Kewaan Drayton is all about business. A local entrepreneur and business consultant with several enterprises, he is deeply engaged in Savannah’s business community and uses his experience, acumen and influence to help aspiring entrepreneurs. His ventures include Red Eye Film Productions, The Savannah Underground, Mailbox Cafe and Rip-N-Runners, which is a trucking company he runs with his father and best friend.
Beyond his businesses, Drayton remains very active in the larger business community and is involved with several organizations. He is a part of the Savannah Area Chamber’s current Leadership Savannah class and is a sitting board member of the Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce, the Savannah Downtown Business Association and the Creative Coast. He’s also a certified mentor with SCORE Savannah, and most recently, he has become the Savannah advocate for Right to Start, which is a grassroots nonprofit organization that is committed to expanding entrepreneurial opportunity for all.
“Right to Start caters to the needs of entrepreneurs. They really want to know what problems ground-level entrepreneurs are experiencing, and they do that by having advocates in different cities. Our job as advocates is to be feet on the ground, getting to know entrepreneurs in the community and figuring out what barriers and problems they’re facing. That way, we can take those issues, do research on them, look for commonalities, and bring them to the attention of our local, state and federal officials,” Drayton said.
He learned of Right to Start via the Creative Coast and after researching the organization, he felt that it was a good fit with his interests and pursuits.
“I thought that it aligned perfectly with what I stand for and my form of advocacy,” he remarked.
As the Savannah advocate, Drayton will meet with local entrepreneurs to learn about their experiences while also sharing helpful information about Right to Start.
“We want to know literally everything — the good, the bad, the ugly — so we can bring the things that aren’t so good to the attention of our legislators and [discover] how our community can create a better environment that’s more welcoming to entrepreneurs,” he explained. “We are there to be a voice for entrepreneurs all across the board. . . Entrepreneurship has a huge effect on economic development, on crime, on all these different things. And it’s our job to make sure that policymakers are informed about what’s happening on the ground with entrepreneurs and what they’re experiencing.”
In his work with aspiring and active business owners, Drayton has identified some of the barriers to entrepreneurship, the most common being access to capital.
“People feel like they don’t have the money they need to go into business, but what I’ve realized is . . . that there’s a bunch of different things entrepreneurs can do early on . . . to bring their idea to life,” he stated.
Drayton encourages aspiring business owners to consult with other entrepreneurs to learn how they overcame economic obstacles and to take advantage of resources that are available to them in the community.
“Leverage your connections and your community and build relationships with people who have impact and can help point you in the right direction to resources that may not be monetary, but can still help you grow,” he said.
Counsel and creative solutions go a long way when it comes to starting a business. Another word of advice he has for emerging entrepreneurs is to be clear about motive.
“The first thing I usually tell people is to determine if you’re getting into it because you genuinely want to add value to a specific audience, or if you’re getting into it because you want to make money. That’s what’s going to determine how committed you are to your idea. I start with that because as a mentor, it makes my job significantly easier if I know that you have a passion to do this because that’s going to be the thing that continues to push you when the money isn’t coming right away. If you have the passion and the drive, then everything else will naturally happen. Financial success will follow . . . but it all starts with knowing that the person is willing to do the work and has a true vision,” said Drayton.
He is passionate about supporting early entrepreneurs because he knows what it’s like to be at the beginning of a business journey and is well-versed in challenges that come with that.
“I know what it feels like to be passed along to multiple organizations and end up more confused after you’ve talked to different people than you were before you even thought to reach out to them. I know what that feels like and I want to alleviate that stress and pressure. I want people to feel comfortable about going into entrepreneurship. I don’t want them to feel discouraged,” he explained. “So, my goal is to get information and work with policymakers to make the environment more accommodating to entrepreneurs, whether that be helping them with licensing or understanding how to legitimize themselves as a business. . . The goal is to make the process a lot easier because entrepreneurship is not easy, but there’s a lot we can do to alleviate the pressure.”
As a business owner, Drayton has accomplished a lot, having been recognized as the 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Savannah Area Chamber, an accolade that surprised him and motivated him to share his wealth of knowledge with others.
“[The award] taught me that I needed to focus less on myself as an entrepreneur and more on how I can take the skills and abilities that I have and use that to help other people in our community,” he said.
As someone who had entrepreneurial proclivities early on and who has successfully launched several businesses, Drayton has a lot of wisdom to impart and is committed to supporting others in their entrepreneurial journeys. Along with continuing to pour into up-and-coming business owners, Drayton also has his sights set on economic development.
“I am very intrigued by economic development whether it’s related to entrepreneurship or workforce development. We’re in an entrepreneurial shortage, but we’re also in a workforce shortage. I’m very interested in the intersection of that and understanding the value that employees and entrepreneurs play in the market. It’s something that I really want to dive deeper into. I will always continue to be an entrepreneur, but my goal is to become an economic development specialist and enthusiast,” he expressed.
It’s clear that Drayton shows no signs of slowing down in his pursuit to build up Savannah’s entrepreneurial community. For him, success isn’t singular; it’s better when expanded to encompass the community. For that reason, he is committed to making change and paving the way for other business owners at every step of their entrepreneurial journey.
To learn more about Kewaan Drayton, visit kewaandrayton.com. For more information about Right to Start, visit righttostart.org.
This article appears in Connect Savannah | October, 2023.
