Promoting Black businesses
Victor Thompson started Knowledge Fountain to promote dynamic Black businesses and organisations wishing to reach the community.
It has grown to become of vital influence through its website and with distribution in Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets.
Victor’s passion for business and people really started in 1998 when he first started marketing African and Caribbean businesses for various Black media organisations.
His experience and knowledge of the UK Black business sector is second to none as he has travelled the length and breath of England and Wales, meeting Black business owners first hand. In 2005 he was compelled to deliver a magazine that would represent the best of the UK Black community and Knowledge Fountain was founded.
Knowledge Fountain magazine was founded in 2005 to act as a platform for dynamic Black owned businesses and organisations keen on reaching the Black community. Victor realised that Black entrepreneurs were struggling to grow their businesses from SME’s to national and even international brands and he wanted to offer a cost effective solution for businesses wanting to grow and promote their brands and services.
When Victor started Knowledge Fountain nobody wanted to listen. In fact, he did not get his first sale for Knowledge Fountain for four weeks! Victor says that it was a cold Friday evening at 8pm when he went into his last appointment and he had resolved that if this Black business owner was also going to give him the ‘brush off’ then he would start looking for a 9 to 5 and put it all down to experience. As it turned out, that business owner did actually advertise and since then Knowledge Fountain has grown to be the single most influential Black business magazine in the UK.
Victor says of why a free magazine? “I chose to make Knowledge Fountain a quarterly free magazine because I wanted as many people as possible to get access to this great information about the Black community.
The only paid for copies of Knowledge Fountain are subscriptions and those highly valued back issues. Once published, the magazine is available through various sources like selected supermarkets, embassies, trade exhibitions and business related conferences.
Recent reports from the Knowledge Fountain website administrator are revealing buoyant subscription sales with strong interests from Spain, Germany and Holland.
When Victor Thompson started Knowledge Fountain he was clear on three things as commissioned by God; (1) Knowledge Fountain must always be a platform for the most promising African Caribbean businesses/organisations. (2) Knowledge Fountain must be a market leader, and be superior to the competition. (3) Knowledge Fountain, as a business must lead by example and produce profit and growth for all its key stakeholders manifesting a fair and transparent business conduct at all times.
Inside sources reveal that Knowledge Fountain magazine is increasing its influence rapidly, and its next issue has a revolutionary and successful and high profile business owner with a story that really captures the imagination.
Victor believes that we are the custodians of our own fate, and we all have a duty of care to the well being of each other. This emphasis on possessing ethics, integrity and vision embody the publication, and sets Knowledge Fountain apart.
Victor also believes that the valued contribution that Black entrepreneurs have made to the UK economy had always been dismissed, but through the exposure of Knowledge Fountain, this perception will be seriously challenged, and the new generation of entrepreneurs will be encouraged to reach out beyond their own expectations.
Knowledge Fountain aims to continue its inspirational growth. Victor wishes to encourage all entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and passions, and network with each other to widen their opportunities.
Subscriptions
For the first time now, Knowledge Fountain is taking subscriptions online for those in regions outside of its reach to be guaranteed their copy whenever it is published. This is another channel for members of the community to play a role in the enterprise culture.