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September 26, 2000
Latina entrepreneurs,
strong part of community HispanicVista.com
WASHINGTON — Latina-owned firms are an integral part of the fabric of business in the United States. Many Hispanic women entrepreneurs were born in this
country and own long-established businesses in a wide range of industries, according to a new survey conducted by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) and Wells Fargo bank.
“Latina
entrepreneurs are certainly not newcomers in the U.S.,” noted Nina McLemore, NFWBO Chair and President of Regent Capital, in discussing the study, “The Spirit of Enterprise: Latina Entrepreneurs in the United States.”
Those surveyed have owned their businesses for an average of 12 years. Two-thirds were born in this country and one-third are immigrants who have lived here for an average of 30 years.
Survey respondents are in a
wide variety of industries. Many more own firms in construction (10 percent); accounting, engineering and other professional services (10 percent); and manufacturing (9 percent) than in businesses such as hotels,
restaurants and bars (4 percent).
Latina entrepreneurs are a rapidly-growing business segment. According to an earlier report, the 382,400 Latina-owned firms in the U.S. in 1996 generated sales of $67.3 billion
— a 534 percent increase since 1987, compared to a 120 percent increase for all businesses. Despite this growth, the survey shows that the share of Latina entrepreneurs with bank credit and the amount of capital they
have has not increased significantly in the past two years.
The Latina business owners interviewed for this survey started their firms with slightly more capital than all women business owners interviewed for a
1998 survey. Less than half (45 percent) of Latina women entrepreneurs in the study borrowed funds to start their businesses; most borrowed from commercial banks (35 percent) and family members besides spouses (23
percent); other sources were personal credit cards, friends, spouses, and refinanced homes.
The share of Latina entrepreneurs with bank credit is similar to two years ago and the amount of capital they have has
not increased significantly. Just over half (54 percent) of Latina entrepreneurs have bank credit according to the survey, compared to 50 percent in 1998. The amount of bank capital carried by Latina business owners has
not changed significantly over the past two years.
While Latina entrepreneurs interviewed report that they started their own businesses, they are more likely than women business owners of other ethnicities to
describe their businesses as family run. Three-quarters (75 percent) of the participants say that their immediate family — spouse, children or parents — is involved in their business.
Nearly two-thirds (63
percent) of the Latina entrepreneurs surveyed use English and Spanish in their business activities. Just over half (54 percent) of Latina entrepreneurs consider English their first language, 37 percent indicate that
Spanish is their primary language, while at least 7 percent say they speak both languages equally.
In addition, Latinas are proud of their cultural heritage and background. Two-thirds (64 percent) of those
surveyed say that their cultural heritage is an asset for them as business owners; just 16 percent say it is mostly a challenge, and 7 percent say it is both.
The first and second generation Latina entrepreneurs
— who comprise 57 percent of those interviewed in the survey — come from diverse regions, including Mexico (46 percent), Cuba (17 percent), South America (14 percent), the Caribbean (9 percent), and Central America (8
percent). |
