Breaking Barriers: A Spotlight On Women & Minority Business Owners

by BRIAN W. CARTER.

The recent report shows Black and African American business owners’ economic outlooks are optimistic for the year ahead.

In May 2024, the Sentinel shared information from the Bank of America Business Owner Report, conducted in partnership with Bank of America Institute, which released information on small and mid-size business owners. The report included input from more than 1,400 small and mid-sized business owners looking at viewpoints, goals and concerns nationwide having an optimistic outlook on their future.

According to the 2024 Bank of America Women & Minority Business Owner Spotlight, published in partnership with Bank of America Institute, the optimism continues. In this recent report, more than 2,000 small and mid-size business owners across the country, nearly four out of five (78%) small and mid-sized business owners anticipate revenue growth in the next 12 months.

“This is research that we publish two times a year, once in the spring and then once in the fall,” said Raul Anaya, Los Angeles president & co-head of Business Banking for Bank of America during a virtual briefing with media outlets.

“We also like to incorporate information and insights that the Bank of America institute also publishes, where we are leveraging our own proprietary data to really to understand consumer behavior, the economy and overall business practices.”

“This fall we did find that business owners were optimistic about their revenue growth and just the aspects for their business to increase over the next 12 months,” said Sharon Miller, Los Angeles president & co-head of Business Banking for Bank of America.

The report shows most business owners including 76% of women, 82% of Hispanic-Latino, 84% of Black/African American and 83% of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) entrepreneurs anticipating revenue growth in the year ahead.

Business owners across all surveyed cohorts are cautiously optimistic that economies will improve over the next 12 months. Nationwide, 66% believe the local economy will improve, 60% believe the national economy will improve, and 57% believe the global economy will improve.

Black and African American business owners’ economic outlooks are optimistic for the year ahead. According to the report, over the coming year, 77% plan to expand, and 94% plan to obtain funding for their businesses.

“They have a very strong business and economic outlook and they’re confident about the economy will improve and they do expect their business and revenue to increase in the year ahead,” said Miller.

She continued, “Inflation is one of the things that they have told us is one of the biggest issues for Black business owners and they have raised prices.

“They’ve had to increase wages and certainly they’re reevaluating their cash flow and spending, but when you look at over the next 12 months in spite of all of this, they still do plan to grow their business, and they plan to expand.

“We also found that 60% of Black African American owners say labor shortages are currently impacting their business.”

Out of Black and African American entrepreneurs, 70% are prioritizing personalized customer interactions to attract and retain customers. Ninety-two percent of a survey are adjusting their marketing strategies and approaches with social media (54%), offering personalized deals and discounts to individual customers (45%).

In the May 2024 article, the Sentinel spoke to a Black-owned business, Thirteen Lune, a beauty and retail platform that carries products made by Black and Brown businesses. Founded in December 2020, Thirteen Lume was looking to make more hires as well as expand their business and brands. Tracy Grey, co-founder of The 22 Fund is helping companies maintain an optimistic outlook.

“We invest, we’re a mission-aligned fund and we invest in climate tech manufacturing to create what we call the clean, quality job of the future in lower moderate-income communities,” said Grey. “We do this by helping them to export their product around the world.”

Grey continued, “We have a very broad and deep network and we’re the first venture capital fund to have a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Commerce and their international trade agency.

“So, our companies get concierge services and then, in our network of other financial providers from grants, we hired a firm to dig into all the available non-dilutive capital for companies.”

The 22 Fund helps companies reach their goals and meet their expectations. Grey shared that they’re invested in the well-being of their women and BIPOC owned companies.

“We help, we spend more time with our companies than other venture funds do,” said Grey. “We always know where they are in their journey, we help them before they get into trouble.

“We keep an eye on their cash flow, their manufacturing, their employees and we help them find other investors.”

Grey shared despite the good news in the recent Bank of America report, Black business owners of color still face challenges.

“Well, with any Black-owned business especially, women of color, it’s always accessing capital,” said Grey. “It’s difficult for women of color to raise funds anecdotally, we’re finding it takes people of color, women of color, 3 to 5 times longer to raise a fund, men of color 2 times longer than White men.”

Grey continued, “Women of color have it the hardest raising a fund, then it trickles down to their actual company for investing and it’s just harder to be a woman of color in business.

“Black women are always in the least of the least.”

Grey shared that Bank of America has been a supportive element to The 22 Fund as they support their businesses.

“Bank of America is an investor in our fund and is very supportive of us and our companies,” said Grey. “I just returned from their innovation summit in San Francsico.

“They really support Black-owned and Latino owned firms, especially the women who need the most support.

“I’m not surprised by the findings in the report.”

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See Original Article at Los Angeles Sentinel