Why Are Minority Businesses Booming

by 12/23/2010

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released the latest details on the American job market. The report mixed good news with bad – private-sector firms created 159,000 new jobs in October, but the unemployment rate remains persistently high, at 9.6 percent.

Policymakers continue to search for ways to help those looking for work to find jobs. The minority business community should be at the center of that conversation. Minority firms have been an engine of job growth for the U.S. economy in recent years, outpacing growth within the general business community for most of the last decade.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people employed at minority-owned businesses jumped 27 percent Ð from 4.7 million to 5.9 million Ð between 2002 and 2007. Job growth for non-minority-owned firms was less than one percent during that time.

In those five years, the number of minority-owned firms in the United States grew 46 percent, to a total of 5.8 million. Meanwhile, the number of firms in the overall economy expanded at less than half that rate.

Minority businesses are emerging as leading exporters, too. They exported to 41 countries on six continents between 1992 and 2009, according to the U.S. Export Import Bank. With these figures in mind, there’s no doubt that minority entrepreneurs will lead the American business community’s charge to double exports within the next five years, as the president’s National Export Initiative has challenged them to do.

While minority-owned businesses are growing at a breakneck pace, disparities continue to exist between minority- and non-minority-owned firms. Just 800,000 of the nearly six million minority firms in existence have more than one employee. And, the annual revenue for the average minority-owned firm is about $300,000 less than that of a non-minority-owned firm.

Closing the entrepreneurial revenue gap between minority- and nonminority-owned businesses based on the share of the adult minority population would add $2.5 trillion to our nation’s economic output, creating 11.8 million more American jobs, and unleashing the innovation of an economic sector that has long been undervalued.

Corporate America can strengthen its efforts to make minority-owned businesses a larger part of its global supply chain, and minority business owners can and should do a better job of embracing aggressive growth models and capitalizing on opportunities for alliances, mergers, and strategic partnerships.

Minority-owned firms don’t have to pursue these growth strategies blindly. The Minority Business Development Agency at the U.S. Department of Commerce supports more than 40 business centers around the country to help minority-owned firms secure access to capital and contracts and assistance in entering growing foreign markets.

As we look for ways to create more jobs for Americans still desperately in need, shining a light on the economic potential of the minority-business community can significantly benefit the American people and the U.S. economy.

 

Arrive at a State of Grace

Anger can be caused by external events, for instance you could get angry about the causes of the country’s long-term economic woes; you may be angry about your finances and employment picture.

I have reached a state of grace and peacefulness. I was being told I made things look easy. But, everyone who’s had success knows that it looks easy because a tremendous amount of time and effort has gone into making it look that way.

Easy is simple and simple is easy when you find balance and harmony in your mind and heart. I don’t want it to sound like my journey to this place was without challenges. That’s not the case at all. But, I am in awe of how fluid my life became when I realized that I wasn’t in control of anything outside of me. It’s a beautiful place to inhabit.

Anger is a normal, usually healthy emotion. But, when it turns destructive it can affect the very quality of our lives. Fits of angry display that he needs medical intervention; I was struck at the thought of how ill-equipped we are sometimes to deal with this particularly difficult emotion.

Most of us have had days when we have given in to our angry feelings and along with the raised voices we can actually feel ourselves becoming hysterical. Stress coupled with anger can insidiously eat away at our professional productivity and personal happiness.

Managing or trying to control such feelings of stress and rage does not resolve the problem that caused it in the first place. The underlying negative feelings erupt frequently at the least provocation turning you into an emotional wreck.

What you must understand that you have to reduce the angry feelings by resolving the underlying issues rather than mastering any techniques to keep them under check.

Keep them at bay. Besides, there are ways to keep those angry emotions at bay. Simple relaxation tools like deep breathing, soothing music can help calm you down.

Emotionally healthy people are comfortable with their feelings of anger and rage and know them for what they are. Depending on the situation they are able to change their responses.

Once they have expressed their anger it does not return. Such people are genuinely able to forgive because that old anger is forgotten. If you encounter a familiar situation, which you know will annoy you, do not let it smother you.

Consciously making an attempt to relax and calm down, and telling yourself to take it easy helps diffuse the situation to an extent. Yoga and meditation can also help you relax your muscles and make you feel calmer.

Sometimes the environment or the surrounding you are working in may cause you irritation. Problems and responsibilities at work can make you feel trapped from which you see no way out. Go easy on yourself! Make sure you have some personal time and space specially on stressful days.

Accept that difficult emotions like anger and rage are natural and part of everyday life. Do not avoid them… that will give you only a temporary respite.

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