Detroit City Wire

Racheal Allen, a Detroit resident, launched a nonprofit six years ago with an investment of $200,000 to assist Black and brown entrepreneurs in sustaining their businesses. Her initiative, the Operations School, now supports over 1,000 minority business owners annually through branding, promotion, monetization, and scaling of their enterprises. This effort is backed by a nearly $3 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Allen explained her motivation: “I realized there were all these places that small businesses could go to start a business. There was nowhere to go where they could learn how to operate a business.” She emphasized the personal significance of this work: “This work is so deeply personal for me because what it’s given us an opportunity to do is help so many Black and brown entrepreneurs be able to change their station in life.”

The Operations School operates out of Centric Place in Farmington Hills and is one of 27 hubs in Michigan focused on serving Black and brown entrepreneurs. Despite growth in Black-owned businesses in the U.S., they still represent only 3.4% of total businesses as per a Pew Research report.

Among the school's graduates is Lynette Rogers who co-owns Nacho Grill with her fiancé Omar Raines. Reflecting on her experience at the school, Rogers said: “Joining Operations School taught us how much we didn’t know.” Her business generated over $300,000 last year and expanded with a second truck.

Allen described Operations School as “a holistic resource for entrepreneurs,” offering office space, coaching, technical assistance, and mental health support. The school has contributed over $3 million to the local economy.

Bianca Williams owns Locs of Love salon in Ferndale which reached $1 million gross sales last year. Encouraged by Allen to join her first class cohort in 2019, Williams later started her own program teaching dreadlock styling. She also works part-time at Operations School as a technical assistant.

Williams expressed her ambitions: “We’re trying to constantly keep up with our growth and expand and do more.” Her goal for 2025 is for each stylist at Locs of Love to earn over $100,000 annually.

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