African American women the fastest group of new entrepreneurs

Female entrepreneur. IMAGE/photos.com

African American women are starting businesses six times more often than the national average in the United States. In 2013, 42 percent of African American-owned businesses, were run by women – an estimated 2.7 million businesses which generated over US$225 billion total in in annual revenue and employing almost 1.4 million people.

According to a report by Farah Ahmad, titled “How Women of Color Are Driving Entrepreneurship“, African American women, face unique challenges in traditional, corporate workplaces which impact them negatively and thus limits their ability to advance in the workplace. This has compelled them into taking matters into their own hands and started businesses.

The same report reveals that between 1997 and 2013, African American women-owned businesses grew by 258 percent – this despite the fact that they more often than not partially fund their enterprises with their own money, and that they tend to have much less personal wealth than both their male counterparts and white women.

According to the Dean of Business at Philander Smith College, Bruce James, as more and more African American women obtain higher degree levels, they are more likely to start their own businesses because they feel that they are better prepared to do so.

The economic impacts of such extensive entrepreneurship among women and especially African American women, does yield benefits to the United States through job creation, provision of goods and services, and stimulation of the economy through increased output.

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