[1] The Coleman-Franklin-Cannon Mill still stands in Concord, North Carolina, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

He had a white attorney father who took an interest in him, and the ambitious Coleman made use of his contacts and became known as a highly successful entrepreneur in and around Concord, North Carolina.

He returned to Cabarrus County the next year, and established his first business; collecting rags, bones, and junk for resale and disposal.

In 1873–1874, he went to Washington, DC, where he attended the Model School at Howard University to learn more about business, a period of study supported by William Coleman.

His business ventures later expanded to include a mercantile store located on Main Street in Concord, the county seat.

[2] Coleman's status as the son of Rufus Clay Barringer, who took an interest and advised the ambitious young man,[3] and the relationships he established with other influential whites, are thought to have helped his making these initial investments.

[3] At the height of its operations, the Coleman Manufacturing Company employed more than 300 African-American workers in a 96,000-square foot[5] three-story brick building.

[citation needed] Because of an increase in cotton prices and other factors, the mill struggled financially and was closed after Coleman's death in 1904.

Superior Court Judge Clarence Horton of Cabarrus County has noted that when a hosiery factory opened in 1913, it employed black seamstresses and other workers, unlike many white-owned mills in the South.

Historian Norman J. McCullough Sr., who is working on a biography of the businessman, contends he was the richest African American in the country, noting that other black men became millionaires after 1900.