Social Capital and Success of Minority Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Scholars and policymakers can use this research to understand the relationship between successful performance of minority entrepreneurs and social capital. Entrepreneurship is a driving force that can create a society of self-supporting individuals. Minority entrepreneurship is an avenue for individuals to lift themselves out of poverty and create job opportunities for others. Social capital is economic and social networks used by people to promote transactions and alliances as a means to produce goods and services for themselves and for a common good. Social capital involves networking and political and social skills. Social capital networks consist of operations that include mutual benefits, trust, and cooperation. A quantitative analysis was conducted of a sample that included 287 minority male and female business owners to measure business revenues, company size, and self-reported assessment. The findings noted political and social skills significantly impact internal or intrinsic success measure. However, social networking did not relate to external or extrinsic success (revenue and size of company) among minorities in this study. Explanations are included about the findings and future research suggestions are also provided.