Minority Business Owners Getting New Attention

If you’re a minority and planning to launch your business startup in the near future you may see an increasing amount of support for your business as well as minority owned business throughout the United States.

The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing. Experts believe that by 2045 minorities will be the majority and that means that minority owned business will rapidly increase making today’s minority owned businesses as well as future businesses the backbone of the United States infrastructure.

Although that’s welcome news for many business owners, the alarm is being sounded for the future. The problem goes something like this: In order for a person or business to grow, they have to be challenged. For a plumber who owns his own business, if he is only awarded small residential jobs, he can never develop the skills necessary to be part of a large commercial build. A manufacturer who only supplies parts to small scale companies will never be able to be a supplier to larger companies.

According to James H. Lowry, coauthor of Minority Business Success: Refocusing on the American Dream, a large number of minority businesses are only being awarded small contracts on the lowest steps of the supply chain not allowing minority businesses to become part of the more substantial parts of the government and private business supply chains.

Larger businesses know that their success and competitive edge depends on every step of their supply chain operating at the highest levels and that will become increasingly more challenging as minority businesses who aren’t accustomed to handling large scale contracts become increasingly widespread.

What does that mean for your minority small business? As this issue becomes more pronounced and publicized, you will most likely see a larger emphasis on awarding your business larger contracts higher up in the supply chain. According to Lowry, minority businesses receive too many contracts based on philanthropic motives and as a way to satisfy government mandates. This is forecasted to change as businesses understand that in order to keep their supply chain executing at the highest level, they have to not only employ minority owned businesses but also provide training and support as they grow. In short, your business should receive a lot of support in the future.

Of course, as you open the doors of your business startup, you have to perform at a level that places you in the position of being a substantial company in the years to come.