It is no secret that women owned businesses are on an increase, and that in the United States something like 38% of all U.S. firms are women-owed. Nor is it a secret that Blacks are 50% more likely than Whites to try to start a business. Actually, 2 in 5 of all African American owned businesses are owned women, nevertheless Black owned businesses only account for 4% of all U.S businesses. The question is, why do African-American women have such a high prospect of becoming entrepreneurs but somewhere between the original business idea and the materialization of that idea, there is a detrimental glitch. Where are these African-American female entrepreneurs?

Since its inception in 1996 the First Step Fund has seen entrepreneurship as a means for individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Interestingly we have found that our clients are overwhelmingly African- American at 68%, and significantly female at 80%. Because the theme of this issue of Fountaincity.com is dedicated to the celebration of the Black Woman, and First Step Fund's vehicle to insight change is entrepreneurship where Black women receive the vast majority of First Step Fund's services, I thought it would be appropriate to look at African- American female entrepreneurs in Kansas City and find out what forces that act as obstacles on their paths to entrepreneurial success.

There are a plethora of reasons why African- American women entrepreneurs are underrepresented and why there is such a discrepancy between the 50% who try to become entrepreneurs and the Black women within the 4% of businesses owned by Blacks who actually succeed. One of the most common and the most overlooked drawbacks for up and coming entrepreneurs are their own immediate issues, I call this the human element. Many forget that entrepreneurship is an endeavor that individuals take alone, and alone everything about them becomes a factor that can either help or hinder their entrepreneurial success.

Simple things like being unable to accept and deal with the pressures of depending on the willingness of others to buy in to their product or idea in order for their business to succeed. Entrepreneurs are different from others in how they look at and understand everything. It is more than simply having a business idea or product, it is being willing to take full responsibility for ones own success and also being willing to turn away from the traditional worker/earner way of life. For women this presents a completely new set of issues and added pressures when many times women are the primary caretakers and sole income earners in heir households. Even in households where two parents are present, women in addition to whatever job they hold outside the home many times take sole responsibility of many of the household task much like a single parent. In this paradigm a shear inability to find support and balance at home could spell defeat for an entrepreneurial idea.

Secondly, and the most cited argument for why most entrepreneurs, but more so for minority entrepreneurs find it difficult to succeed is a lack of access to capital. Capital which is for many anywhere from $1,000 to $500,000 and up, that entrepreneurs use to purchase retail space, equipment, supplies, and leads many times before they can open their doors for businesses. It has been found that minorities receive less than 5% of all venture capital dollars, just 2% of all private equity investment dollars and only 3% of all Small Business Investment dollars. And only 15% of black business owners use commercial bank credit. When compared to any other ethnicity surveyed Black women business owners say they did not borrow capital to start their firms because they encountered obstacles when trying to obtain financing for their firms, more so than women business owners of other ethnicities surveyed. And after minorities realize that the overt funding sources are not readily accessible to them and seemingly "straightforward" sources like individuals or groups that promise government grants that offer so-called free money are misleading at best, minorities are forced to find more creative means to fund their endeavors, which for many is next to impossible.

Although I have only stated two of the prominent issues that I see facing Black women entrepreneurs, please know that I have in no way exhausted the vast array of obstacles. What I do know is that despite the barriers that do exist Black women continue to have entrepreneurial dreams and through programs like KCSourceLink (www.kcsourcelink.com), SCORE (www.scorekc.org), GO Connection (www.goconnection.org, the Women's Business Center, and First Step Fund (www.firststepfund.org) some of them are coming true. Through these programs women receive assistance in creating their business plans, which is a more than essential part of starting any type of business. Through these resources individuals also are able to access capital, locate experienced entrepreneurs who act as mentors and a plethora of other many times free business resources.

Though it may be a while before African-American women are able shift the paradigms of society at large and find support and a means to adjust the lack of balance found in homes across America or be able to convince the powers at large that their ought to be fairness so that minorities are able access capital at an equal rate as the rest of the population, there is a glimmer of hope. Nation wide not-for-profit programs are sprouting up solely to fill the gaps left by these obstacles and they are baring the fruits of success. First Step Fund whose clients are African- American at 68%, and largely female at 80% accounts for an over 300 businesses started by its graduates and it is estimated that 80% of the business are owned and operated by women. Ready or not, here they come.

Iazia Jones is the Community Resource Developer with First Step Fund, a local business training organization. For more information please feel free to call
(816) 235-6116, or check out the web site at: www.firststepfund.org