Billions of dollars in revenue were generated for small and large retailers this past Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making it the most profitable weekend after Thanksgiving ever. And this time around, quite a few Black-owned businesses were able to benefit from this nationwide sales extravaganza. Some made a couple thousand dollars, some made a couple hundred thousand dollars, and some even made more than $1 million.
Here are some of the best success stories that we could find:
Generated more than $1K:
#1 - Posh Candle Co: This Black-owned company produces unique candles that inspire women to be their authentic selves by using catchy phrases and statements that encourage a positive mindset and promote self-love. The company is only two years old, but founder Tay Watts had an amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. She generated more than 110 orders resulting in more than $4,360 in revenue.
#2 - CultureGreetings.com: This company, founded by Dr. Dionne Mahaffey, sells Black-themed greeting cards for anniversaries, graduations, and other occasions. The company just launched this past November, but that didn't slow them down from selling more than 1,000 greeting cards on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Mahaffey says her secret was using BlackPR.com, and running promotions on Facebook and Instagram.
#3 - Toys Like Me: Launched by an African American dad, Dante Lee, in early 2018, this company produces hand-crafted backpack dolls and barbie-style dolls that young Black girls can resonate with. During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the founder decided to run a 15% off discount promo code that included free shipping. As a result, the company was able to generate almost $5,000 in sales -- not too shabby for a company that's barely even two months old!
#4 - Purse Paparazzi: Quinn Conyers is the proud Chief Fashion Officer of Purse Paparazzi. She specializes in unique and stylish purses for women who are in sororities, attended a black college or are simply crazy for clutches and passionate about purses. During Black Friday weekend, she ran Facebook ads, automated messages on her company's Facebook fan page, ran a promo for 20% to 30% off, and even had one product irresistibly priced at 70% off. The results: More than $3,400 in sales in just three days!
Generated more than $10K:
#5 - Snob Nails: This Black-owned company, owned by London Ward, is based in the Washington DC area and is the #1 training academy for nail education in the area selling more than 18 products. Her strategy for Black Friday was to promote her products to her thousands of social media followers, and it worked. In fact, it literally crashed her web site... but not before she was able to sell out and generate a whopping $16,600 in sales. Even more, on Cyber Monday, she generated another $12,800. (That's almost $30K in one weekend!)
Generated more than $100K:
#6 - Naturalicious: Founded by Gwen Jimmere, the first African American to own a patent for an all-natural hair care product, Naturalicious has quickly become a household brand. Her products are already in Wholefoods and Sally Beauty, and during Black Friday/ Cyber Monday weekend, her company generated $146,000 in revenue! How did she do it? Well, she says she introduced a brand new product, ran a special deal to the top 20% of her customer list to make them feel special, and she also offered a free gift with all other purchases that exceeded a certain amount.
Generated more than $1 million:
#7 - The Crayon Case: This story went viral on social media, so you probably heard it already. But if you didn't, here's what happened. Reynell "Supa" Steward, founder and CEO of The Crayon Case, ran a promo to her followers on Instagram and made $1.2 million in sales in less than 2 hours on Cyber Monday. It literally brought her to tears. Her company produces a cosmetic line dedicated to amateur make-up users and aspiring makeup artists, and obviously they really, really like it.
All of these entrepreneurs ran successful campaigns, and this is a huge win for the African American business community as a whole. Success stories like these continue to prove that more and more Black entrepreneurs (especially women) are learning how to survive as full-time entrepreneurs. One thing they all have in common is that they all understand that engaging their previous customers and their social media followers is an absolute must. They also understand that offering a discount of great value is also very important. In addition, several of them took Lamar Tyler's Traffic Sales & Profit Black Friday webinar. As a veteran online marketer, Lamar teaches several online and offline courses like this throughout the year, and the reviews from his attendees are always 5-star!