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Challenges of African-American Entrepreneurs

Stuck from the Start: The Financial Challenges of Low- and Moderate-Income African-American Entrepreneurs in the South

Spectra Myers and Pamela Chan

First published July 2017

Black-owned businesses nationally average only $58,000 in annual revenue compared to $546,000 for white-owned businesses. New research conducted in three Southern states by Prosperity Now puts a human face on those numbers, illustrating the very real problems confronting African-American entrepreneurs when they try to start and run their own businesses.

The report, entitled “Stuck From The Start: The Financial Challenges of Low- and Moderate-Income African-American Entrepreneurs in the South,” reflects interviews with 30 African-American business owners in eastern North Carolina, southwestern Georgia and the Jackson and Delta regions of Mississippi. The project was launched to better understand why Black-owned businesses struggle to succeed relative to their White peers.

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