Joe Guster and Lee Lewis started I Am Black Business in 2014 during a time when black owned business directories were extremely popular. Now, almost 10 years later, I Am Black business is still standing, while most of the directories that started with them are no longer around.
We caught up with Joe and Lee to learn more about their story.
Guys, tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you got started.
Joe: Hi, I'm Joe Guster.
I Am Black Business grew from a desire to serve our community. I personally was tired of just using my gifts in technology for corporations that didn’t truly benefit all.
At the time of its inception, I was employed as Technology Consultant specializing in guided search and navigation which means making large datasets like product catalogs searchable by end users. What better way to serve our community through technology than to help make the thousands of black-owned businesses easily searchable and discoverable. Enter in I Am Black Business.
Lee: Hi, I’m Lee Lewis. I’m originally from Chicago. I completed a dual degree program at Morehouse and Ga Tech here in Atlanta. Joe and I met at Ga Tech through our fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha.
At the time, black business directories were popular, but no one had taken a technology first approach. We felt like we had complementary skills and ultimately started a journey that’s lasted almost 10 years.
What has been the most challenging part of entrepreneurship?
Joe: The most challenging part of entrepreneurship for me is promoting the business and being outfront. As a technology guy, I’m used to being behind the scenes and executing. For IABB to grow, it’s not enough for me to just build; I need to be outfront promoting the great platform that we’ve developed for our community
Lee: As a part time.entrepreneur, being efficient has been an ongoing challenge, especially with a full time job and family. Efficiency involves: selecting what I do, and how much time I spend doing it, to get maximum output.
Through out the years, we’ve learned to spend more time planning, prioritizing, and organizing to ensure we’re spending time on the right things.
What sets you apart from similar businesses in your industry?
Lee: The technology. When we started building our directory platform in 2014 we spent time doing it the right way.
At the time Joe worked for a company that built developed search technilogy. Due to his background, we were able to use the same technology that large companies were using to build their search engines, instead of using a solution with limited capabilities.
We had a vision to become the black Google, and we’re still on that path.
Joe: One big item that separates us from other similar businesses is that we’re more than just a website. We’ve actually built a platform that allows us to deploy micro sites or niche sites quickly. Take a look at blackcigarmap.com for instance. We were able to leverage our platform to deploy a website dedicated to cigar lovers. Not only can we deploy additional sites, we can also host directories or member search engines. Our platform currently powers the Atlanta Black Chambers membership search.
What’s on the horizon for IABB?
Joe: This year, it’s about getting back our original goal of impacting our community through economic empowerment as well as dreaming big. We are way more than a directory. We are a platform for our community. We plan to be Google for all things related to black business, hence the change from being a directory but IABB being a search engine.
Lee: We’re also launching a local preferred network. Think of it as an Angie’s list for black owned businesses.
In our case, in addition to service based businesses, we’re including businesses with physical locations as well.
All of the businesses in the network will be vetted and be required to meet specific criteria. In simple terms, we want to help consumers live a black owned lifestyle by helping them find local black owned businesses that can address all of their daily needs.
We will start accepting nominations for the preferred network in summer of 2024.
Social Links
Website: iamblackbusiness.com
Instagram: instagram.com/iamblackbiz