Hispanic Entrepreneurship Front & Center at Franchise Expo South

Moving to another country is certainly risky, as well as courageous. So, it comes as no surprise that immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than the rest of the population. In 2019, immigrant entrepreneurs made up 21.7 percent of all business owners in the United States, despite making up just over 13.6 percent of the population and 17.1 percent of the U.S. labor force.

Nothing was more evident to the Acceler8Success Group Senior Leadership team this past weekend than the high level of interest in Immigrant Entrepreneurship.

Yesterday, I shared my experience over the weekend speaking to 130+ Nigerian immigrants at the annual Nigerian Muslim Conference. My focus was on entrepreneurship and franchising.

In Florida at Franchise Expo South, Acceler8Success Group President, Erik Premont was doing something similar. Erik was asked to participate in a discussion panel, FRANQUICIAS = OPORTUNIDAD para los Emprendedores Hispanos en USA.

This was the first time a discussion panel at an MFV Expositions event that was presented completely in Spanish. The discussion was centered around the theme “Franchise = Opportunity for Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the United States.”

The main objective was to increase awareness of the opportunities and benefits that franchises represent for entrepreneurs, and give greater prominence to diversity in general, including traditionally underrepresented groups. Hopefully, this was the first of many panels that will be delivered in such a beautiful language, with a message delivered without necessity of translation or interpretation by attendees.

As Hispanic Immigrants make up the largest underrepresented group, it made perfect sense for the inaugural panel to take place at Franchise Expo South in South Florida. After all, for immigrant Hispanics, the key findings are:

Roughly 1.2 million of the 12.2 million business owners in the United States are immigrant Hispanics. Business ownership is higher among immigrant Hispanics than U.S.-born Hispanics, and in fact, is comparable to business ownership rates among non-Hispanic whites.

“This panel is our first initiative to attract entrepreneurs who represent the composition of the communities that are served. The IFA and HLFLC are stepping forward to foster an environment where equal opportunity is part of the lived experience in all of our communities.” said Elena Dolinski — Moderator of this panel.

After doing some of my own research about the event, I was impressed to see the extent of coverage and specifically about this panel as Elena Dolinski was interviewed on ActualidadRadio.com. Listen to the interview HERE.

Others panel guests included:

• Ericka Garza, President Bon Au Pain — President of the Council of Hispanic-Latino Franchise Leaders — Bon Au Pain
• Eduardo Torres, South Florida Director, US Department of Commerce
• Elizabeth Porth, Leader of the Golden Arches Women’s Network — McDonald’s Latam
• Armando Conde, Founder of Franquiciate.com
• Carolina Veira, Leader of Hispanic Star Miami

When discussing the event with me, Erik said, “To quote my co-panelist and good friend Ericka Garza, President of Au Bon Pain and Council Chair for the Hispanic Latino Franchise Leadership Council at the IFA, “The collective feedback, emotion, and passion confirmed how Franchising unites people and transforms lives,” and in his passionate way he continued, “I am thankful beyond words for having been invited to participate in an all “Spanish” panel at Franchise Expo South in Fort Lauderdale last week.”

The more we work with Hispanic Entrepreneurs, more commonly known as Latino Entrepreneurs, the more I personally appreciate the possibilities for our great country. To that point, I’d like to share the following facts:

Latino-Owned Business in the U.S.

Latino entrepreneurs make up 29 percent of the U.S. population by 2050, up from 17 percent today.

If Latino owned businesses grow as fast as the U.S. average, they could add $1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy. Which would add almost eight percent to the $18 trillion U.S. economy.

When Latino entrepreneurs start a business, 70 percent of their funding comes from personal savings, according to a Stanford study, while just six percent comes from commercial loans.

And from NewAmericanEconomy.org:

Entrepreneurship and business creation is fundamental to a healthy economy. Companies less than five years old create an average of 1.5 million new jobs for Americans each year.† Immigrants in particular play an important role in creating jobs as they are more likely to start a new business than the rest of the population.

Despite this, the United States lacks a startup visa to welcome immigrant entrepreneurs with a proven idea and solid investment. This results in many business owners struggling to stay — at a cost to our economy and its workers.

The Hispanic Entrepreneur Initiative

As previously mentioned at Acceler8Success Cafe, we’re very excited to partner again with Michael Dermer and his organization, The Lonely Entrepreneur. Maybe even more so on The Hispanic Entrepreneur Initiative as it perfectly aligns with our goal to continue to build upon a growing list of clients from Mexico and Latin America whose interests focus on entrepreneurship in the U.S.

With a goal of empowering 100,000 Hispanic entrepreneurs, Hispanic entrepreneurs will be provided with free access to The Lonely Entrepreneur Learning Community — a one stop shop for the knowledge, tools and support an individual needs to start or grow a business. This access is provided free due to the financial contributions of corporations, philanthropies, individuals, and economic development organizations.

For more information about this exciting initiative, please reach out to me or Erik Premont on LinkedIn. Or, if you prefer, please send either of us an email to Paul@Acceler8Success.com or Erik@Acceler8Success.com. We look forward to helping to make a difference for Hispanic Entrepreneurs, as well as for all Immigrant Entrepreneurs!

Have a great day. Make it happen. Make it count!