If you are waiting for permission to start, you are already behind.

That may sound blunt, but it is a truth I have learned across multiple careers as a musician, media professional, author and business executive. Opportunity rarely arrives neatly packaged, especially for Black entrepreneurs. More often, it has to be built, defended and sustained long before it is recognized or rewarded.

Black entrepreneurship in America is not a trend. It is a necessity, a response, and increasingly, a strategy. While headlines often celebrate unicorn founders and venture-backed startups, the real story is happening at the solopreneur level. Freelancers, consultants, creators, coaches and side hustlers are quietly creating economic agency on their own terms.

The data tells a clear story. In 2021, there were approximately 4.1 million Black-owned nonemployer businesses. These are businesses run by a single person, often alongside a full-time job, family responsibilities or other commitments. By comparison, there were around 194,585 Black-owned employer firms in 2022, meaning businesses with at least one employee.

That imbalance is not a weakness. It is a signal.

Most Black entrepreneurs are not waiting for institutional backing. They are creating income, ownership and leverage with the tools available to them. They are starting small, staying lean and building proof before permission.

This is what it means to create your own opportunity.

The folding chair principle

Shirley Chisholm famously said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

That quote has stayed with me for years, not as a slogan but as a strategy. Chisholm did not wait to be welcomed. She showed up prepared, informed and unapologetic. She understood that visibility follows action, not the other way around.

As Black entrepreneurs, we cannot afford to wait for consensus around our ideas. Many of the most impactful businesses begin as projects that other people do not immediately understand. When I say you have to greenlight your own projects, I mean exactly that. Not everyone will see your vision – some never will. That does not disqualify the vision.

It only clarifies the assignment.

Why solopreneurship matters

Sole proprietorships are the most common form of business ownership in the United States. In 2024, roughly 82 percent of all businesses in the United States were nonemployer firms. For Black entrepreneurs, that percentage is even higher.

This is not accidental. Solopreneurship offers speed, flexibility and lower barriers to entry. It allows you to monetize skills you already have. Writing, design, fitness training, consulting, content creation, education and media are all examples of industries where one person can generate real revenue without massive startup costs.

It also allows you to test ideas quickly. You can refine your offering, identify your audience and build demand before scaling. This is especially important when access to capital is limited. Instead of pitching an idea, you are proving it.

The growth in Black-owned employer firms between 2017 and 2022, which increased by nearly 57 percent according to Brookings, did not happen in a vacuum. Many of those businesses started as solo operations. They grew because the foundation was solid.

Solopreneurship is not the end goal. It is often the on-ramp.

Motivation is not enough

Motivation will get you started. Discipline keeps you going.

One of the biggest myths around entrepreneurship is that passion is enough. Passion fades when the work gets repetitive or when results are slow. What sustains progress is systems, habits and clarity.

When I started building my own projects, I treated them with the same seriousness I gave my corporate roles. Deadlines mattered. Metrics mattered. Quality mattered. If you want your side hustle to become a real business, you have to respect it before anyone else does.

This means setting clear goals. It means tracking revenue, expenses and time. It means learning basic marketing, sales and operations, even if those are not your strengths.

Creating your own opportunity does not mean doing everything alone forever. It means taking responsibility for the early stages until there is something worth scaling.

Economic impact beyond size

There is a tendency to dismiss small businesses because they are small. That is a mistake.

Black-owned employer firms may represent a smaller percentage of total businesses, but they generate significant revenue and create jobs in their communities. Even nonemployer businesses contribute to the economy by circulating income, building local networks and reducing dependency on single sources of employment.

More importantly, entrepreneurship changes mindset. When you own something – even at a small scale – you think differently about time, value and risk. You are no longer just a participant in the economy. You are a contributor.

That shift matters.

Greenlighting yourself

I have learned that waiting for validation is one of the fastest ways to stall momentum. Early in my creative and business journey, I realized that if I did not approve my own ideas, no-one else would.

Greenlighting yourself means starting before conditions are perfect. It means publishing the first version, launching the pilot, offering the service and learning in public. It means understanding that clarity often comes after action, not before.

This approach is especially important for Black entrepreneurs because traditional gatekeepers do not always reflect our experiences or markets. If you build something that serves a real need and solves a real problem, the audience will find you.

Opportunity is not always discovered. Sometimes it is manufactured.

From side hustle to strategy

Not every business has to start as a full-time leap. In fact, many should not.

Side hustles allow you to de-risk entrepreneurship. They provide income diversification and optionality. They also give you leverage in negotiations, career decisions and life choices.

The key is to be intentional. A side hustle should not just be busy work. It should align with your long-term goals. Ask yourself what skills you are building, what relationships you are forming and what assets you are creating.

Over time, those assets compound.

The call to action

Shirley Chisholm did not wait for the system to change before she acted. She moved, and the system had to respond.

That is the blueprint.

If you are a Black professional with an idea, a skill or a vision, understand that the majority of people who look like you are building businesses on their own terms. You are not late. You are not alone. You are right on time.

Create the project. Launch the service. Write the proposal. Start the business. If they do not give you a seat, bring your folding chair. And if no-one greenlights your idea, remember this: You are allowed to greenlight yourself.

Opinions expressed by The CEO Magazine contributors are their own.