Our Vision

The Underserved Entrepreneurial Market is growing Dynamic external and internal forces are elevating the need for a greater understanding of how to successfully run a business. The American economic downturn coupled with consistent corporate layoffs increase the need for entrepreneurial information and education to be more readily available, targeted and scalable. Unemployment rates increasing exponentially in the African American community have set the dream of working for your self as a growing reality for more and more people. The election of an African American President has infused a greater understanding of what could be economically possible if only we tried. The term underserved is expanding within the entrepreneurial market largely because many of the new entrants to entrepreneurship are now venturing for the first time into the wilderness of working for themselves with little to no support, limited resources, and a margin for error that is slim with financial stakes that are high.

Recognizing the need for small businesses to become a greater contributor to the US economy, increased funding has been appropriated to assist small businesses to succeed. Additionally laws have been changed to enlarge the pool of businesses now considered to be small businesses. With the change of these laws, 93% of all businesses are not considered small businesses by the SBA. This has increased competition for funding and shrunk the possibilities for the smallest of businesses to have access to the funding and technical assistance they need. In response to this, the SBA and other governmental agencies have targeted business assistance centers (BAC’s), community development corporations (CDC’s), and community development financial institutions (CDFI’s) as the integral partners required to assist and educate the most underserved entrepreneurs. Additionally President Obama has appropriated over $60 Billion to community banks expressly for small businesses. While technical assistance or education is the most fundable area of these organizations programatic offerings, it is still not enough to reach many of these businesses in a meaningful and measurable way.

The current education offered does not address core needs of our businesses. For businesses to be recognized as a meaningful contribution to the American Economy they need to pay taxes. Preferably property tax, sales, tax, and income tax. For a business to pay income tax they have to be profitable. For a business to be eligible for debt financing they need to be profitable. These realities are often lost on the underserved business markets. Educational curricula such as those offered through the SBA, Goldman Sachs 10,000 business program, and Business Assistance Centers cover the academic basics of starting and running a business. What Torch has found to be the precursor to that information is the basic business and personal financial literacy that surrounds the work these business owners seek to do for a living. The reality that in many cities minority businesses represent a meager 1% of total business receipts is evidence that the business around the work they seek to do is in need of strategic assistance. In the city of Philadelphia the average small business makes barely $20,000 a year. In the African American community, innovation, service, and execution have been core areas of strength, what has and remains our core issues are systematic back-office processes and procedures, establishing and maintaining strategic negotiations and alliances, and funding. These are what the Narrow Road™ calls the “business around the work”. This is the core of our focus.

Torch sees both the increased emphasis on education and the use of technology by more technical assistance partners as a door opening for the Narrow Road™ . A systematic way to identify what strengths and weaknesses exist within the small business community meets the creation of a simple formulaic language upon which businesses and trainers can build upon to train, inform, and educate businesses on the financial and business principles needed to elevate the standard and performance of minority businesses. The research basis of the Narrow Road™ methodology was conducted in 8 cities across the country.

Our communities are in need of more tax dollars. Businesses bring opportunity back into our community in the form of resources, jobs, and visible evidence of our ability to monetize our visions. With the rising costs of education, the shrinking of American based corporate jobs, entrepreneurship is necessary to sustain America and our communities. The Narrow Road™ housed online is a resource available for all interested in serving in the capacity of rebuilding their communities with ownership and equity.