Date of Award
3-18-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
First Advisor
Jan Warhuus
Abstract
The process of creating and growing a new venture can be challenging and fraught for all entrepreneurs. They must corral resources, attract stakeholders, validate ideas and markets, and set boundaries for their emerging organizations in unique iterations and in highly uncertain contexts. However, minority entrepreneurs must overcome an additional set of unique barriers that result from their marginalized and disadvantaged status. While extant research does document numerous barriers that minority entrepreneurs face, the specific impact of these challenges on the entrepreneurial process and action for minorities is not yet well understood. Using effectuation theory as a lens, this study uses semi-structured interviews to explore the entrepreneurial journey of 41 nascent African American entrepreneurs by examining the barriers they face and the role of race in the development of their business ventures. The nascent African American entrepreneurs in this study reported being severely constrained by their means, which influenced the types of ventures they started and how they navigated the barriers they faced. African Americans in this study started businesses that cater primarily to other African Americans, and they overcome barriers by levering community support, programs that focus on people of color, and persistence and resilience. In terms of overcoming growth in challenges, nascent African American entrepreneurs were found to adopt a strategy of “growth through augmentation,” seeking to add additional businesses over time rather than focus on scaling up a single venture. This study contributes to the research on barriers that minority entrepreneurs face by providing insights into how the perceptions of barriers impact the entrepreneur, the actions they take, and consequences for business. The study also contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial action, placing it in the minority context by accounting for the unique context in which African American entrepreneurs take action to bring their ventures to life.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Sirivar, Jeem, "Barriers and Their Effect on Nascent African American Minority Entrepreneurs’ Decisions and Actions" (2024). Executive DBA Dissertations. 11.
https://digitalcommons.stmarys-ca.edu/executive-dba/11
