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The African Caribbean Business Network has identified a number of key areas affecting black and minority ethnic enterprises (BAME’s) where there is a need for improvement.
Need to increase involvement and participation in Business Networks and BME networking.
BAME business is concentrated in the Service Industry, therefore Leisure, Production, and Manufacturing businesses must be increased particularly in view of the prospective opportunities that the 2012 Olympic Games will present.
Businesses should look for expansion potential outside of London and particularly outside of their immediate locality.
Business support and advice is crucial. BAME’s are least likely to use conventional financial methods to fund their ventures.
Need for more formal measurement of customers’ opinions and requirements and a better understanding of the financial benefits of good customer relations.
There is a need for better basic planning processes e.g. Business Plans, Business Cases, Financial/Revenue Projections, Bids etc...
There is a need for better financial management to counter the fear of debt and deal with the management of revenue loss.
The graph below shows how the ACBN business membership is comprised by industry sector. As can be seen, BAME business is concentrated in the Service Industry.
The charts below provide a representation of the current membership of the African Caribbean Business Network.
The significant proportion of sole traders highlights a particular opportunity to market business support services.
Over 47% of all businesses have an annual turnover greater than £50’000 per annum.
There is a significant potential market of businesses which are in the early stages of development and as such may need a range of assistance; advocacy, support services, access to information and research.