Shop Black Fest presents
The Stability & Growth Project
The Small Business Stability & Growth Project
Fixing the gap between opportunity and stability for Black-owned businesses.
We Support
Black-owned Businesses
at the Stability Stage
We help Black-owned small businesses turn opportunities into steady income
by strengthening how they generate demand,
run their business, and manage money.
Help businesses
show up ready
Reduce income drop-off
after opportunities
Strengthen day-to-day
business basics
Create pathways to stability,
not pressure to scale
THE PROBLEM
The biggest failure point for small businesses is the stability stage.
Without consistent customers, capital readiness, and coordinated support, too many businesses stall after early traction.
The Reality of Small Business
Access alone isn’t the issue. Stability is.
Across Tennessee and the Mid-South, cities invest in grants, retail space, and short-term programs — but most small businesses still struggle to survive once the opportunity ends.
Sales drop after events
No repeat customers
Not enough cash for slow months
Unclear what’s working
98.9%
of Tennessee businesses are small.
That’s over 640,000 businesses — and nearly 90% are microbusinesses with fewer than five employees.
40% of new businesses close within three years.
Not because opportunity is missing — but because stability support disappears too early.
75% of small businesses have no consistent marketing plan.
Visibility drops after events or launches, leading to irregular income and month-to-month survival mode.
80% of small business owners carry every role themselves.
Without coordinated support, this leads to burnout, missed opportunities, and stalled growth.
Many business owners:
Make sales, but don’t have steady demand
Don’t have a clear sales or follow-up flow
Operate without clear systems or usable data
Live month to month without real financial clarity
The result is burnout, stalled growth, and businesses that never make it to the stability stage.
What We’re Building
We’re building the missing middle between opportunity and stability.
We focus on the stage where businesses often get stuck — when sales slow down, support fades, and owners are left to figure it out alone.
How the work is delivered
The Stability and Growth Project is delivered through one-day boot camps designed to help business owners get clear, organized, and ready to take action.
Each boot camp focuses on one critical area of business stability. The goal is to give participants the basics, the structure, and clear next steps in a short amount of time.
When additional support is needed, boot camps may be followed by one or two short training sessions focused on implementation.
Preparing businesses for demand
(Second Sale)
This boot camp helps business owners understand how their business attracts customers and opportunities, and how to create a steady flow instead of relying on one-off sales.
What’s covered
How the business actually makes money
How customers find and buy from the business
How marketing and sales work together
How to turn opportunities into ongoing demand
Delivery
One-day boot camp (full day)
Optional follow-up: 1–2 training sessions focused on applying the plan
Running the business day to day
(Ops Ready)
This boot camp helps business owners understand what is happening inside their business and how to organize operations so the business can function without constant stress.
What’s covered
What numbers and data matter most
How to understand sales and customer activity
How to set up simple systems and tools
How to organize the back office for daily operations
Delivery
One-day boot camp (full day)
Optional follow-up: 1–2 training sessions focused on setup and decision making
Building financial stability and runway
(Runway)
This boot camp helps business owners move from basic financial knowledge to real-world financial decision making.
What’s covered
Understanding cash flow and expenses
Planning month to month
Making informed spending and growth decisions
Preparing the business for larger opportunities
Delivery
One-day boot camp (full day)
Optional follow-up: 1–2 training sessions focused on implementation
This model is designed to respect time, reduce drop-off, and focus on action.
It can be delivered by Shop Black Fest or embedded into partner initiatives.
How We Stay Aligned With Businesses, Communities & Cities
Business, Community & Civic
Round Table Series
We bring business owners, community leaders, and civic partners together to surface what’s actually holding Black-owned businesses back.
Then we handle the follow-through.
Instead of one-off conversations, we use these sessions to:
~ Identify the biggest barriers to stability
~ Align partners around clear next steps
~ Turn insights into pilots, priorities, and action
What comes out of these roundtables directly shapes our city-based work and the Stability & Growth Report.
What Funding Supports
Funding supports hands-on delivery, partner coordination, direct business support, and data collection tied to stability outcomes.
Their dedication to making a difference is inspiring.
Dr. Contrecia, Community Leader
I am grateful for the educational opportunities they provide.
Rhonda, Cohort Participant
Experience Behind the Work
This work is led by a husband and wife team who have spent the last seven years building, operating, and scaling a multi city small business ecosystem in real time.
What that experience includes
supporting over 4,000 small businesses across 13 cities
operating a multi city platform without traditional funding or institutional backing
managing sales, marketing, operations, logistics, and technology in live environments
working directly with entrepreneurs, lenders, partners, and economic development organizations
We have seen where businesses succeed, where they stall, and where support breaks down after the opportunity ends.
That lived experience is what informs this project.
The Stability and Growth Project is built from real execution, real constraints, and real outcomes not theory or one size fits all programming.
PREVIOUS PARTNERS
TRUSTED BY
Join the list
Be the first to see the 2026 Small Business Stability & Growth Report
Our goal is to move 1,000 businesses into the stability stage by 2030.
Click below to get access to our 2026 Small Business
Stability & Growth Report
4000+
Businesses supported through hands on programs and live execution
$3M
Estimated cumulative local economic activity generated
13
Cities where we have delivered direct support and results
The Stability & Growth Project is designed to help businesses move from selling → stabilizing → growing, with clear outcomes at each stage.
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