Antwon Person Is Shifting The Traditional Entrepreneurial Mindset

After more than two decades of leadership in the U.S. Army, Antwon Person brought lessons in discipline, accountability, and organizational leadership into his entrepreneurial journey. His experience taught him that building a successful business requires more than hard work. It requires challenging conventional thinking and building a foundation that supports long-term success.

An entrepreneur, investor, author, and business advisor, Person has built and operated businesses across multiple industries. Today, through Skillful Brands, he focuses on helping entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of starting, managing, and growing their businesses.

Photo Courtesy of Antwon Person

BLACK ENTERPRISE recently caught up with him to see how he’s shaking things up, challenging the status quo, and helping business owners build sustainable businesses that support long-term financial success.

BLACK ENTERPRISE: How did your entrepreneurial journey begin, and how did military service shape your approach to business?

Antwon Person: My interest in entrepreneurship started in college. I took a real estate course that opened my eyes to business ownership and building long-term wealth. That led me to pursue more training, learn from other entrepreneurs, and eventually start investing in real estate in 2007 while serving in the Army.

Over time, I got involved in other industries, including logistics, transportation, waste management, and consulting. Each business taught me something different about managing customers, daily operations, finances, and people.

I retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2024 after more than 20 years of service. My military experience shaped how I approach business, especially when it comes to leadership, planning, managing resources, and developing people. But entrepreneurship taught me that those skills are only part of the equation. In the military, you’re working within an established organization. As a business owner, you’re often responsible for building that structure yourself.

What is next for you and Skillful Brands?

AP: We’re focused on growing Skillful Brands into a leading resource for entrepreneurs. That means expanding our reach, strengthening our educational and advisory services, and developing technology that makes running and growing a business easier.

What excites me is the opportunity to change how entrepreneurs access business support. Right now, many business owners must go to different places for guidance, tools, and resources, then figure out how everything works together. We’re working to bring those pieces together through Skillful Brands so entrepreneurs can spend less time searching for answers and more time putting them into action.

A big part of that vision is the Skillful Framework, which I developed to give entrepreneurs something I believe many are missing: a clear, practical roadmap for building and growing a business.

What inspired you to create the Skillful Framework?

AP: A lot of it came from my own experience as an entrepreneur. I reached a point where I realized that just because a business is growing doesn’t mean it’s operating the way it should. I spent long hours handling daily operations, managing customers, and solving problems. As business increased, so did my workload.

That experience changed how I looked at business ownership. I realized I needed to spend less time reacting to everything happening in the business and more time thinking about how the business should operate. Those lessons, along with what I’ve learned from working with other entrepreneurs, helped shape the Skillful Framework.

How does the Skillful Framework translate into practical support for entrepreneurs?

AP: The Skillful Framework is built around a simple idea: the different parts of a business need to work together. Marketing, finances, customer relationships, and daily operations are all connected. But many entrepreneurs manage them separately, which often creates unnecessary work, confusion, and inefficiencies.

That’s why we focus on the three S’s: Structure, Systems, and Strategy. That means helping business owners get organized, establish processes, and develop a clear plan for moving forward.

For example, if a business is struggling to keep up with customer inquiries, the first answer shouldn’t automatically be to hire more people. We need to understand what’s causing the problem. Are responsibilities unclear? Is there a follow-up process? Are they using the right tools to track customer conversations? Sometimes, fixing those issues can make a significant difference without adding more staff or expenses.

Who is the Skillful Framework designed for, and how do entrepreneurs benefit from it?

AP: It’s really designed for entrepreneurs at different stages. Some are just starting out and need help getting their business off the ground. Others have been operating for years but have reached a point where what worked in the beginning isn’t working anymore.

The benefit depends on where they are. For someone starting out, it might mean understanding what needs to be in place before investing too much time or money. For an established business owner, it could mean improving cash flow management, organizing operations, or preparing to expand.

The goal isn’t to give the same advice. It’s to help entrepreneurs understand their challenges, focus on the right priorities, and take practical steps that fit their business.

Why do so many businesses struggle to scale, and where should owners begin?

AP: I think the biggest challenge is that entrepreneurs focus so much on growing the business that they don’t always prepare the business for growth. They’re bringing in more customers, generating more revenue, and taking on more work, but they’re still operating the same way they did when they started. Eventually, that catches up with them. The owner is making every decision, solving every problem, and trying to keep everything moving.

My advice is to start by looking at how the business operates. Where are things getting stuck? What keeps coming back to you? What could someone else handle if the right processes and responsibilities were in place? You don’t have to fix everything overnight, but you do have to build a system that can handle growth without everything depending on you.

To me, that’s the difference between simply growing a business and building one that can be scaled.

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