One of the most serious issues facing small business owners this year is inflation. It rose by 7% in 2021, the highest in the last 40 years. With the cost of doing business rising from goods to employees, what does a small business owner need to do in 2022?
On The Small Business Radio Show this week, I talked with Keewa Nurullah,who is a small kids boutique owner, called Kido in Chicago. She is a fourth generation entrepreneur. Her great-grandfather had a tailor shop on Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK before he was driven out. She adds that “entrepreneurship is my family legacy and very important to me in strengthening my city and the Black community.”
She has been featured by CNN, Inc., and NBC and was named “Black Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2021, an award presented by Officially Black Wall Street, Clover, and Snapchat.
Keewa talks about how difficult inflation has made her business because she is forced to raise prices on her clothes that she knows her customers kids will grow out of! She is afraid that her products will get priced out so she picks and chooses where she raises prices.
She believes now is the time to raise prices since everyone is dealing with this crisis and they expect things to cost more. Keewa adds tthat “I have also tried to adjust packing to lower the costs a bit if I can’t raise the prices. But I have had to pass the increased costs of especially toys on to the customer.”
Having a hard time getting staff, Keewa has had to go back to staff the store more. She lost 3 employees before the holiday season. Keewa believes it’s still important to support and buy from independent shops, women makers, and Black-owned businesses amid these crises.