When I was asked to share my advice on the important role that culture and community play in the planning and implementation of growth goals for Latino small businesses, I was not only humbled but incredibly ecstatic. Reason being is I truly believe that both of these factors—culture and community—are critical to support the "BIG Dreams and Goals" of our Latino entrepreneurial community.
Let me share why through my own Latino entrepreneurial story and from the real-life small business stories I have experienced firsthand.
Let’s start with culture…
By nature and heritage, a majority of Latino entrepreneurs are immigrants, which means that many are first-generation entrepreneurs. Over the years, many of us have joined the family business, which makes us second and third generation entrepreneurs. We have followed in our parents' footsteps and learned from their resilience and determination to build and reach their entrepreneurial dreams.
Entrepreneurship has been a long-term strategy to build generational wealth for Latinos so in plain words, we can say that “entrepreneurship flows through our blood” and is a common table-side conversation for many in our culture.
Here’s my story that shares this entrepreneurial cultural norm to its core.
Even though we have been tremendously successful following in our first generation’s footsteps, it is time that we build a stronger and wider community that will support us at entirely new levels in our business growth, forward thinking strategies, and wealth building goals.
My story goes back quite a long time—more than 20 years if you start with my professional journey or over 100 years if you start with my grandmother’s. You see, I come from the bloodline of Latina entrepreneurs. My grandmother was a village seamstress who raised 12 children in Mexico and immigrated to Los Angeles in the 1950s. She taught her children the magic and fruits of business ownership and all 12 of her children (my aunts and uncles) chose entrepreneurship to build generational wealth.
My mother, the third youngest of the 12, opened and ran a chain of Mexican restaurants for over 30 years and she provided me the opportunity to learn firsthand what it felt like to experience entrepreneurship. I started working in her back office performing administrative and bookkeeping tasks at age 13 and I was given the role of secretary to the president.
I also sold fresh baked chocolate chip cookies at the register and learned early on the magic of diversifying my income streams. And let’s just say the rest is history, or perhaps a story for another time.
So, let’s bring this conversation back to the Latino culture and more importantly, the strong support for generational wealth is a critical part of dreaming of and achieving our bigger goals.
I have personally witnessed Latino small businesses at the brink of bankruptcy and closing their doors, but one place they always can count on for support is their family. With their strong cultural and family support and unrelenting belief in entrepreneurship, these resilient Latino business owners would shift their business models to keep their doors open.
They knew they had to believe in entrepreneurship so deeply that it would allow them to think creatively and outside the box, especially when it came to thriving during unprecedented times.
A recent QuickBooks report shares these strong family ties to entrepreneurship and states that “almost all Latino entrepreneurs say their inspiration to start a business comes from family.” The survey shows that 98% of the Latino entrepreneurs surveyed share that family has influenced their entrepreneurial journey.
That same survey also shares a very common thread about how our next generation Latino entrepreneurs want to continue their entrepreneurial legacies. These insights align with the importance of community for the future and growth of the Latino entrepreneur.
The survey shows the following results for the question, “Is there anything you would do differently if you could do it all again?”
What this survey proves to me is what I have heard over and over again from our next generation of Latino entrepreneurs. Even though we have been tremendously successful following in our first generation’s footsteps, it is time that we build a stronger and wider community that will support us at entirely new levels in our business growth, forward thinking strategies, and wealth building goals.
This is why building an intentional community around us as next generation Latino businesses is truly the key defining factor that will either take us to new heights and help us achieve our bigger goals or will keep us behind the times, still stuck in our older generation mindset.
I have had to make this mindset shift myself over the years and it has made a tremendous impact on staying relevant, profitable and fulfilled throughout my second decade of my entrepreneurial journey. I not only choose the networks and communities that will continue to help me grow professionally but more importantly, I choose humans that will help me grow more consciously.
Ellivate Alliance, the women's entrepreneurial alliance whose vision is to co-create a collective future, is an excellent example of choosing the communities that will help us grow better with each entrepreneurial year.
As a next generation entrepreneur, my growth goals are built on the entrepreneurial courage and creativity I witnessed from my immigrant mother and grandmother and I combine their resilience for entrepreneurship with the innovative and forward thinking that I learn from my greater community. This community includes my peers, my mentors and, most importantly, the small business champions that provide the resources and knowledge to continue growing and thriving.
This powerful combination of honoring my Latino culture and learning from my intentional community has been my secret sauce to building and growing a stronger and more sustainable business that fulfills me, serves my community and paves the path to my bigger goals for generational wealth.
But above all, I never forget the lessons and determination of those Latino entrepreneurs that came before me as they are the true essence of my passion and purpose for "Dreaming Big" and believing I can achieve these dreams, and so much more.
I share one of these inspiring lessons taught to me by my mother entrepreneur in this special video produced by small business champion Intuit QuickBooks.
Mariette F. Martinez is Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Small Business Advisor/Educator at MasterYourBooks.
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