study done by McCombs School of Business at U.T. Austin
A new study by the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin reveals some hurdles which are preventing the state's Hispanic owned businesses from growing, 1200 WOAI news reports.
The report was done in conjunction with the Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce, which is holding its annual convention in San Antonio.
U.T. Austin President William Powers told the group that it is important to study the needs of Hispanic owned businesses, because they represent a significant chunk of total employers in the state, and their success is needed to create new jobs and maintain the strength of the state's economy.
"A better understanding of the challenges faced by Texas' Hispanic businesses will allow TMACC to identify strategies to help these businesses grow and help create jobs and new opportunity in Texas," he said.
Among the main points of the study, according to business school Dean Tom Gilligan, is that most Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas start small and stay small, even after many years of operation.
"As they grow from family businesses and payroll creating businesses, there are some complexities and challenges which are new and novel to Hispanic owned businesses," he said.
The main reason why Hispanic owned businesses fail is that many of them are truly entrepreneurial. They are started by a family in a living room or a garage, unlike many other firms which are started by partnerships which frequently include an experienced business operator or at least a business school graduate.
Another challenge which many Hispanic owned businesses in Texas face is dealing with non Hispanic customers and clients, which are most of them.
"Only 25% of the businesses, by the way, in this survey, said that most of their customers were Hispanic," Gilligan said.
He says more than 80% of the businesses say they hire 'mainly Hispanics' or 'an equal number of Hispanics and non Hispanics.' Gilligan said was the state's Hispanic population grows, it is critical to provide a hand to enterprises which can provide them with jobs and upward mobility.
