Latino small business owners remain mostly optimistic despite economic concerns—Here's why

Latino small business owners (SBOs) are more optimistic than their counterparts from other demographics despite their economic concerns, a new survey by Verizon and Morning Consult showed.

The Latino Small Business Survey, polled 500 Latino SBOs, as well as 500 non-Latinos, and showed that more than 3 in 4 (79%) Latino SBOs say they're concerned about the U.S. economy and the possibility of an economic recession. However, they expect the following conditions to improve over the course of the next months: their business's financial security (74%), their financial security (74%), their job security (71%), Latino-owned small businesses as a whole (70%) and overall small businesses (70%).

In fact, an overwhelming amount of the surveyed (87%) said that they believe that their business will be better off financially next year.

The study also listed two key findings that provide insight into the cohort's mind set when it comes to the future of their businesses. First off, Latino SBOs say that this year their businesses are prioritizing technology (41%) and improvements to existing products/services (41%). This comes as most have reported that their IT functions are in need of a tech update.

The second finding is that more than 4 in 5 Latino SBOs are interested in programs offering the possibility of speaking with experts about new technologies (88%) and eCommerce experts about their business's digital presence.

The study also provides insight into the inner workings of each Latino-owned business. For example, the family unit plays a large role in their day-to-day operations as 26% of Latino SBOs have younger relatives working in an unpaid capacity as opposed to 10% of non-Latino SBOs. Moreover, 31% of Latino SBOs have younger relatives working in a paid capacity, compared to 23% of non-Latino SBOs.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center also suggests that Latinos are a a driving force in entrepreneurship across the country, starting businesses at more than twice the rate of the U.S. population as a whole.

In fact, the jump in Latino entrepreneurship levels has driven up the overall share of new businesses owned by immigrants, who accounted for 36% of launches last year compared with 25% in 2019, the report showed. By comparison, new business creation by white and native-born Americans has slowed in the past two years, following a broad surge early in the pandemic.