U.S. Hispanic small business owners and Hispanic entrepreneurs anticipate a decade of robust expansion and growth, expressing a brighter business outlook than their non-Hispanic peers in the year ahead, according to the fourth annual Bank of America Business Advantage 2020 Hispanic Business Owner Spotlight.

The annual study based on a survey of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs across the country reveals: 

Outlook remains strong for Hispanic entrepreneurs, exceeding that of their non-Hispanic peers.

• 89% of Hispanic small business owners plan to expand over the next 12 months (vs. 68% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and up slightly from 87% in 2019).

• 79% expect their revenue to increase in the year ahead, a four-year high (vs. 57% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and up from 74% in 2019).

• 45% plan to hire in 2020 (vs. 24% of non-Hispanic small business owners, and down from 51% in 2019).

• 78% plan to obtain financing over the next 12 months (vs. 49% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs). The top three ways Hispanic entrepreneurs intend to obtain financing include tapping into personal savings (38%), applying for a bank loan (31%) and using personal credit cards (23%).

“Hispanic entrepreneurs are entering the new decade on a high note, with many pursuing growth strategies — investing in both the year ahead and their long-term future,” said Elizabeth Romero, Small Business Centralized Client Management and Specialty Support executive, Bank of America. “Despite these strong forecasts, most Hispanic entrepreneurs continue to report obstacles to business growth. Bank of America is committed to partnering with Hispanic business owners to address these challenges and help fuel growth for their businesses.” 

Hispanic entrepreneurs see the 2020s as a decade of opportunity.

A strong majority of Hispanic business owners (92%) believe the small business environment will strengthen for their community over the next five years, and 90% have set ambitious goals to advance or grow their business in the new decade. Specifically, their top five goals over the next 10 years include: significantly increasing revenue (57%), prioritizing the digital presence of their business (45%), expanding into new markets (34%), significantly increasing staff (30%), and automating business operations (29%).

Hispanic entrepreneurs still bullish, yet confidence in the economy is down slightly year over year.

• 62% of Hispanic small business owners are confident their local economy will improve in the year ahead (vs. 52% of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs, and down from 68% in 2019).

• 53% are confident the national economy will improve over the next 12 months (vs. 49% of non-Hispanic small business owners, and down from 59% in 2019).

Economic concerns decline, yet remain elevated over their non-Hispanic counterparts.

• Health care costs remain the most worrisome economic issue for Hispanic entrepreneurs (63%), though concern fell to the lowest level since the survey began in 2017.

• Other top concerns of Hispanic business owners in 2020 include the political environment (59%), strength of the U.S. dollar (59%), commodities prices (56%), consumer spending (56%) and interest rates (55%).

• Compared to their non-Hispanic peers, Hispanic small business owners expressed notably greater concern around commodities prices (56% of Hispanic entrepreneurs vs. 43% of non-Hispanic), credit availability (50% of Hispanic vs. 36% of non-Hispanic) and climate change (45% vs. 34%). 

Hispanic business owners cite lack of resources, lack of expertise and access to capital as top barriers.

A sizeable majority of Hispanic small business owners (72%) report that efforts to grow their business face distinct challenges, citing lack of resources (21%), lack of expertise in back office management (21%) and challenges accessing capital (20%) as the top three barriers. 

For an in-depth look at the insights of the nation’s Hispanic small business owners, read the full Bank of America Business Advantage 2020 Hispanic Business Owner Spotlight.