WS Chronicle

In 2018 Winston-Salem native Philicia Carter-Blue founded Carter-Blue Consulting LLC with only one goal: to be the most successful, creative, and groundbreaking consulting agency in North Carolina. 

Carter-Blue said she decided to get into business consulting after going through her own struggles as an entrepreneur. Although she has a business degree, when she decided to become an entrepreneur, Carter-Blue said what she needed most was a mentor, someone to show her the ropes.

“I created my own business about 10 years ago and it was a service-based business that I built from the ground up,” Carter-Blue said. “Although I have a degree in business, when I started working through the process of opening my own business, I wanted a mentor, so that’s really what drove me to start helping other people. 

“We learned so much going through the process and we had to learn it all on our own, and I knew how hard that was, how time consuming it was, to actually run a business and learn how to maintain it.” 

Carter-Blue’s first clients were her daughters, Ja’Nihya and J’Avia. When she was only ten years old,  Ja’Nihya started her own business teaching dance classes. J’Avia is the owner and CEO of her own candle business, Chef J’Avia Scents, which is located in Hanes Mall. “I was doing an amazing job at that so I thought it was something I could take and help other people as well.” 

Ja’Nihya, who recently celebrated her 14th birthday and is a junior in high school, said she was excited when her mother decided to start taking on other clients. She said she has a lot of knowledge and experience that other business owners can really use. “I’m glad people have the opportunity to learn different things from her because she has a lot of experience. She’s really down to earth and she really cares about your business,” she said. 

Since launching Carter-Blue Consulting LLC, Carter-Blue has helped create dozens of businesses and nonprofits. She said when advising business owners and entrepreneurs, she tries to give her clients good and bad feedback because there’s a lot of “grit and grime” on the backend of having your own business. “They don’t talk about that a lot, even in the books they don’t talk about that,” Carter-Blue said. 

“They make it seem like once you go file your LLC it’s on and popping, but it doesn’t work like that. You can get an LLC and not make a dime, you can make a dime and really not be making a profit. So you have to be hard on business owners and give them feedback. I try to be as real and as honest, and as genuine as I can be, because a lot of times they won’t get that from anywhere else.”  

When asked what are some of the biggest challenges minority business owners face, Carter-Blue said lack of financial resources and not knowing how to get financial resources, such as grants and other funding methods. 

Carter-Blue also stressed the importance of having knowledge on tax preparation and insurance or working with someone who does. She said she remembers when she didn’t understand insurance, which is why she offers free insurance and tax preparation consulting. “I didn’t know anything about insurance, I would just say give me the cheapest plan and a lot of agents are cool with that because they’re in it to get money; they couldn’t care less if you understand the plan you have,” she said. 

“And it’s not just business owners, it’s individuals as well. A lot of us lack the knowledge of insurance, as well as tax preparation,” Carter-Blue said. “We’ve all seen celebrities and people in the news who don’t pay taxes and end up going to jail, but a lot of times we have no idea how serious it is because nobody teaches you that.” 

Carter-Blue said what sets her apart from other consulting businesses is her willingness to go above and beyond the normal call of duty, and her passion for helping people. “I’m someone who’s real down to earth, who you can feel comfortable with, and I’ve been there,” she said. 

“I wasn’t given anything, I had to grow my business the same way that I can see a lot of people need to or have to grow their business, so I can relate and be able to get you through what I’ve been through.” 

For more information on Carter-Blue Consulting LLC, visit https://www.carterblueconsulting.com or visit “Carter Blue Small Business Solutions” on Facebook.