Being a Black entrepreneur in Chicago means you’re always balancing hustle with homework — and by homework, I mean city policy. On the West Side, ideas don’t fail because people aren’t creative. They fail because access is uneven, information is buried, and the rules weren’t written with us in mind.
There’s real talent over here. Hair stylists running six chairs deep, clothing brands popping out of apartments, food vendors turning family recipes into income. The problem isn’t vision — it’s navigation. Permits take forever. Grants feel confusing on purpose. Resources exist, but you have to already know someone to find them.
City policy can either open doors or quietly lock them. Zoning laws decide where businesses can even exist. Funding programs sound good on paper but don’t always reach the people doing the real work. And when neighborhoods don’t get the same investment, entrepreneurship becomes survival instead of opportunity.
Still, Black entrepreneurs keep going. We share info in group chats, repost each other’s launches, and teach ourselves what no one explained. That’s the culture — resourceful, resilient, and rooted in community.
If city policy ever fully matched the talent on the West Side, Chicago wouldn’t just be talking about economic growth — it would be living it.
