The U.S. Hispanic market, combined with the number of successful small businesses in Los Angeles, means that regardless of the fluctuations of the stock exchanges, opportunities continue to germinate on our doorstep.

Companies that create products and services for the U.S. Hispanic Consumers will continue to enjoy impressive growth, increasing revenues and expanding markets.

Our optimism on the potential of U.S. Hispanic consumers to be promising partners to enterprises astute enough to provide a range of solutions—from credit cards to Internet connectivity—which embrace the needs and aspirations of U.S. Hispanics, is based on three powerful trends which have transformed 44.3 million U.S. Hispanics from a group long ignored by the majority of American businesses into an empowered and emerging market.


1. The U.S. Hispanic Economy – An Emerging Market Right Here At Home

Together, 44.3 million U.S. Hispanics constitute their own sizeable, secure and financially empowered domestic emerging market that the 245,000 businesses based in greater Los Angeles businesses should be serving today. U.S. Hispanic consumers possess several important advantages typically seen in consumers in foreign emerging markets: rapidly rising incomes, which are fueling a surge in demand for consumer goods and services.

The average age of U.S. Hispanics is a young 27.4 years, giving this group the advantage of time to build wealth—and for companies to develop lifelong loyal customer bases – loyalty being a hallmark of the Hispanic consumer. In 2007, Hispanic consumers will spend $800 billion dollars, a figure that is on track to reach $1.5 trillion by 2012.

And this particular emerging market enjoys an additional asset that consumers in foreign emerging markets can as of now, only dream about: U.S. Hispanics are creating economic opportunity in a nation where laws governing employment, financial transactions, private and intellectual property are strongly enforced. These advantages provide entrepreneurs with a level of security crucial to making investment decisions, which develop new products, expand capacity and provide high levels of services to their customers.

Clearly all companies—here in Los Angeles and throughout the U.S—must develop strategies and services appealing to a group, which is moving en masse, from aspiration to affluence.


2. Capital: The Cornerstone of Success

Providing entrepreneurs who are leading early and middle stage companies with access to the appropriate types of investment capital – especially in the $2 million to $5 million range – and the advice critical to building successful businesses — rather than a slowdown in consumer spending—presents the greatest challenge to growth.

Even those beginning stage companies with deep and proven knowledge of their markets have difficulty raising the investment capital needed for establishing a strong consumer presence and market share. Growthink’s expertise in providing capital and counsel to early and expansion stage companies has been vital to the success of Los Angeles-based, early stage enterprises such as Authenticlick, a developer of fraud detection software and Xcom Wireless, a creator of wireless routing technologies.

Growthink’s involvement with both companies was comprehensive. First we helped each enterprise identify a profitable but unrecognized opportunity to serve their target markets. Then, working with their leadership teams, we developed a business structure adaptable to potential changes in the target market and a range of capital solutions, which transformed Authenticlick and Xcom from promising ideas into thriving, venture-backed enterprises.


3. Plan and Prosper Now

Between 2005 and 2006, fifty-percent of the people added to the U.S. population were of Hispanic origin. Today 13.1 million Hispanics call California home. By 2050 Hispanics will make up twenty-four percent of America’s population.

Can you name one business that succeeded by ignoring one-quarter of its potential customers? Neither can we.

For Los Angeles businesses, Hispanic consumers present a rich opportunity for growth—and a vital shelter from the possibility of recession we’re seeing in the statistics and signals coming from Washington and Wall Street. Business cycles are a natural component of free markets. But so is opportunity. And the opportunities available to Los Angeles companies embracing the potential of the domestic U.S. Hispanic market will only grow stronger, more diverse and profitable.

From our experience consulting to entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses over the past ten years, we've gained much exposure to the realities of starting and growing businesses.  We thought it would be interesting -- and hopefully instructive -- to lay out some of the myths and assumptions of aspiring entrepreneurs.

7. It Is All Dependent on Hard Work. Hard work is an absolutely necessary, but not sufficient, condition for starting and growing a business. It is the given, but without a solid business plan and compelling value proposition for customers and partners, all of the hard work in the world will be for naught. The world is filled with over-worked, over-stressed, and not terrible successful small business people who struggle not because of lack of appropriate effort, but rather for lack of appropriate planning.

6. If Your Product or Service is Compelling Enough, Customers Will Beat a Path to your Door. Unless you are building a business based upon intellectual property and/or technology that provides and creates such a competitive advantage and compelling customer value proposition, the early success of your business will be based as much on your ability to market and sell your product and service as it will on the product or service offering itself. Remember: in a capitalistic marketplace there is NO distinction between value and perceived value.

5. If Your Product or Service is Compelling Enough, Investors Will Beat a Path to your Door. Those that identify themselves as prospective investors in earlier-stage, small companies are mostly INUNDATED with investment opportunities. As such, no matter how good and unique your business opportunity, there is always a strong, initial prejudice AGAINST investment that needs to be overcome.

4. It Is All About You. The myth of the charismatic, "do and be everything" entrepreneur is just that -- a myth. Any and all companies of value are great teams much more than they are the by-product of a highly talented individual. The best entrepreneurs and business leaders inspire the mission, values and philosophy of a company by their own example. This inspiration is then communicated to all of the business' stakeholders -- employees, customers, investors, partners, vendors, and its wider community.

3. The Government Is Your Friend. We are constantly astounded by the regulatory and paperwork maze that a startup company needs to negotiate and constantly monitor to both start and maintain a business. It is a significant time, money, and energy drain that detracts from the main value creation intent of a new business. Our best advice in this regard -- as resources are available -- is to find competent legal and accounting counsel, to both advise upon and outsource the regulatory burden, so you can focus on business-building.

2. The Government Is Your Enemy. Having said the above, in the mixed economy in which we live, government revenue opportunities, on a local, state, federal, and international level, have never been greater for small business. While slow, meandering, and confusing to approach, governments have much to recommend them as clients and customers, not the least of which is that once sold, government clients pay well and are not bad debt risks. A somewhat trite but very important credo to remember when selling to governments, even more so than in business, is that "it is not as much what you know but who you know."

1. It Is Only Worth Doing If You Become the Next Google. The vast majority of small businesses will always remain just that -- small businesses. The odds of starting a business and have it become the next Google or a publicly-traded company are very, very small. While we would never discourage entrepreneurs for aiming for the stars, it is also important to have success metrics grounded in probability. An expectation of a minimum of 2years of very, very hard work with little financial return but with a lot of learning (and some fun hopefully as well) involved is a good starting point. From this first milestone, then and only then should there start to be an expectation of significant wealth-building. Find that balance between the long term vision and the Monday morning action plan -- and success, while not guaranteed, is very likely.

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About Growthink

Since 1999, Growthink's business plan experts have assisted more than 1,500 clients in launching and growing their businesses, and raising more than $1 billion in growth financing.

Need help with your business plan? 

• Speak with a professional business plan consultant.

The tradition of making a New Year's Resolution dates back to ancient Babylonian culture, when the most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. Today, many are still using New Year's Resolutions as their way of setting business goals.

If you're an entrepreneur -- or even if you aren't -- here are eight New Year's Resolutions that could lead to success in 2008.

#1) Don't be afraid of new things.

In 2008, you will see a lot of new websites, new software, new companies, and old companies offering new products and services. Get rid of the mentality that some of these new offerings don't affect you. Rather, try as many new products and services as you can. Make predictions on which you think will work. Watch to see which ones DO work and refine your strategic thinking accordingly.

#2) Find someone you hate, or someone you love, and follow them.

Many people are motivated more by hate than by love. Find someone who is really successful that you don't like and use them as a benchmark. If that scoundrel can be successful, so can you. Follow that person, and when they succeed, force yourself to succeed as well. Or, if you prefer, follow the career of someone you admire, and each time they succeed at something, emulate them by working harder in order to succeed yourself.

#3) Develop a NEW To-Do list.

Look at your To-Do list, and you'll find that it probably has things on it from a year ago. Delete those things. Create a new list of only the things that MUST be done in order to be successful in 2008. Create a plan to achieve those things.

#4) Talk with your current and prospective customers.

Entrepreneurs often develop the mindset that their ideas are great and will work. They often don't like getting feedback from customers and prospective customers, because it might be negative and burst their bubble. Go out and talk with customers. Even if they HATE your idea, they may spark you to come up with another idea that they LOVE.

#5) Organize.

Organization sucks. But once you do it, you'll save time each and every day. Organize your email inbox and your filing cabinet so that you have easily accessible folders and can find everything quickly and easily. This will save you many, many hours in the coming year; hours that could be used to create new products/services and better fulfill on existing ones.

#6) Make sense of something that doesn't currently make sense.

For some people, words from a Shakespearean play seem like gibberish. For others, a world renowned painting looks like paint that a child could have splattered on a canvas. Find one thing that you have avoided for years, or something that you have discarded as unimportant, or that just doesn't make sense to you. Analyze it. And make it make sense to you. Even if you end up interpreting it in a different way than others, that's OK. What's important is that the process will train your brain to look at problems and situations differently, and give you an improved ability to overcome obstacles.

#7) Keep a blog, diary or other method of tracking your progress.

We've all heard the saying that you can't improve what you can't measure. Measure your progress in 2008. Our lives today are so incredibly busy, and every day, each of us is working on numerous projects. Track your progress on each important project. This will allow you to see what you've accomplished, come up with ways to ensure that your goals are completed on time, and help you to forego the non-critical tasks that eat up your time.

#8) Do it and do it on time.

How many ideas did you have in 2007 that you never found time to execute on? How many phone calls or emails did you want to make (or send), but you didn't find the time? I just did the math; there are 525,600 minutes in a year. That should be enough to accomplish the key things!

Amidst the daily deluge of negative news regarding current business and economic conditions, it is important to look at the big picture: namely the very bright, long-term outlook for business and entrepreneurship in our global, Internet age. A recent interview with Ted Leonsis – the current Chairman of Revolution Money - a new Web 2.0 payment platform and credit-card service and Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL (and one of the key executives that fueled AOL's Internet rise in the 1990's), drives this point home.

"It's the greatest time to be an entrepreneur," was Ted's core theme at a recent Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference. Leonsis also made a number of prescient points regarding our current "three-screen world" – a world in which entertainment and commerce play out on computer screens, TVs, and mobile phones:

• In this new world, consumer expectations are "off the charts." They want everything "great, fast, and free."


• Today's consumers are a study in contradictions. They have a lot of purchasing power, but little leisure time. They are real estate rich (though increasingly less so), with less cash. Family life is more fractured, and people are overscheduled and on the move. They are watching less TV and living life online more and more. Only 25% of 30-year olds now read newspapers daily. Circulations are in long-term decline at the New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.


• In contrast, consumers now see the Internet as a "routine and indispensable part of their work and home life, spending 23% of their time hooked up to the Web, compared to seven minutes a day" in 1993.


• North America now accounts for just 16% of worldwide Internet users, down from 35% in 2000. "If you're building products and services just for the U.S. market, you're giving up 80% of the market," Leonsis says.


• Leonsis drives home the point that entrepreneurial opportunity has never been greater than it is right now, but by no means is it easy. "While it's never been easier to launch a new world-class business," investor and marketplace expectations are intense. "If you can't grow 25% month over month, we don't think you know what you're doing." If a startup doesn't take off fast, "you fall behind very, very quickly."

Just as significant, Leonsis says, is the "happiness business," which involves "getting out of the I, I and I, and really seeing where you want to fit into the bigger world."

At Growthink, we echo Ted Leonis' sentiments that business and entrepreneurship are and can be the best drivers of positive transformation in the world, and that Internet technologies and the global economy are and will accelerate this transformation to dizzying speed.

For more on Ted Leonsis, click here and here.