Many female minority entrepreneurs are rejected when they request a bank loan, according to a new study conducted by The National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO). Although minority women are starting businesses at three times the rate of other entrepeneurs, 18 percent of Hispanic women, 27 percent of African-American and 20 percent of all Asian women entrepreneurs were turned down for bank loans when first starting their businesses.
“Here is a population that has tremendous economic potential for our country,” NFWBO executive director Sharon Hadary said, “If they don’t get the capital they need our country is going to suffer,” she added.
The survey of 770 female minority business owners found that half or less of those surveyed had bank credit. According to a separate study, women business owners rely more on personal credit cards to help finance their businesses than do men.
