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Latino entrepreneurs are more optimistic than the rest about their businesses’ performance in the coming year, according to a study released Thursday by Bank of America.
Coinciding with the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15), Bank of America presented its “2022 Women & Minority Business Owner Spotlight” report, which analyzes, among others, trends among entrepreneurs in the community.
The study notes that while only 65% of non-Hispanic business owners project an increase in revenues in the coming year, among Latinos this figure rises to 71%.
Similarly, 59% of Hispanic entrepreneurs say they will expand their business, while only 52% of non-Hispanics plan to expand.
The big problem among Hispanic entrepreneurs – almost half of them have experienced it – is difficulties in accessing capital: 39% say they have no relationship with any financier, 26% say they do not feel qualified enough to ask for capital and 24% do not even know where to ask for it.
The perception among a large portion of the community is that it is more difficult for a Hispanic entrepreneur to access capital than for a non-Hispanic. Some 27% of respondents believe this is a problem that will never be solved, while 22% believe that in the future the playing field will be leveled for everyone.
When it comes to their biggest macroeconomic concerns at the moment, Hispanic business owners are no different from other entrepreneurs: inflation (75%) and commodity prices (69%) are their biggest headaches, followed closely by the fear of recession (67%).
Many Hispanic entrepreneurs regret not having sufficient knowledge of small business finance (83%) and would like to know more about such important issues for their companies as business credit (40%), access to capital (39%) and accounting (35%).
And 45% of Latino small business owners say they are self-taught when it comes to learning how to run their business, highlighting the need for training for some entrepreneurs.
The Bank of America study also found that family plays a prominent role in the lives of Hispanic entrepreneurs, to the extent that most of them aim to create generational wealth that they can pass on to their children and grandchildren.
In addition, the community also represents a wealth element for the entrepreneurs surveyed, whose businesses make them more vibrant and, in turn, they strive to contribute as much as possible.
Thus, 54% donate products or services to the community, 46% carry out some type of volunteer work, 36% sponsor local events and teams, and 33% source from local suppliers.
