Mass Mobilizing Minority Entrepreneurs

Small businesses make up about 40% of all economic activity in the US.  But many minorities and other marginalized entrepreneurs are systematically kept from fully taking advantage of the benefits of small business ownership.

MORTAR aims to solve this challenge by presenting masses of minority entrepreneurs into ecosystems around the country.  By providing our one-of-a-kind suite and unmatched training and support, both online and offline, we will set BIPOC entrepreneurs on a path towards success, growth, and wealth.

MORTAR entrepreneurs have thrived during COVID.  We are proud to report that all our alumni entrepreneurs who were in business pre-pandemic are still in business and we have even had several major grand openings including Esoteric Brewing, Cincinnati’s first minority-owned brewery.  

We have developed a system that carried entrepreneurs through what some might consider the most significant economic challenge to date, and we believe that all minority entrepreneurs deserve access to opportunity.

MORTAR aims to prove that small business ownership is a viable path toward economic self-sufficiency, wealth, and economic justice for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

Lack of access to livable wage jobs with upward mobility, even in the best circumstances, is a primary culprit in the over $100,000 wealth gap between Black American families and their white counterparts.  

Because this has always been true, entrepreneurship has always been vital to many marginalized communities as a means to keep the lights on. But, BIPOC entrepreneurs often face barriers starting a business due to lack of education, disadvantageous socioeconomic status, previous criminal convictions, and lack of access to working capital.

MORTAR exists to provide training, technical assistance, mentoring, and a host of other supports designed to specifically address the challenges BIPOC entrepreneurs face.

In just six years, MORTAR has grown our network to 276 alumni entrepreneurs who created 34 jobs and generated $9.2M in revenue in 2019 alone.  We believe that by scaling our programming, both on the ground and online, we will be able to train and support at least 1000 minority entrepreneurs in our first year of full expansion.

Our solution allows MORTAR to rapidly expand our three-pillared approach to reach, cultivate and launch BIPOC entrepreneurs off to a strong start as they open and operate businesses in the communities where they live.

1. Access to Training

• Entrepreneurship Academy - 15-weeks, in-person or virtual, culturally competent, utilizes the MORTAR Masters curriculum designed to guide BIPOC entrepreneurs as they start their businesses

• MORTAR Advanced - To Be Developed - Advanced online curriculum designed to guide MORTAR alum as they prepare to scale their businesses.

• MORTAR Online - To Be Developed - Hosting for virtual cohorts as well as self guided coursework.  Platform will utilize tiered access to free and paid training and resources for entrepreneurs who prefer a digital experience or who may not be in a city where MORTAR has a physical presence.

2. Access to Space

• Brick Pop-Up Shops - Addresses barriers accessing space by offering  entrepreneurs short-term, inexpensive retail space to test their ideas in real-time without the risk of a commercial lease.

3. Access to Capital

• The Iron Chest Fund - Addresses barriers in access to capital by offering grants and low-interest loans to MORTAR alum to help open, sustain or grow their business.

Recent studies have shown that small businesses make up 44% of the United States’ economic activity and we are often told, by applicants and alumni alike, that their hopes to start a business are driven by their dreams of creating a better future for their families.

Unfortunately, as the disproportionate distribution of wealth in Cincinnati and across the US continue to grow, building a business and a legacy can seem unattainable for many marginalized entrepreneurs. 

This is especially true for minority, women entrepreneurs whose wages and wealth are disproportionately affected by the intersection of their race and gender.

At MORTAR, our alumni are 70% female, 84% African-American, and 20% self-identify as low income. Our largest singular demographic is African-American women who make up 64% of our alumni network. Our programming is designed for minority entrepreneurs, therefore we anticipate future demographics to reflect our current data.

As an organization founded and led by African-Americans, MORTAR intends to continue to support minority entrepreneurs by providing a welcoming environment to learn, grow and thrive as small business owners able to fully participate in the resurgence of thriving small business ecosystems.

MORTAR works to ensure that all entrepreneurs, regardless of background, race, gender, or socioeconomic status, are equipped to build businesses, pursue wealth, contribute to community ownership, and leave legacies for generations to come.

We offer non-traditional entrepreneurs the opportunity to use their inherent talents to not only make a dollar but to create stronger families, communities, and more vibrant regions by offering BIPOC entrepreneurs access to the resources they need to start businesses and create jobs.

For these reasons, driving resources and support to Black, Indigenous, and Latinx entrepreneurs and innovators is squarely centered in MORTAR's mission and our work.

Full-time - 4

Part-time - 1

Contractors - 3

MORTAR is Black-led and 100% Black staffed, our Executive Director, Allen Woods, is a Black man, and our Strategic Director Shannon Hooten and our Development Director Vic Mullins are both Black women.  Our board is 50% Black and 32% women with at least one MORTAR alumni holding a board position at all times. 

MORTAR values itself as a safe space for people of all races, backgrounds, socioeconomic status’, etc.

Ways MORTAR is unique:

Innovation - We learned quickly that the entrepreneurship training resources that were on the market when MORTAR started our mission in 2014 were solely based on white middle-class norms. The curriculum we had used previously overlooked the need for both personal and business financial literacy and money management.  Realizing how vital these skill sets are and we found ourselves adding our own content to these critical sections.  Eventually, we decided it would be in the best interest of the entrepreneurs we serve to develop a curriculum that more closely meets their needs.

MORTAR Masters™, our culturally competent curriculum is now the cornerstone of our organization and is being used to facilitate entrepreneur training across the Midwest.

Representation - When our entrepreneurs interact within the MORTAR community with our staff, program materials, and other peer entrepreneurs, they see other people who look like them and have likely faced and understand their challenges. This creates a welcoming and safe environment for our cohorts.

Holistic Support - Our program is centered on challenges specific to minority entrepreneurs and addresses them by providing coaching on topics like personal finance, business finance, bookkeeping, business credit and savings, branding, marketing, and mental health support.  

Validation - We serve the entrepreneurs other organizations overlook due to barriers including but not limited to race, socioeconomic status, previous convictions, or lack of education. By providing an experience that validates their experiences MORTAR better prepares entrepreneurs to participate and thrive in a competitive market.

Our goal is to host an online program that delivers specialized tips and training for entrepreneurs to learn how to start a new business or recover and pivot their existing businesses post-COVID. We want to ensure that businesses led by minorities are equipped and able to compete in a post-COVID-19 landscape.

While our online program will be new, it will not necessarily be a new technology.  Rather, it will be the digitization of our existing MORTAR curriculum.  We will use existing web-based technologies to meet entrepreneurs where they are with a multimedia digital learning experience that is accessible on smartphones, tablets, and computers.  COVID-19 has changed how we access information and we need to pivot how we deliver critical best practices to the entrepreneurs and small business owners who need them.

Funding from MIT Solve will support the development of the online platform as well as increase our ability to build the capacity of entrepreneurs and entrepreneur service program organizations that have the responsibility of providing much-needed technical assistance to BIPOC entrepreneurs.  In order for these entrepreneurs to survive this moment and have a fighting chance in the next, considerable investments will be needed.  We believe that our current and future traction gives us the unique ability to scale and provide support in communities across the United States.

During the first spike of the pandemic, our organization needed to pivot in order to provide business development resources to entrepreneurs in our region. Given the success of our first digital pilot, we believe that the digital curriculum will be equally as effective as our in-person cohorts.  This can be evidenced by the success of online degree programs worldwide.  A dedicated entrepreneur will thrive when given the necessary tools and resources whether in person or online.

The first round of our digital rollout will include cities where MORTAR already operates (Milwaukee, Kansas City, Akron, Covington, and Cincinnati).  We feel this method will allow us to test the curriculum in markets ripe for entrepreneurship.  Recently, MORTAR at BOUNCE, in Akron, Ohio completed their first in-person cohort of 12 entrepreneurs, several of whom are already experiencing growth in their businesses and customer bases. 

Countless affinity groups can be found online where people can network, learn, and grow together.  We have no doubt this will be true for our online alumni.

MORTAR hopes to create a world where all entrepreneurs have access to opportunities to grow and sustain their businesses while building transferrable generational wealth for their families’ futures.

Our organization helps to drive change toward our ideal by helping to level the playing field for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

MORTAR is also helping to end disparities and bridge the gaps to small business ownership by providing dedicated and culturally-competent support to minority entrepreneur. Our program boasts that 70% of our alumni network are women, a far cry from the 2% of women-led businesses nationwide.  By developing women-led businesses our program is helping to address gender disparities in entrepreneurship. 

We also support an overwhelming number of Black women-led enterprises with average revenues of $48,000, compared to the $24,000 national average, MORTAR is also helping to close the revenue gap between white women-led and Black women-led businesses.

MORTAR is also helping to create inclusive small business ecosystems that are representative of our nation’s demographics.  The vast majority, 84%, of our participants are Black.  By developing prepared Black-led businesses we are helping to increase the 18% minority-owned business rate in the US.

Finally, by increasing minority entrepreneurs' access to capital, we are helping small business owners to create jobs, attain business assets, and grow their enterprises in a similar fashion to their white counterparts.  This helps to build stronger communities and a more vibrant economy.

Expanding our footprint will only increase our ability to continue to address these challenges.  Further, if 50% of newly engaged entrepreneurs achieve average gross revenue of $50,000 our expansion has the potential to generate $25,000,000 in gross revenue for minority entrepreneurs and over $2,000,000 in employment income.

By reaching as many entrepreneurs as possible MORTAR is helping to create a world where any entrepreneur can reach their full potential and their version of the American dream.

2021 - MORTAR will grow our organizational capacity, expand our national footprint to include Indianapolis, Indiana, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we will develop and test our digital learning experience in preparation for nationwide release.  We will also increase the number of in-person and virtual cohorts in Cincinnati where our organization is headquartered.

2022 -  MORTAR’s online learning experience and our in-person cohorts will reach at least 1,000 and 250 new minority and marginalized entrepreneurs, respectively, across our current geographic footprint.  MORTAR will add two additional cities to our national footprint.

2023 - 2025 - Widespread national release of MORTAR online learning suite; rapid growth and scaling to a national organization using a franchise model adding at least two new cities to national footprint each year.  Together the online and offline courses have the potential to reach tens of thousands of entrepreneurs each year, helping to move the needle on both the disparities in representation for minority and women CEOs and the wage gap along racial and gender lines.

In five years MORTAR will be the leading source for entrepreneurship training for BIPOC entrepreneurs, we will be thought leaders in our industry, and our alumni businesses will be the backbone of a robust economy.

We have identified the following risks/challenges that our expansion and growth plan presents:

1. Staff capacity and or/cultural understanding deficits of organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming:  We have found that there are two very specific factors for success of our programs in other cities.  The first is that there must be at least three dedicated program staff.  The other is that the program staff should be representative of the population we serve in order to foster a safe learning space.

1. Funding deficits of organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming - While we offer our full-model expansion, essentially a branded franchise model, for a modest $80,000 each year, many grassroots organizations serving Black and brown entrepreneurs find this to be a barrier to access.  Given that this amount is the bare minimum needed to provide our services, we consider this to be a substantial challenge.

1. Organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming adhering to the MORTAR brand and values - As previously stated MORTAR offers a full-model expansion which includes use of our branding.  As we continue to grow into a national organization, ensuring that expansion sites are upholding the integrity of our brand is of the utmost importance. 

1. MORTAR staff and financial gaps - In order to adequately support national expansion, the internal staff capacity of MORTAR will need to increase in order to support more entrepreneurs and expansion sites and to provide the resources necessary to create wholesale community change.

We have identified the following  opportunities to mitigate the above-stated risks:

1. Staff capacity deficits of organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming- MORTAR will provide in-depth support to help recruit and hire appropriate staff in expansion cities as part of our contractual agreements.  We believe it is best for our staff to assist new sites with hiring as we have a thorough understanding of the traits required for a strong program staff.

1. Funding deficits of organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming - MORTAR hopes to raise a separate pool of funding specifically to provide support to potential expansion sites through subsidies.  If an organization experiences a funding shortfall, MORTAR development staff will consult closely with the organization to raise the remaining funds.  If the remaining funds cannot be raised in a timely manner, MORTAR will provide a  subsidy.

1. Organizations wishing to host MORTAR programming adhering to the MORTAR brand and values - In order to maintain the reputation of our brand, expansion site program staff will be required to come to Cincinnati for an immersive MORTAR onboarding experience.

1. MORTAR staff and financial gaps - As our footprint grows, the workload for our staff will grow respectively. Our cost to organizations is such that when there is a need to increase expansion, program, and/or impact and evaluation staff, the funding will be available to do so.  To alleviate this risk we are deeply diversifying our funding streams.

MORTAR is currently unable to collect data in an efficient manner from our expansion sites. Funding will allow us to develop an online data reporting system for partner organizations to report program data.  This system will import data directly into our database for easier reporting and aggregation. 

Program participants will complete entry and exit interviews for our course,  and alumni will be surveyed annually thereafter to assess metrics including, but not limited to: quantitative data such as household income, business revenues, jobs created, use of retail spaces, and utilization of capital lending vehicles as well as qualitative data addressing perceived increases in knowledge and benefits of a network of peer entrepreneurs.

Funding from MIT Solve will support the bolstering of our impact and evaluation tools so that we are more readily able to call upon the most up to date information to inform our efforts across all markets.

As an organization founded and staffed by African-Americans, MORTAR understands the unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs of color because, we too, are entrepreneurs of color.

Our entire worldview is shaped by the desire to identify entrepreneurs who could change the world and to provide them the opportunity to do so.

We know the challenges minority entrepreneurs face because we face them too, so we are intentional about recruiting under-served entrepreneurs and building cross-sector partnerships across the country.

Our strategy is to build diverse, equitable, and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems that are free from systemic barriers through culturally-competent technical assistance; access to low-cost retail space; access to low-interest working capital; and policy and advocacy has helped to turn Cincinnati from one of the worst to one of the best cities in America for minorities to start and operate a business.

Over the next year, we plan to double down on our commitment to support entrepreneurs in our across the country by expanding our classes and programming to support more minority entrepreneurs nationwide.

Our unique system of support and resources has garnered us widespread recognition, including a feature in Essence Magazine as an organization leading the effort to help Cincinnati become one of America’s best cities for African-Americans to start and grow a business.

MORTAR’s two-year expansion pilot has expanded our program to four markets outside of Cincinnati: Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Missouri; Covington, Kentucky, and Akron, Ohio. We are currently in talks to expand to Indianapolis, Indiana, and Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2021, a historical partnership as it commemorates 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed the prominent Black business district known as Greenwood.

Currently, Milwaukee and Kansas City facilitate our curriculum only, while Akron and Covington operate MORTAR branded programming with full consulting support from our staff.  We work closely with all of our partners to ensure they deliver high-quality programming to entrepreneurs in their area.

During this time, our partners have seen early-stage successes with their entrepreneurs and we have learned many valuable lessons about what is needed to support organizations as they work to facilitate MORTAR’s programming according to the needs of entrepreneurs in each respective area.

With our new knowledge, and with the support of local capacity building organizations such as Social Venture Partners, we have developed a plan to more efficiently and effectively provide the best onboarding, branding, implementation, impact, and evaluation support services to our partner organizations.

MORTAR provides Black and other minority entrepreneurs with access to the tools and resources they need to successfully start and run businesses in the communities where they live.

We partner with organizations like Social Venture Partners, SCORE, the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, and the Cincinnati City Center Development Corporations (3CDC) to provide entrepreneurs with culturally-competent training, small business technical assistance, affordable retail space, and access to working capital.  By providing these resources, MORTAR helps to bridge or remove barriers that often end dreams before they begin.

We recognize that our most valuable asset is our people, as they provide the assistance so critical for small business growth and development.  We know that in order to be competitive as an organization and to provide the support that we know can make or break a business, we need to invest in identifying and keeping top talent

Profits acquired from our expansion efforts will be reinvested into the organization to increase cash-on-hand, investments, and to begin building and endowment further increasing our organization’s long-term sustainability.

The efforts of MORTAR's development team have helped to create a fiscally sound organization.  Our current funding sources are as follows:

Earned Revenue - 10%

Foundation Grants - 41%

Individual Donations - 11%

Government - 8%

Corporate - 30%

Our primary source of funding for the next 3 years will likely continue to be from foundation grants. Though philanthropy will always be our primary source of revenue, we hope that our earned revenue from our expansion program will begin to support our organizational operating budget.

MORTAR has received the following support for this initiative:

Paypal - $150,000

The Zent Family Foundation - $50,000

Project Redwood - $30,000

Surdna Foundation - $100,000

We project the total expenses related to this solution over the next three years to be $1,387,534.

MORTAR is a non-profit organization, therefore fundraising by way of grants, in-kind donations and support from individuals is essential to the operation of our organization.  We have built a robust development plan in order to reach our budget goals.

We plan to seek a diverse group of funding sources to support this program including foundation, corporation, and government grants.  We are also executing a 3-year commitment capital campaign in 2021 with the potential to provide up to $1.2M over the term of the commitment.

Because we are a non-profit organization we are unable to accept funding in exchange for equity as we can offer no monetary return, therefore we do not seek any kind of traditional investment.

Expenses

   Total Consulting & Training                                    $20,815.55
   Total Insurance                                                       $4,738.00
   Total Legal & Professional Fees                               $1,291.07
   Marketing/Branding                                                $1,679.84
   Total Meals and Entertainment                                $4,464.69
   Total Office Expenses                                              $3,172.55
   Total Payroll                                                     $1,007,650.00
   Total Research and Development                          $256,305.00
   Total Stationery & Printing                                       $9,371.48
   Total Training and Development                              $24,097.91
   Travel                                                                    $15,000.00
   Total Utilities                                                           $6,518.06

Total Expenses                                                      $1,387,533.93

We believe the network of organizations involved in this project could provide vital guidance to MORTAR as we prepare to grow to a national model.

We believe in not recreating the wheel and often lean into our partnerships to inform and advise processes to avoid unnecessary failure or expenses.

To best serve minority entrepreneurs MORTAR will need to delve into the world of extensive, multimedia online learning.  We will need well-informed advisors to assist with a range of projects both related and unrelated to this project including but not limited to:

• Audiovisual Production

• Advance Curriculum Development

• Teaching alumni about equity investments

• Wide-scale product marketing

In order to grow and scale at the rate necessary to serve as many entrepreneurs as quickly as possible we will need dedicated partners and committed financial support in order to reach our goals, build strong families and recover  the American economy.

While the monetary support is of great importance the network and knowledge within the network are invaluable to a budding organization such as our own.

Solution Technology - For research and development of online learning platform and partner organization online data reporting system

Product/service distribution - For better understanding sustainable expansion and distribution of our programming

Monitoring and Evaluation - To ensure that we are accurately and efficiently capturing all pertinent data for our local programming and partner organizations

Marketing, media, and exposure - To better share our stories and the availability of our programming on a large scale 

One huge gap in MORTAR’s growth and development has been our ability to increase our ability to utilize technology and data sciences to develop new tools and programs.  We believe that MIT, and the network affiliated with MIT, could enable us to develop tools that will change the face of entrepreneurship in the United States.  Imagine if we could take our nationally recognized curriculum, combine it with the expertise and technical prowess of MIT, and create a tool that once and for all democratizes entrepreneurship and economic opportunity in the United States.  We believe that our current tools gives us this unique opportunity.  

We are always open to working with organizations that are interested in supporting minority and marginalized entrepreneurs.  We are also proud of how we have helped organizations become more culturally sensitive to the needs of minority entrepreneurs and are grateful for those moments of cross-pollination.

Partnerships with local organizations are key to the success of both MORTAR and our entrepreneurs and we believe that partnerships are necessary to build healthy and sustainable communities.