Minority Women Entrepreneurs: How Outsider Status Can Lead to Better Business Practices

Minority women start new businesses in the U.S. at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. Though minority women entrepreneurs in the United States are thriving, their stories are very seldom told, and few think of minority women as successful entrepreneurs. Minority Women Entrepreneurs gives voice and visibility to this group of business owners.

The second purpose of this book is to explain what makes these women different from the standard white, male business owners with whom most people are familiar. Through in-depth interviews and firsthand accounts from minority women entrepreneurs, the authors found that minority women use their outsider status to develop socially conscious business practices that support their communities in innovative and exciting ways. They reject the idea that business values are separate from personal values, and instead balance profits with social good and environmental sustainability. This pattern is repeated in statistical evidence from around the globe: women contribute a much higher percentage of their earnings to social good than do men. But, until now, there was no clear explanation of why. Using sociological and psychological theories, the authors explain the tendency for women, especially minority women, to create socially responsible businesses. The findings in this book suggest fresh solutions to economic inequality and humanistic alternatives to exploitative business policies. Herein lays a radically new, socially integrated model that can be used by businesses everywhere.