CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Franchise businesses play a huge role in the U.S. economy.
However, when it comes to diversity in franchise ownership, the International Franchise Association reveals only 30% are owned by minorities, and only about 8% of those owners are Black.
One Charlotte woman is on a mission to increase all of those numbers – and she’s doing it with a little splash of color.
For Diamond Weems, it is all about a pop of color here at Lip N Pour in east Charlotte.
She started her business after not finding the right lipstick to complement her skin tone.
“I would stay at the beauty supply store for hours, just swiping colors on my hand. So, I went to a Sip N Paint. I was like I could do the same exact idea, just with lipstick and lip gloss,” Weems said.
Since then, Weems has helped thousands of customers create the perfect color for the perfect pout.
However, makeup was not her first love.
”I actually have a degree in criminal justice. So, I actually wanted to be a police officer. I didn’t get into cosmetics until 2012,” Weems said.
She began Lip N Pour in 2018, which was a time that Black businesses truly began to grow and thrive in North Carolina.
In fact, the North Carolina Business Council says that between 1997 to 2018, minority-owned businesses overall nearly tripled from almost 62,000 to 183,000.
Since then, the numbers have declined, and while the pandemic did not help many businesses, Weems saw growth.
“Believe it or not, I did not slow down. People were kind of upset and frustrated about staying in their homes, but that spiked Lip N Pour. I’ve been on the rise since then,” Weems said.
Lip N Pour has grown, much like Weem’s personal book filled with customer’s creative lip colors and unique names.
The business has grown so much that Weems is now franchising it. Her first franchisees are in the build out process in Huntsville, Alabama. Her second franchisee is in the beginning stages of opening a site in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
“It gives other entrepreneurs or other women like myself the opportunity to be able to get into a business already. The concept is already proven. So, it gives them the opportunity for self-employment as well,” Weems said.
However, as Weems has discovered herself, self-employment will also give them so much more.
“I have a son, so the freedom that I have to be able to attend his basketball games, parent meetings, things like that. But also have generational wealth for him. I know he’s a boy, but I’m leaving a legacy for him to carry Lip N Pour on for generations after,” Weems said.
Weems hopes to expand her business nationwide and internationally over the next five years.
She believes entrepreneurship is hard, but worth it, which is why she offers more than “lip service” to those even thinking of self-employment. She is dedicated to empowering them to just do it.
“Just keep your foot down and just keep pushing,” Weems said.
According to Franchise Direct, more than one in seven American businesses is a franchise, and the number of franchise brands operating in the United States is quickly closing in on 4,000.