African American Female Entrepreneurs: What keeps them Successful?

Abstract

Female entrepreneurs contribute to society significantly. According to data gathered by National Association of Women Business Owners (2017), “More than 9.4 million firms are owned by women, employing nearly 7.9 million people, and generating $1.5 trillion in sales as of 2015”. This increase is expected to continue in the United States more than half of the 9.72 million new jobs created in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector by 2018 will be created by women owned- SMEs. Among African American female entrepreneurs, according to National Association of Women Business Owners, “2.9 million firms are majority-owned by women of color in the U.S. and these firms employ 1.4 million people and generate $226 billion in revenues annually.

It is therefore essential to understand the underpinning causes that encourage female entrepreneurship among African-Americans, but also those factors that are somehow limiting and restrictive of their growth. This review discusses the impact of factors such as spousal emotional support, faith, work life balance and mentorship on African American female entrepreneurship.