BP 12

In my opinion, there are multiple reasons that racial minorities in America own businesses at far lower rates than non-minorities do. These reasons vary pretty widely in their scope, but they all directly impact the ability of the people affected by them’s ability to start and successfully own a business. The first major reason for the lack of minority entrepreneurship is education. Traditionally, racial minorities tend to live in impoverished areas and attend schools that do not have the money and resources to teach their students and equip them with necessary life skills. This lack of skills means that students are less likely to further their education, and when they go out in the real world, are completely unprepared to handle the rigors of life, especially in the fast paced and always growing world of business. The second big reason that minorities are less likely to be entrepreneurs is because, in most cases, they do not have the financial resources to start and operate a business. In many ways, this reason comes back to the first reason given, since minorities are less likely to have skills needed to succeed, they are much more likely to be working low income jobs, if they have jobs at all. Starting a business requires significant amounts of capital, and most minorities do not have the amounts needed to become entrepreneurs. The final main reason that very few minorities own their own businesses is because they don’t have the kind of networks that encourage people to start a business. Most business owners know other entrepreneurs through various areas, like from school, previous jobs, or business organizations designed to encourage networking, and since minorities have long been lagging behind in these areas, they are less likely to gain the contacts that are very useful in entrepreneurship, which has created a vicious cycle that has long proven difficult to get out of.