Operation HOPE Launches Minority Small Business Index in Collaboration with SurveyMonkey
April 02 2021 - 8:00AM
Operation HOPE, America’s largest nonprofit financial inclusion
organization, today launched the HOPE Minority Small Business Index
in collaboration with SurveyMonkey (Nasdaq: SVMK). The HOPE index
is intended to quantify the experiences and hopefulness of Black
small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Each question
touches on a different aspect of their experience, from hope for
business success to mentorship, risk tolerance, their access to
capital, and future outlook on systemic issues that can impede
success for Black small business owners.
“We are excited to collaborate with SurveyMonkey to give voice
to the Black small business community, and to identify, amplify,
and rectify the unique challenges they encounter on their pathway
to success,” said John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Operation HOPE.
Fueled by SurveyMonkey’s Market Research Solutions, the first
survey consisted of 1,167 Black small business owners and aspiring
entrepreneurs who are participating in HOPE’s signature One Million
Black Business and Entrepreneur Initiative and its other
entrepreneurial training programs throughout the U.S. The responses
provided help evaluate the current social, economic, and political
climates that impact Black small business owners’ ability to
succeed.
The survey, which was guided by SurveyMonkey research experts,
was designed to aid in identifying issues faced by Black small
business owners and entrepreneurs. Key findings include:
The effects of the pandemic on Black Small Businesses
continue, yet owners remain optimistic
- 98% of total Black small business owners (SBOs) feel hopeful
overall about their business, yet 77% of respondents say COVID-19
will have permanent effects on the way they run or start their
business. This is alarming considering that 69% are counting on
their small business as their primary source of income.
Majority of Black SBOs lack adequate access to
capital
- However, 57% of Black SBOs lack adequate access to financial
institutions, and the top cited need to start or grow their small
business is access to capital (46% overall, 59% for established
business owners).
- 74% of Black SBOs expect tech innovation to have a positive
effect on their business in the near future (next 12 months),
making access to resources and training increasingly important
Socio-economic barriers to business development and
Black entrepreneurship remain
- While 69% of Black SBOs think that the Biden Administration
will have a good impact on small businesses, a staggering 90% of
respondents believe not enough social, financial, and government
support for Black small business development exists in the
U.S.
“SurveyMonkey is proud to play our part in Operation HOPE’s work
to close the gap in entrepreneurial attainment. Our vision is to
raise the bar for human experiences by amplifying individual
voices,” said Zander Lurie, CEO of SurveyMonkey. “The feedback from
Black small business owners is clear—they need better access to the
resources, tools, and funding that propel small business success.
Together, we can make sure this story is told.”
Understanding Why Black Small Business Success is
ImportantSince emancipation, Blacks have been less likely
to own businesses than whites, and the businesses that they do own
are less successful on average, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Lack of business mentors, financial capital, and
business human capital negatively affect Black business success
rates. Overall, Black-owned businesses lag substantially behind
white-owned businesses in sales, profits, employment, and survival.
This gap in entrepreneurial attainment is further exacerbated by
the COVID-19 pandemic. Black-owned businesses struggle at greater
rates than white-owned businesses in part because they entered the
pandemic in less secure shape than many other companies.
About Operation HOPE, Inc.Since 1992, Operation
HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to “silver
rights”with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism
work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and
moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through our
community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016
Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine,
Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and
directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into
disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into
banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers
into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage
consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially
empowered disaster survivors. Project 5117 is our multi-year
four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to
improve financial literacy, increase business role models and
business internships for youth in underserved communities, and
stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation
HOPE recently received its sixth consecutive 4-star charity rating
for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and
accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity
Navigator. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow the
HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey is a leader in
agile software solutions for customer experience, market research,
and survey feedback. The company’s platform empowers more than 20
million active users to analyze and act on feedback from employees,
customers, website and app users, and market research respondents.
SurveyMonkey’s products, enterprise solutions, and integrations
enable more than 345,000 organizations to deliver better customer
experiences, increase employee retention, and unlock growth and
innovation. Ultimately, SurveyMonkey's vision is to raise the bar
for human experiences by amplifying individual voices.
Media Contact:pr@surveymonkey.com
SVMK (NASDAQ:SVMK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
SVMK (NASDAQ:SVMK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024