When Support Becomes a Barrier: How Overcharging is Holding Black Businesses Back

In conversations about economic inequality, the focus often lands on systemic racism, discriminatory lending practices, and barriers created by mainstream institutions. These issues are real and deserve serious attention. Yet there is another truth that often goes unspoken. Sometimes, the very organizations and entities that claim to support the Black community end up holding it back.

Across the country, too many Black entrepreneurs have shared the same frustrating story. When they seek support from organizations such as some Chambers of Commerce, business networks, or mentorship groups that market themselves as advocates for Black businesses, they are met with steep membership fees, inflated service charges, and pay-to-play models that place already underserved businesses under more financial pressure.

This dynamic creates a painful irony. In neighborhoods where people already pay more for basic goods and services, where access to affordable credit is limited, and where business owners are often juggling razor thin margins, these organizations sometimes add to the burden instead of lightening it. Instead of empowering, they overcharge. Instead of building, they extract.

The result is predictable. Black businesses are left struggling to pay dues rather than investing in marketing, equipment, or staff. The very institutions meant to uplift them can become barriers to their growth.

Why does this happen?

For some organizations, survival depends on membership fees or costly programs. But in many cases, it reflects a lack of vision. When leadership treats the community as a revenue stream instead of as partners in progress, they replicate the very exploitative practices that have historically harmed Black people in America.

The cost of overcharging

The consequences go beyond dollars and cents. Trust erodes. Promising entrepreneurs walk away from institutions that should have been their strongest allies. Meanwhile, the disparities in access to capital and opportunity continue to widen. Instead of creating collective economic strength, these practices fragment and weaken the community.

A better way forward

It does not have to be this way. True empowerment requires organizations to put service before profit. That means lowering financial barriers, offering transparent value, and making resources accessible to even the smallest businesses. It means investing in entrepreneurs as partners rather than clients.

The Small Black Business Association (SBBA) is working to model this approach by providing resources, education, and alternative forms of capital without exploiting the very people we aim to serve. We believe that the road to ownership and economic freedom requires collaboration, fairness, and a commitment to lifting one another up, not charging each other down.

Closing Thought

The disparities facing Black entrepreneurs are already steep. We cannot afford to be our own gatekeepers. If the mission is truly to build wealth and ownership in the Black community, then we must create systems of support that are accessible, affordable, and accountable. Anything less only repeats the cycle we are trying to break.