Nine in 10 Plan to Grow their Business in the
Decade Ahead
U.S. Hispanic small business owners anticipate a decade of
robust expansion and growth, expressing a brighter business outlook
than their non-Hispanic peers in the year ahead, according to the
fourth annual Bank of America Business Advantage 2020 Hispanic
Business Owner Spotlight.
The annual study based on a survey of more than 1,000
entrepreneurs across the country reveals:
Outlook remains strong for Hispanic entrepreneurs, exceeding
that of their non-Hispanic peers.
- 89% of Hispanic entrepreneurs plan to expand over the next 12
months (vs. 68% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and up slightly from
87% in 2019).
- 79% expect their revenue to increase in the year ahead, a
four-year high (vs. 57% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and up from
74% in 2019).
- 45% plan to hire in 2020 (vs. 24% of non-Hispanic
entrepreneurs, and down from 51% in 2019).
- 78% plan to obtain financing over the next 12 months (vs. 49%
of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs). The top three ways Hispanic
entrepreneurs intend to obtain financing include tapping into
personal savings (38%), applying for a bank loan (31%) and using
personal credit cards (23%).
“Hispanic entrepreneurs are entering the new decade on a high
note, with many pursuing growth strategies — investing in both the
year ahead and their long-term future,” said Elizabeth Romero,
Small Business Centralized Client Management and Specialty Support
executive, Bank of America. “Despite these strong forecasts, most
Hispanic entrepreneurs continue to report obstacles to business
growth. Bank of America is committed to partnering with Hispanic
business owners to address these challenges and help fuel growth
for their businesses.”
Hispanic entrepreneurs see the 2020s as a decade of
opportunity.
A strong majority of Hispanic business owners (92%) believe the
small business environment will strengthen for their community over
the next five years, and 90% have set ambitious goals to advance or
grow their business in the new decade. Specifically, their top five
goals over the next 10 years include: significantly increasing
revenue (57%), prioritizing the digital presence of their business
(45%), expanding into new markets (34%), significantly increasing
staff (30%), and automating business operations (29%).
Hispanic entrepreneurs still bullish, yet confidence in the
economy is down slightly year over year.
- 62% of Hispanic entrepreneurs are confident their local economy
will improve in the year ahead (vs. 52% of non-Hispanic
entrepreneurs, and down from 68% in 2019).
- 53% are confident the national economy will improve over the
next 12 months (vs. 49% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and down
from 59% in 2019).
Economic concerns decline, yet remain elevated over their
non-Hispanic counterparts.
- Health care costs remain the most worrisome economic issue for
Hispanic entrepreneurs (63%), though concern fell to the lowest
level since the survey began in 2017.
- Other top concerns of Hispanic business owners in 2020 include
the political environment (59%), strength of the U.S. dollar (59%),
commodities prices (56%), consumer spending (56%) and interest
rates (55%).
- Compared to their non-Hispanic peers, Hispanic entrepreneurs
expressed notably greater concern around commodities prices (56% of
Hispanic entrepreneurs vs. 43% of non-Hispanic), credit
availability (50% of Hispanic vs. 36% of non-Hispanic) and climate
change (45% vs. 34%).
Hispanic business owners cite lack of resources, lack of
expertise and access to capital as top barriers.
A sizeable majority of Hispanic entrepreneurs (72%) report that
efforts to grow their business face distinct challenges, citing
lack of resources (21%), lack of expertise in back office
management (21%) and challenges accessing capital (20%) as the top
three barriers.
For an in-depth look at the insights of the nation’s Hispanic
small business owners, read the full Bank of America Business
Advantage 2020 Hispanic Business Owner Spotlight.
Providing a business advantage to small business
owners
Bank of America provides advice, solutions, access to capital
and dedicated support to meet the unique needs of our 12 million
small business owner clients. We originated $9.2 billion in new
loans to small business clients in 2019, up 7% from 2018. According
to the FDIC, Bank of America also maintained its position as the
nation’s top small business lender at the end of the third quarter
of 2019, with $37.6 billion in total outstanding small business
loans (defined as business loans in original amounts of $1 million
and under), up 8% year over year. In 2019, Bank of America booked
more than 339,000 low- and moderate-income (LMI) loans totaling
$6.3 billion, which was more than half of the company’s total small
business lending. The company is a top lender in the SBA’s 504 and
7(a) programs, and a leading investor in community development
financial institutions (CDFIs) – with a portfolio of nearly $1.6
billion invested across the U.S., of which, nearly $400 million is
invested in CDFIs focused on U.S. small businesses.
Serving the Hispanic-Latino community
Bank of America is proud of its long-standing commitment to
creating a diverse and inclusive environment for our employees and
supporting diverse customers, communities and businesses around the
world. We currently serve 9.5 million Hispanic-Latino clients, and
more than 1 million Hispanic-Latino business owners. By the end of
2019, Bank of America had more than 2 million users on its Spanish
language mobile app, growing by more than 20% year over year.
Additionally, nearly two-thirds of Bank of America financial
centers are staffed by employees with bilingual capabilities, and
more than 4,000 multilingual teammates staff our financial centers
located in LMI areas.
Bank of America Business Advantage 2020 Hispanic Business Owner
Spotlight
Ipsos conducted the Bank of America Hispanic Business Owner
Spotlight survey online between July 19 and September 6, 2019,
using a pre-recruited online sample of Hispanic and non-Hispanic
small business owners. Ipsos contacted a national sample of 1,323
small business owners in the United States with annual revenue
between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing between two and 99
employees, and conducted 428 interviews among Hispanic small
business owners. The final results were weighted to national
benchmark standards for size, revenue, and region, and, for the
Hispanic segment, whether the respondents were primarily
English-speaking or Spanish-speaking.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial
institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market
businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking,
investing, asset management and other financial and risk management
products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience
in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and
small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial
centers, including approximately 2,800 lending centers, 2,600
financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions
Advisor and 2,000 business centers; approximately 16,800 ATMs; and
award winning digital banking with approximately 38 million active
users, including approximately 29 million mobile users. Bank of
America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and
investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset
classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and
individuals around the world. Bank of America offers
industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business
owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products
and services. The company serves clients through operations across
the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries.
Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE:BAC) is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements
and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom
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www.bankofamerica.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200226005399/en/
Reporters May Contact: Don Vecchiarello, Bank of America,
1.980.387.4899 don.vecchiarello@bofa.com
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