The 10 CRWN Commandments
What we believe, how we govern and how we work. Values and conduct for working together.
Written By: Nkrumah Farrar
This article is from the Money & Power Issue of our Journal
Money, power, respect and the most beautiful and honest representation of Black women in the history of print.
Know Thyself
Everything starts here. You have to make an honest assessment of who you are to plot your course in business. Where are you going? What do you have? What do you want? Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses so that you can be secure in the value that you bring to your working relationships.
If you don’t like people, don’t force yourself into a management role. If you don’t have a crystal ball, don’t start a company — consider joining one of your friends who has a clear vision for the future and bring your skills to the service of that vision. You will have a shorter path to success if you can position yourself based on your true strengths.
Humble Yourself
Rice, Beans, Ramen, and Greens. A startup is about staying alive long enough to figure it out. If you can live humbly, you can extend your runway and give yourself time to manifest your dream. Cook dinner at home, bring your lunch into the city with you… Do that — preferably before you quit your 9 to 5 — so you can afford to take a flight for a pitch meeting, or so that you can increase your production volume to bring unit cost down.
Invest in Yourself
Unless you are starting a cash-intensive business, avoid taking on debt before you have proof of concept. Put skin in the game: invest of yourself — sacrifice, pay up front with your time.
This magazine has been revenue-funded since the beginning. We had customers on the day we launched, which made committing to the business full-time a safer bet. The market validated our assumptions and gave us confidence to make the leap. You don’t know what you have until you’ve found a customer and set out your offering.
Act Accordingly
Be driven by purpose and guided by values. Govern your activities your brand pillars (what you believe). Ours are Sisterhood, Knowledge of Self, Self-Love, Authenticity and Ownership; and they guide every decision we make.
Love Over Money
If it’s just about getting money, you’d likely be better off adding value to someone else's vision. When you start a company, there has to be a greater motivation than getting rich. Love of craft. Love for team. Love for community. Gratification is often delayed, and gratitude will get you through the times when the valleys outnumber the peaks.
Work Together
Know the difference between who to get money from and to get money with. Business owners, find partnerships and collaborations where each party is creating value for the other.
If you’re a gatekeeper for corporate, make sure you advocate for Black-owned vendors and pay them their full rate. After all, they’ve created the companies that will house your talents should you decide you’ve had your fill of microaggressions and free snacks.
First Things First
There are an endless amount of problems to solve for your business and likewise, for our people. Learn to prioritize according to what moves the needle for revenue and overall impact.
Bust Moves
The market is alive. The game is about how you adapt and adjust around how the market responds to your assumptions.
Mind Your Business
We live in a comparison culture, which makes it hard not to notice your sister’s glow up. You don’t know what she had to overcome to get where she is. You don’t know what obstacles she still faces. Celebrate her. See her and know it’s possible for you to win, too. Most High is the giver of gifts and talents. To envy another person is to find fault with God.
Build Tomorrow
It would be unfair to our children to raise them in a world where they are a permanent underclass due to broad-sweeping inequalities. We’re not working this hard to look good; we work this way because we want our children to be free. My great-grandchildren will speak my name and celebrate me because they’ll be certain that I was thinking about them when I decided to take the long route.
Build something to flip, but by all means, build something to hold that your children’s children can use as a springboard. Protect your IP, buy some land and build — or invest in — an institution that will outlive you.
