Hustle Economics
Leroy Barber
I have long been an advocate of any entrepreneur who can read their culture, figure out what is missing or needed, and then create a business or service to meet that need. I am even more impressed with entrepreneurs who have very few to no resources and yet make things happen. I call this the hustle economy.
Hustle economy has filled the gaps in places where resources have been denied. There are places that have been deemed un-investible (I made this word up). There are many reasons why some places are supported and others denied, and many of those reasons have to do with race, privilege, education, and gender. I won’t go into those reasons now, but we know they exist and are the major reasons certain places and people are not treated equally. This denial of resources has led to some dangerous and false assumptions about people who live in places that have little investment. One of those assumptions is that they lack the knowledge and understanding of how economics work. This is patently false.
Hustle economy looks like the candy lady in a neighborhood who figures out how to buy, sell, and create a vibrant business within a neglected place. Hustle economy is the vendor who makes art, who finds a place within the flow of people and sets up a table where her art can be purchased. It’s the baker who goes around to community events or delivers cakes and pies to neighbors, who finds a way to grow that business into a storefront location. Or the t-shirt producer who pays attention to culture and makes shirts that are ready and relevant in the moment. Or the book vendor who sells books to black children on a busy avenue in Harlem. These folks and many more all understand economics and find ways without “angel investors” to make their businesses thrive.
Here is the thing that gets me, though: in the spaces of finance, investment, philanthropy, and funding of all sorts, there appears to be an elitism and a disconnect. In a world where entrepreneurship, new ideas, and risk are understood as part of the path to success, a reluctance to support certain struggling places still exists. The requirements for receiving funding are often unattainable for the people on the ground who make it happen every day. Even funding from those who say they are helping leaves major gaps, and large numbers of decent local, creative, and hardworking people who read culture well are overlooked. Hence, hustle economy emerges, where these folks find a way to get it done – taking on the risk, investing in themselves and in the places they live.
There is indeed a vibrant hustle economy that exists all over the world. I have seen these personally, and the wonderful thing is that this hustle economy does indeed fill a gap. If it didn’t exist, we would be in worse shape than where we currently are economically.
I can’t imagine a world where the local entrepreneur at a table, booth, community fair, or corner store didn’t exist. But I think we take hustle economy for granted; we don’t understand its place and mission in the world of filling gaps in unsupported places.
I, for one, dream of a day and space where these risky, self-invested, and creative economists are at the center of economic thought, but until then I will continue to spend some of my money and voice supporting them. I hope you will, as well.