It is a better time than ever to be a Black entrepreneur
Songe LaRon · How I Built Resilience: Songe LaRon of Squire · Jul 23, 2020 · at 17:06
Songe LaRon is the co-founder and CEO of Squire, a barbershop management software startup, discussing the climate for Black startup founders in mid-2020.
0:00 / 0:15exact quote · 15.4s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“I do think that the tides are changing, especially recently with increased attention to the plight of black founders and black people in general. So I think that now is probably a better time than ever to be an entrepreneur, a black entrepreneur.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Songe LaRon
Barbers are uniquely equipped for pandemic sanitation protocols
“I would say that barbers are probably one of the few Types of professionals that are very well equipped in this new environment because they actually go to school for this. In order to get a barber license, you have to study, you know, disinfecting and taking …”
Some cash-only barbershops refuse cards to avoid paying taxes
“So the shops that are cash only, there will be some segment that just doesn't want to pay taxes, quite frankly.”
Squire charges shops $100-$250 monthly plus a $1 consumer booking fee
“The main way is from handling the payment processing. So that, that's really core to our business. There's a subscription component. So the shops that use our platform will pay a hundred dollars to two 50 a month. And then there's a customer booking fee. So if…”
Squire's revenue essentially dropped to zero in March and April 2020
“March, April, you know, our revenue essentially went to zero.”