Business 101 and Black Business 101 are two completly different subjects. A co-worker of mine told me that he learned that the hard way. He and some associates decided to do the party thing. The whole promotion/ party business is tricky, but it can be difficult, if you don't deal with black business too frequently. I was reminding my homeboy the other day that the key to succeeding in black business is to stick with the known, and not to stray off the beaten path until you are established. Yeah you might get lucky, but then again, you might lose everything you have. And when you got kids and a family, that's a big risk to take.

So here are a few hints to succeeding in Black Business 101:

1) Price, Price, Price- Black people love a deal... 2 for 1's are always good and also giveaways are good... you know you'll get this hat when you buy these sneakers, stuff like that...

2) Name Brand, Name Brand, Name Brand- If you are going to sell retail, you gotta sell name brand. Even junkies have on name brand clothes. And if you're having a party, make sure name brand folks are going to be there. (Popular DJ's, or radio personalites)

3) Location, Location, Location- Always try to have your store or event in a well known location. Some place where folks won't get lost in trying to find. Also, make sure that place is convenient to folks who may not have a car...

4) Seperation...- Nah, I'm not talking about seperating your business, I mean seperating things that you buy in packs and selling them loose...I.E.- Cigarettes, Blunts, etc....

5) All at once- If you have a corner store, sell every damn thing....Liquor, food, pads, hair products, a lot of people that shop at corner stores don't have cars. Take advantage of the convenience of your location.

6) Promotion- The best form of promotion is word of mouth. Make sure your event or store is the talk of the town. Saturate the market and pass out flyers every place you know folks are going to be that want to spend money.

7) Last but not least, play let's make a deal. If you party ain't jumping, come down off the price, if you shoes aren't selling, let somebody talk you down.

Way before Cassidy said it, I was one... Yeah, that's right, I'm a hustla. Cmon now, I'm from Bmore, I'm from a hustla town. See, what folks don't realize is that hustling is a way of life. It has nothing to do with what you hustle, it all comes down to whether or not you mastered the art. See hustling is the art of making money out of no money, or minimal amounts of money. The corner game is a hustle, the cd game is a hustle, the dice game is a hustle. And if you know how to hustle, you can do or sell anything.

See I work a 9 to 5, which is one hustle, and then I got a side business, which is another hustle. See, I make clothes, that's my biggest hustle. Take materials that are worth $5 and sell the final product for like $50.. See that's a hustle. My 9 to 5 is another hustle cause I'm constantly working on my side business at my 9 to 5. Getting paid to do one thing while really doing another, that's a hustle. Then I help my boy with his business. He got his own hustle. He got the shoe game going on, as well as the cd game, the clothes game, and whatever else he needs to sell. That's my third hustle.

Let it be known that I cannot respect a man that cannot hustle. If rent is due on the 1st and you short, then got damnit you better hustle up the rest of the money. See my dad was a hustla, I say was cause he's out that game. He was a mechanic. He had his car hustle. But if a guy can't hustle, then he's short.

You know me, I always got a story to tell. I met this guy once. He was cool. Had a good job, but he didn't have a hustle going on. But not everybody can hustle, right?? So I gave him a shot. He had just moved into his house and was in the process of home improvement. Which is cool. First he told me how he tried to paint and just couldn't do it, so he hired someone else to come in and paint. Okay, we talking about some rooms here, not the whole house. What you mean you can't paint? What??? It doesn't take no rocket scientist. It's relatively easy! So I was like okay, you can't paint. He then told me that he wanted to replace the shutter doors he had on his closet. It was metal. He wanted some wood ones. I was like oh, that's easy, go to home depot and get them. You can paint them, or leave them unfinished. Just take the old doors of the hinges and put the new ones on. He looked at me like I was talking about his momma or something. He was like nah! I don't do stuff like that. I'm not a do it yourselfer!!! Whoa!! After he said that yall, I was no more good... A hustla knows one thing and one thing only, how to make money and how to save it. I'll be got damn if I'm gonna pay somebody to do something if I can do it myself or with the help of some of my friends. Fuck all that! That's just terrible. The guy instantly turned me off... He just seemed like he was too soft. My grandfather was a carpenter, he was a hustla too. It's in my blood...He along with my father and uncle pratically built my uncle's house. It was a dollar house... See another hustle. Pay a dollar for a house and get your peoples to fix it up, and wind up only paying around $25000 for a house that's worth $80000.00. See yall that's what I'm talking about.


I need a hustla...