Expert Advice from Small Business Owners on Long-Term Success: Planning for 5, 10, and 15 Years

Kenyatta Forbes stumbled upon the idea for her business while teaching middle school in Chicago. She noticed that the traditional Black History curriculum was lacking in its coverage of important figures, and decided to create a game to add insights to the lessons. The game, called Trading Races, is a deck of index cards that mixes historical figures with people students might recognize, like modern-day rappers and reality TV stars. Each player is dealt five cards and the goal is to convince others that the person on their card is the “blackest.”

After testing her game and receiving positive feedback from friends, Forbes decided to turn it into a business. With the help of a crowd-funding campaign that raised $5,500, she was able to launch Trading Races. The game did well at Black culture festivals, but the pandemic put an end to in-person events.

Forbes faced a challenge in promoting her business as she didn’t have professional marketing experience or co-founders to lean on for help developing ideas. That’s when she heard about Verizon Small Business Digital Ready and signed up for live 1:1 reviews to discuss social media marketing and strategy.

The one-on-one sessions proved valuable for Forbes as they allowed her to drill down on her business and focus on actionable goals. The expert advice she received helped her refine her promo ideas into a marketing calendar with a coherent social media strategy tailored to her target audience. This has been instrumental in growing her business; today Trading Races has several thousand followers on social media, partnerships with influencers, and sales have surged