BRYAN, Texas — “We’re diverse in here — we do a little bit of everything for anybody,” Shelia McQueen said.
For the past five years, Shelia McQueen has been doing all she can to grow her small business.
“It was just a hobby, like fun stuff to do, and then I got to thinking, maybe I can go out on my own and do this,” McQueen said.
Since 2018, McQueen has been the owner of "Busted Tees" — printing custom-made t-shirts and designs — all from her garage at home and selling through social media.
That was until January 2022 when she decided it was time to open the doors to her first store.
“I could have people walking into my store, I knew I would get more traffic if I had a storefront," McQueen said.
"That idea sparked me to open up shop.”
“Financially, this came out of my own pocket," McQueen said.
"I didn’t have any finance, no loans, no anything from anybody else — no help — so financially it was a little stressful.”
Like McQueen, many entrepreneurs find it hard when first starting out, that’s what’s sparking the BCS Chamber of Commerce to hold their Minority Small Business Forum for a second year in a row.
“We noticed a lot of people wanting to go into business for themselves so one of the things we hear from these businesses is that there was a lot of information they needed," said Chairmain of the BCS Chamber of Commerce, Jason Cornelius.
"We will be having breakout sessions for how to get your business started, HR practices, how to get a bank account, and legal issues you may come into."
For those just starting out, McQueen offers this piece of advice.
“Just tell yourself 'Failure is not an option', — you've got this, and you can do it.”
For anyone wanting to kick-start a business or are looking to expand, the BCS Chamber of Commerce is holding their Minority Small Business Forum on Wednesday, January 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. — the event is free and a link to register can be found here.