CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHICS
HISPANIC BUSINESS ENTERPRISE REPORT The purpose of the 2012 Hispanic Business Enterprise (HBE) Study is to provide insights into the challenges, strategies, needs and resources of these Arizona businesses. The Phoenix MBDA Business Center and Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce designed the study to be a resource for businesses, organizations, educators, government agencies and individuals who want to help Arizona HBEs succeed. A total of 380 telephone interviews were conducted with Arizona HBEs during August – October 2012. The businesses represent a range of industries, company sizes and locations throughout the state. Comparisons were made with the 2007 SRP Arizona Business Study - Focus on Minority-Owned Businesses1, when applicable. The study addressed five different topic areas – Challenges, Strategies/Successes, Business Profiles, Owner Profiles and The Future. Here are highlights from the study.
What types of challenges have Hispanic business enterprises (HBEs) faced? Similar challenges — HBEs felt that most of the challenges they faced were common to businesses in general and not necessarily unique or related to being minority-owned. The top responses to an open-ended question about the most significant challenges or barriers they faced as a minorityowned business was “no unique challenges/same as other businesses” (23%). The specific challenges they mentioned tended to be business-related, such as “making enough money” (9%) and “securing loans/funding for the business” (9%).
Some businesses still experience specific minority-related issues — When asked specific questions about the challenges of being a minority business enterprise: • 38% felt that they have had to overcome negative perceptions of being an HBE (percent significant/somewhat of a challenge). • 32% felt that cultural differences had an impact on their business practices (percent significant/somewhat of a challenge). • 26% agreed with the statement that they were treated differ-
ently by suppliers/customers because they were an HBE (percent strongly agree/agree with the statement). • 22% disagreed with the statement that they were treated with respect when applying for loans (percent strongly disagree/disagree with the statement). A sample of comments about most significant challenges/ barriers included:
“Competing with the bigger companies is my biggest challenge.” “When the economy is slow, it hurts my business because people don’t have discretionary funds to pay for my services.” “Being a minority is my biggest challenge because I’ve been here 41 years and it’s funny because when someone comes in they are looking for a White person to talk to and they look you over like,“Huh, you’re the owner?”” A review of comments throughout the survey highlighted that most just “work harder” to overcome the discrimination that surfaced in the course of their business.
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