an easy road for Kyra. There have been a lot of challenges.
“I would say time management skills and figuring out when you have to do certain things was my biggest challenge,” Joyner said.
Sometimes creating something for yourself or someone else can ignite the start of a business, which is how it was for Jonni Charles, an accounting junior. Charles recently became a new business owner after she customized “Blinged out Crocs” themed with her sorority. She posted them on social media and quickly gained an audience and customers.
From her studies in accounting, Charles realized the importance of setting a budget for her business.
“To not sell yourself short,” said Charles. “One of my biggest challenges was feeling like I’m not going to get enough sales because my prices are too high, but the target audience and the right person will buy your products. You just have to market it to the specific people who are trying to buy your product.”
NCCU’s mass communication department has helped Jessella (Jessie) Gaymon gravitate toward her passion for photography, videography, graphic design, and content creation. Her business, “The Visionary Trap” allows her to network, her favorite aspect of the business.
Being an entrepreneur, Gaymon says her biggest challenges are trying to please people, making content that she enjoys, maintaining engagement, and getting people to book and interact all at the same time.
“Sitting down and actually doing the content, making it happen, booking stuff, having the right equipment, having the funds for it, overall, it is all a challenge, but all of those things I went through have become learning experiences,” she said.
