"Developing a CEO mindset is detrimental to the success of all business owners. Particularly those that desire a generational business."
Alberta McKinney Tweet
Meet Alberta McKinney, a successful businesswoman with a burning passion for entrepreneurship.
McKinney’s journey started in high school when she participated in the Junior Achievement program, which exposed her to business techniques and entrepreneurship at an early age. She then pursued additional education, obtaining a series 6 license, retirement planning, and LUTCF training, which opened the door to working with business owners.
Her latest mission is to help African American entrepreneurs succeed through her signature course, “Understanding the Business of Business,” which teaches crucial skills like business forecasting, budgeting, revenue projections, and funding strategies.
Alberta is driven by her belief that African American business owners represent the success of their community.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Alberta McKinney: My passion for business started in high school. I was a part of the Junior Achievement program. This program encouraged early exposure of young people to business techniques and entrepreneurship.
I decided at the time to accelerate my learning process by attending night school in addition to my regular day school schedule. This gave me the additional credits to finish high school after the 1st semester of my last year of school. I returned at graduation and march with my classmates to receive my diploma.
As you can see I was making business decision as a forward thinker long before I was an adult. I always thought about the next process of what I wanted to achieve. Seeking after promotions for management positions wherever I worked was the goal.
While working at the Post Office in mail processing I was introduced to the insurance and financial industry. I loved it and that started the journey of where I am today.
Obtaining a series 6 license offering financial products, retirement planning and LUTCF training was my doorway to business owners. Having a passion for learning and achieving has never ended.
In the early 90’s working with one of the 1st African American Financial Planners in my area; we were given the opportunity to work with Black business owners in Overtown (a neighborhood in Miami FL).
I recognized at that time; how great the need was to assistance black business owners. They perused their passion yet lacked the necessary knowledge for long term business growth and sustainability. This is why I offer my signature course “Understanding the Business of Business.”
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffet, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Alberta McKinney: Hello Mr. Buffet, I would like to thank you for being an inspiration to me. After studying your successful financial portfolio. I recognized it consisted of products and services that we as consumers purchased or consumed daily.
This discovery led me to study consumer buying habits and trends. Thank you so much, Sir. Your success has now become my financial portfolio success.
That observation has also created a success formula for my business. This is the reason I did not focus on collaborating with African American entrepreneurs as a business. Working with African American business owners is my “Cause.”
Recognizing their desire for business success goes beyond paying bills or feeding the family. We represent the success of our People. We represent the success of African American Business Owners.
This is why my course “Understanding the Business of Business” includes forecasting, a business budget, revenue projections and of course funding for the business. Without understanding or having a process for a successful outcome. It will never be achieved. This course also includes “Developing a CEO Mindset.”
Business success is in the mind of the business owner. Having a mind for business success helps the business owner make business decisions that drive the success of the business.
What advice do you wish you received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Alberta McKinney: This is a great question. I started my business journey twice. Once as a baby boomer and now in this age of technology.
Each journey was quite different. As a baby boomer when I started that journey, I was working part-time in my business. I was also a 203b postal worker in mail processing.
Excited, young, focused, and energetic. The question here is what advice I wish I received? We must first understand there is a difference between deciding to start a business and seeking advice to start a business. I did not seek any advice. I decided to start my business because I felt that I was ready.
I had money in my retirement plan to launch my business and already working the business part-time. It may have looked and seemed like the right thing to do. Here is the advice I wish I received. Get my LUTCF training and obtained my series six license before I left my post office employment. I would have been totally prepared when I started my business.
On my second journey I was not going to repeat that mistake again. Remember my first journey was acquiring the skills I needed. My second journey was learning how to use technology to run a business. I gave myself 1 and half years for training.
I watched the pandemic frenzy when lots of people decided to start a business. Interesting enough coaches and mentors were available. Like the decision I made, today in the age of technology new business owners are making decisions to start a business without considering sound advice.
This mistake can position them to struggle and wonder why their business is not having success they desire.
I run my business by the numbers. Each quarter has a targeted and carefully monitored plan to reach my year-end financial goal. At the beginning of my fiscal year, I implemented a new automated system.
By the way I have 2 mentors and a coach to advise me. Every great mentor has a mentor!
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Alberta McKinney: I have always been a forward thinker. Being relevant in the generation or the average period that we are living in, is extremely important to me. Each era contributes to the future of humankind. As a baby boomer it was challenging and exciting to be a part of history and the future at the same time.
I welcome the B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations. This era opens a world of opportunity for me as a real estate investor. I would never have imaged being able to sit at my desk and buy and sell properties nationwide.
This is a dream come true. Real estate agents no longer farm designated areas or their backyards (as a matter of speaking). They can now work nationwide.
I made a video about a year ago “building your business to make money.” I highlighted the fact, if you do not have expectations to make money while you are sleeping you are missing the benefit of doing business in the age of technology.
This gives those of us with a CEO mindset to literally control several businesses at the same time with limited efforts. I have implemented three online businesses. The world of business today is capitalizing on your marketing strategies. The strategy for me is 100% focus on consumer sentiment, consumer buying habits, marketing trends ect.
My signature course “Understanding the Business of Business” is a need because of the era we all currently live in. I believe without strategic forecasting (budgeting, planning, and estimating revenue growth) in this fast paced society we are a part of, it will be challenging to exist.
Our understanding of how to run a business in my opinion outweighs having the skill sets to produce products or services. A business can always hire workers or create partnerships for that part of the business. Without understanding the business of business, you cannot make sound business decisions.
Welcome to the Future!
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Alberta McKinney: Overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth is an accurate definition of business. I salute those individuals who accept the challenge.
I see several challenges right now. The age of technology does create a lot of opportunities and just as many challenges. This now world we live in delivers false hope, people being led to believe that they can achieve an outcome putting in little or no effort.
I coach and mentor potential business owners that only focus on an end result without understanding the process. They confuse their skill sets with having the mindset to run a business. This creates a level of disappointment that discourages some to continue. They believed so many misconceptions when truth was provided it was hard to accept. By this time they had invested so much money buying short cuts that didn’t exist, truth was unrealistic.
The availability of information is in the palm of our hands. It is amazing that the challenge is still the same. There is a percentage of individuals that gather information but lack the ability to comprehend the complexity of technology.
There is also another group of individuals that retire or leave the corporate world that have skill sets but not the mindset of an entrepreneur. They had what they needed because corporations provided it. They scheduled a meeting and all employees had to attend. Now they must build their clientele.
I had one client that left the corporate environment. Got the website, wrote books, social media sites and everything necessary that she thought would create her business success. Everything but clients.
Business has always been about connecting with your market. What is your niche? Are you visible? Understanding that advertising, marketing and promotions has to be a part of the business budget. Let us not forget mentors and coaches.
The beauty of all the challenges. There will be those that recognize the challenges and conform to the necessary requirements for business success.
2020, 2021, 2022 threw a lot of curve balls into businesses on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past years, how can businesses thrive in 2023? What lessons have you learned and what advice would you share?
Alberta McKinney: The first lesson I learned and the advice I will share about those curveball years is this, rewrite your story. I did a video in 2021 and one of the messages I shared was “the world of business has changed.”
We cannot go back to business as usual. Stop, take a deep breath and look around. Many businesses restarted without considering the changes. I was transitioning my business before those years took place. I had to adjust my strategy because I was transitioning into what the business world was not what the business world has become.
Understand this; the foundation of running a business is pretty much the same. The significant difference is those that focus on the changes that surround business. The world of real estate shifted a few times during those years. Consumer buying habits changed, the job market shifted, the world changed.
With all these signs, how can one not stop and shift with the changes. For the year 2023 and only 2023. Carefully focus on forecasting and your marketing strategies. Because of the challenges we are still facing I am literally watching the movement of the top CEO conversations, the stock market, the war, and anything that affects the movement of business.
Developing a CEO mindset is detrimental to the success of all business owners. Particularly those that desire a generational business.
To Our Success!
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Alberta McKinney: My business Superpower: “Super-Mentor of Change”
Having the ability when I look in the eyes of a business owner I can give them the mindset, heart and a willingness to see the future of their industry. After the mentoring and training I provide.
They have a full understanding of how to run their business using forecasting techniques. They now possess a CEO mindset with the ability to design new opportunities and growth strategies that paves the way for their business success.
I have a heart-driven focus to see startup businesses and existing have their business dreams come true. To me, that is the best superpower any mentor can possess.
“Super-Mentor of Change”
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Alberta McKinney for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Alberta McKinney or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.