If you are a Latino, living in the U.S. you might have a few questions about the title. I know. I have been in your shoes as well.
Since Hispanics are treated as a marginalized community in the U.S., a common perception is that you can leverage your ethnicity anywhere. Moreover, when it comes to business, the U.S. market is quite competitive. Nearly every business niche and industry is quality-focused, so leveraging any kind of association is out of the question.
However, as a Latino successfully running a business for the last five years, successfully surviving the pandemic, and thriving post-pandemic, I can tell you it is possible.
How?
If you are a young Hispanic entrepreneur and curious about using your ethnicity to run a successful business, keep reading.
Use Community Insight
One of the biggest mistake that you can commit as a Latino small business owner is to aim for global recognition. Instead, your goal should be to become the biggest and most recognized brand within your community.
To make this possible, use the community insight that you gather. You know the common issues within your community, the kind of solution that your fellow Hispanics would love and expect.
A good example of this is Optimum Internet. Although the brand has a solid presence within the U.S., it realized the combination gap within the Hispanic community. Consequently, it launched the Optimum Spanish number for its Hispanic clients who were struggling with English.
With the help of this dedicated customer support line, Latino users can easily seek guidance in Spanish.
Use Community for Marketing
Digital marketing is the trend right now. Nearly all businesses today are heavily dependent on different styles of digital media for generating sales, creating leads, and raising awareness. However, for Hispanic business owners, the community can replace the use of digital marketing.
Now, I know you might be questioning the use of community for marketing.
To offer you a perspective, a Nielsen study shows that 92% of consumers trust recommendations more than other forms of marketing. So, if you have a group of Latino customers by your side, you are bound to succeed.
In fact, your brand will grow exponentially within just a few months. You will also have loyal clients who will become your advocate bringing more people on board.
Network with Latinos
Most of the people within the Latino community are business owners.
Hispanic-owned businesses made up 14.5% of businesses in the U.S. While the number might seem small, believe me when I say most of the Latinos are business owners at heart.
They have exceptional business ideas, top-notch convincing power, and an unbeatable sales pitch. This is the reason why they are known for their high resilience within the business community.
So, if you want to build a successful business, you can learn a thing or two from other Hispanic business owners. Apart from this, networking with these business owners will help you gather insights about procuring raw materials at a discounted price, recruiting people, and collaborating with Hispanic businesses for marketing.
These steps are simple yet they have a huge impact helping you generate more profit and much better ROI.
Seek Feedback and Guidance
Feedback helps a company understand the shortcomings, and expectations of the customers and eventually use the feedback for innovation.
While most companies spend billions on feedback campaigns to gauge this data, you can do so by getting to interact with your own community. For instance, Hispanics are known for their concrete views and exceptional feedback skills.
If you have a focus group or a few Hispanic customers, there is a high chance that you will get feedback.
In most cases, you don’t even have to ask for feedback or guidance as the Hispanics are so expressive. You can later use their reviews to improve your product, add new features to your product, and overcome the shortcomings within your products.
Overall, this is an ideal strategy for companies that highly depend on innovation and tech.
Collaborate With Ethnicity
Latinos within the U.S. have a very tight-knit community. Most individuals, families, and members know each other.
So, when people notice any association with their family members, neighborhood, or area, it evokes a sense of belonging, and they are more likely to buy your product. As a business owner, this is an ideal situation because you can easily collaborate with similar businesses within your community or just get in touch with the Hispanic influencers within your niche.
Collaborating with other businesses and influencers sharing your targeted audience means you no longer have to spend a lot of money on paid ads. Moreover, you will not just be saving a lot of money, but also get more attention via organic reach.
Simply put, the Hispanic community values authenticity, and representation and prefers people who belong to their community. If you are able to use these characteristics within your product, there is a high chance that your business will not just survive but thrive and flourish.
