Minority women?s microenterprises in rural areas of the United States of America: African American, Hispanic American and Native American case studies

Abstract

Women in many rural areas of the US often engage in small-scale businesses as one of several avenues for contributing to household incomes. In those geographical areas that contain a significant minority population, many of the women's businesses display the cultural diversity of the regions in which they live. Likewise, women's roles as economic providers as well as wives and mothers are reflected in the manner in which they operate their businesses. Candida Brush suggests that women's strategies for operating their businesses are highly integrative because women's business decisions are intertwined with familial responsibilities, household economic demands and desires to contribute to their communities. Hispanic and Native American women in the Four Corners region of southwestern US and African American women in central Virginia participated in interviews in which they responded to numerous short answer and open-ended questions about their businesses and decision-making strategies. From these interviews an image emerges of rural minority business women who are operating their businesses at the nexus of family obligations, economic necessities, cultural ties and with a commitment for serving their communities.

Entrepreneurial Motives in Two Emerging Economies: A Comparison between Urban Mexico and Morocco

“…The extant literature also highlighted a wide-ranging diversity of economic motives among entrepreneurs, such as financial remuneration and company equity-building (Langan-Fox and Roth, 1995), generating post-retirement extra income (Aspaas, 2004), acquiring personal assets, and increasing personal income (Kuratko et al, 1997). As per non-economic motives, they would include employment security for the entrepreneur and family (Aronoff and Ward, 1995), selfaccomplishment, the opportunity to create something (Aspaas, 2004), independence and autonomy, being in control by being one's own boss, personal growth, gaining public recognition, meeting a challenge, or satisfying a need for success (Kuratko et al, 1997;Robichaud, McGraw and Roger, 2001).…”

Beyond Brick and Mortar: The Experiences of U.S. Female Mobile Fashion Truck Entrepreneurs

“…Similar to Hodges et al's (2015) approach, other studies have investigated female entrepreneurship in other non-apparel-related industries. One such study (Aspaas, 2004) investigated minority female entrepreneurs and their decisionmaking strategies. Along the same lines as Hodges et al, the authors also found that female entrepreneurs experienced time constraints and challenges in balancing familial responsibilities.…”

Immigrant and Us-Born Mexican-Owned Businesses: Motivations and Management

“…In this context, motivations for starting a business are a function of the goals one hopes to accomplish, which can include extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. Extrinsic motivators typically refer to obtaining monetary compensation, building equity in the firm (Langan-Fox and Roth, 1995), earning supplemental income after retirement (Aspaas, 2004), acquiring personal wealth, increasing personal income, and/or increasing income opportunities (Kuratko et al, 1997). Intrinsic motivators, on the other hand, include psychological rewards such as self-fulfillment (Aspaas, 2004;Kuratko et al, 1997;Robichaud et al, 2001), an opportunity for creative expression (Aspaas, 2004), personal growth, recognition, challenge, excitement and satisfying a need for achievement (Kuratko et al, 1997;Robichaud et al, 2001).…”