Business Credit Cards

By Christina Laun

Recent studies have shown that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses is on the rise, and it’s been predicted that one in ten businesses in the United States will be Hispanic-owned by the end of this year. Despite all of this growth, it is often difficult for Hispanic entrepreneurs to find helpful resources. This list brings together 100 of the best resources out there for advice, inspiration and assistance for growing Hispanic businesses.

Blogs

Blogs can be a great way to keep up with news and issues pertinent to Hispanic entrepreneurs and businesspeople. These are among the best for Hispanic entrepreneurs in the know.

1. Hispanic SMB Hispanic SMB is a site designed to help start, manage and grow Hispanic small businesses. It features a blog with news about the Hispanic community and a number of other useful resources.
2. The Latino Edge Written by John Rivera, this blog provides commentary on the business world, focusing especially on marketing issues in the Hispanic global business culture.
3. The Savvy Comadre This blog gives leadership and marketing advice for Hispanic entrepreneurs in order to help them develop successful businesses.
4. Hispanic Trending This blog is written by marketing expert Juan Tornoe and has useful information on advertising and marketing to the Hispanic demographic.
5. Hispanic Net Hispanic Net’s blog contains news and articles on big names in Hispanic business and advice for entrepreneurs.
6. The Small Business Weekly The Small Business Weekly provides tools and advice for minority business owners.
7. Hispanics in the Innovation Economy This blog focuses on helping Hispanics who are or want to be in the technology and high tech sectors get resources and advice in order to be successful.
8. QuieroLatino The blog of a Hispanic start-up dating company, QuieroLatino gives first hand insight into the trials and tribulations of business ownership.
9. The Loca Diaries This blog is the personal blog of business coach Nancy Marmolejo. She gives her thoughts on life and business ownership.
10. Biz Buzz of Latina Mom Work at home mom Sonia shares articles and thoughts about business and internet marketing.

Books and Magazines

Add these books and magazines to your library for some helpful inspiration and advice.

11. Hispanic Magazine Hispanic Magazine covers a variety of topics from business and politics to famous Hispanics and fashion.
12. Hispanic Enterprise Magazine This magazine focuses on trends in business and politics throughout the Hispanic community.
13. Hispanic Business This magazine is geared towards the Hispanic business professional with information, ideas and advice on business related issues.
14. Minority Business Entrepreneur Magazine MBE Magazine serves as a nationwide forum for minority and women business owners as well as corporations and government agencies concerned with minority enterprise development.
15. Think & Grow Rich: A Latino Choice By Lionel Sosa In this book, Sosa shares his inspiring success story as well as those of other members of the Latino community.
16. The Americano Dream By Lionel Sosa Lionel Sosa is an advertising whiz when it comes to helping Anglo corporations break into the multicultural market. In this book, he turns the tables, showing Latino-Americans how to market themselves to a wider American business culture.
17. Latino Entrepreneurs By Susan Zannos Zannos provides career and business resources in this two volume book. She also profiles a number of successful Hispanic businessmen and women.
18. Latino Success By Augusto A. Failde, William S. Doyle To help counteract negative stereotypes associated with Hispanic entrepreneurs, these authors profiled 100 successful Latinos.
19. Latinos, Inc. By Arlene M. Davila Arlene Davila provides a critical examination of the Hispanic marketing industry and of its role in how US latinos are perceived.
20. Vision: Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the United States By Mabel Tinjaca This book tells the story of a flourishing business community and includes six biographies of highly successful Hispanic entrepreneurs and the lessons they have learned.
21. Mexican American Odessey By Felix Tijerina This book chronicles the rise of Felix Tijerina, who came to the US speaking no English and went on to start a thriving Tex-Mex restaurant chain. It also highlights the way he used his own success to give back to the community.

Business Tools

Save yourself some time and money with these great web applications and tools for businesses.

22. redtienda redtienda is a great resource for Hispanic entrepreneurs running an online business. It provides a Spanish language shopping cart feature that you can add to your online store to make selling your products online easier for both you and your customers.
23. Freshbooks Freshbooks makes invoicing easier by tracking time and providing features to quickly print and send invoices through the mail.
24. Ta-Da Lists Ta-Da is a simple and free to-do list program that allows you to store and share your to-do lists.
25. HighRise As any business owner knows, it’s important to keep client and customer information safe and organized. HighRise allows users to track conversations and communications with clients as well as maintain their contact information.
26. Campfire Campfire can make keeping in touch and collaborating with business partners easy, with real-time chat and file sharing.
27. eFax If you don’t want the hassle of actually owning fax machine, you can use eFax to send out faxes via email instead.
28. Wesabe Wesabe can help you keep track of where you’re spending money in your business.
29. Basecamp Basecamp can make collaboration and communication on a group project a snap. Users can create a home base for messaging, project updates, and uploading files.
30. Relenta CRM Keep track of valuable customer relationships using email, contact, document and activity management with Relenta.
31. WordPress Almost every business out there has a blog nowadays, so why not jump on the bandwagon? Get a free basic blog at WordPress and start getting the word out about your business.
32. SDL International Translation Whether you’re doing business abroad or just need some help at home, SDL translation can help you make sure you’re saying what you really want to say.
33. Inc.com Inc.com provides a list of over 100 tools for business owners and entrepreneurs including sample agreements, worksheets, and checklists.
34. Breeze Breeze allows you to easily launch email campaigns and send out email advertisements.
35. Planzo If you need help staying on top of tasks, meetings, and projects, Planzo can be a great solution. This online calendar can send text message reminders or let you share your tasks online.

Sources of Capital

Need some start up cash? There are numerous organizations out there that provide loans and financing to Hispanic entrepreneurs.

36. Hispania Capital Partners Hispania Capital Partners invests in companies that benefit from the demographics of the U.S. Hispanic marketplace to help ensure that those businesses become leaders in their field.
37. Ibero American Investors Ibero offers a variety of funding options to Hispanic businesses including loans, equity positions and complex syndicated joint ventures.
38. vFinance, Inc. vFinance focuses on meeting the financial needs of Hispanic businesses by providing resources for finding venture and angel investors.
39. Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) The CDVCA provides capital to businesses in minority and underinvested markets.
40. Milestone Growth Fund, Inc. The Milestone Growth Fund supplies equity financing to minority-owned companies.
41. Palladium Equity Partners The Palladium Equity Partners specialize in providing equity capital to companies focused on the Hispanic market.
42. Accion USA Accion USA is a private non-profit organization that offers small business loans of up to $25,000 to Hispanic business owners all over the US. They also provide financial literacy classes and numerous other business development resources.
43. New America Alliance New America Alliance is a group of American Latino business who aim to build up Hispanic business by expanding the forms of capital available to Hispanic entrepreneurs.
44. Nexos Capital Nexos is a Hispanic-controlled private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in small businesses owned by Hispanics or those that serve the needs of the Hispanic community.
45. Fulcrum Venture Capital Fulcrum Venture Capital brings together capital pools from qualified investors and invests that capital on their behalf in privately held businesses in minority and urban communities.
46. LaBonfante Group LaBonfante Group provides capital for Hispanic businesses in the United States as well as in Latin America.

Marketing

No matter what kind of business you’re running, you’ll need to get your name out there. Here are some marketing resources geared towards the Hispanic market.

47. Hispanic Marketing and Communication Association This is a nonprofit association that dedicates resources to the promotion of Hispanic marketing.
48. Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies The AHAA is a trade organization for the Hispanic marketing and advertising industry.
49. Hispanic Marketing Group Hispanic Marketing Group develops marketing that is focused on the Hispanic demographic both at home and abroad.
50. Latino Centric Marketing LCM boasts a team of professionals experienced in creating Latino-focused marketing campaigns.
51. iHispanic Marketing Group iHispanic Marketing Group is a Hispanic-owned business that can help other Hispanic business owners maximize their presence on the web.
52. TeleNoticias TeleNoticias helps companies reach the Hispanic population through Spanish-language television and other broadcast media.
53. Hispanicity Hispanicity advertises to Hispanics both native and foreign born through print, web, radio and television.
54. LatinWorks LatinWorks is an agency that can help develop and implement culturally relevant campaigns in all forms of communication.
55. WING Latino WING Latino aims to connect brands with Hispanic consumers by following the changing trends and behavior patterns of the Hispanic market.
56. Hispanic PR Wire Hispanic PR Wire is a Latino-owned business focused on sending out information about Hispanic businesses and general news to leading Hispanic media organizations worldwide.

Government Resources

Don’t let those tax dollars go to waste; take advantage of all the useful resources the government provides to Hispanic business owners.

57. United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce EDIT: This description has been removed from the list at the request of Michael L. Barrera who is both President and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which apparently “…IS NOT A BRANCH OF ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION nor a branch of the government.” Mr. Barrera has contacted his general counsel about this matter of upmost importance, and similarly recognizing its importance we have rushed out to comply with Mr. Barrera’s request.
58. Minority Business Development AgencyThe MBDA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and was specifically created to encourage the growth of minority-owned businesses in the United States. The MBDA provides access to financing and market opportunities as well as management and business information.
59. Small Business AdministrationThe SBA can be a valuable resource for those who want to start or grow a small business, offering business advice, classes, tools, and local resources available free of charge.
60. Copyright Law Find out what your rights are regarding your intellectual property with this government based resource on copyright law.
61. Congressional Hispanic Caucus The CHC is dedicated to fighting for and making sure that Hispanics are well represented on issues in Congress that are of special interest or value to the Hispanic community.
62. Library of Congress Business Reference Services The Library of Congress has an extensive library of business related materials. If you can’t make it there in person, you can check out their extensive list of online resources.

How-to Guides

Get some insight on how to improve or add to your business and make it more successful.

63. Work.com Work.com provides helpful how-to guides on a variety of subjects including hiring, sales and marketing, startups and more written by business professionals and experts.
64. My New Company Need some help creating or incorporating your new business? My New Company will walk you through the step-by-step process of creating a corporation or LLC.
65. Small Business Planner A resource created by the SBA, the small business planner can help you figure what you need to do to get your business up and running and how you can go about doing it.
66. Entrepreneur.com This site provides numerous how-to guides on every element of starting a new business from designing a logo to hiring an attorney.
67. How to Write a Business Plan This article provides some helpful tips on creating a winning business plan.
68. 10 Hiring Tips for Small Business Owners Learning how to manage your human resources can be a painful process of trial and error, but this article gives some great tips on making sound decisions in your hiring process.
69. 50 Ways to Save Money in Your Business Even the most successful businesses need to be careful not to overspend. These 50 tips will give you advice on how you can pinch some pennies for your business and increase your profit margins.
70. 10 Tips for Successful Business Networking You are often only as successful as who you know in business and this article gives some advice on how to make the most out of your networking opportunities.
71. Contracts 101 Some of the best advice when working with clients is to get any agreements and expectations in writing. This article can help you learn how to create a business contract.

Networking Resources and Organizations

There’s no denying that part of getting ahead is knowing the right people. These networking resources and organizations can get you on the right track to making useful business connections.

72. Association of Hispanic Entrepreneurs The Association of Hispanic Entrepreneurs promotes the business development of Hispanic entrepreneurs with economic programs designed to strengthen and expand the income potential of its members and affiliates.
73. National Internet Community of Hispanic Entrepreneurs (NICHE) NICHE focuses on helping the Hispanic Community become more aware of the Internet, have access to its features and media, as well as take advantage of its benefits in the business community.
74. Mi Negocio is a Spanish language networking and informational resource for Hispanic business owners. It provides a directory of businesses, forums for discussion, and a number of inspirational stories.
75. National Hispanic Business Association The NHBA is a network of current students and alumni who aim to aid the development of undergraduate Hispanic business students through educational, professional, and networking opportunities.
76. Hispanic Business Women’s Alliance The HBWA is an international organization of Hispanic women entrepreneurs and professionals working as a network for members to conduct and collaborate in business.
77. Latin Business Association The Latin Business Association promotes the growth of Hispanic-owned businesses by providing development opportunities such as educational workshops as well as formulating effective advocacy programs.
78. Hispanic Net Hispanic-Net is a non-profit organization for Hispanic entrepreneurs, business executives and professionals in high technology, software, and Internet-related companies.
79. National Society for Hispanic Professionals The National Society for Hispanic Professionals provides networking, education, and leadership opportunities to help empower Hispanic entrepreneurs.
80. National Hispanic Corporate Council The National Hispanic Corporate Council is a great resource for information on human resources, diversity, marketing, supplier diversity and community relations.
81. Questamente Questamente is dedicated to Hispanic business owners and entrepreneurs and can provide networking resources as well as informative articles on business development.
82. National Hispanic Professional Organization The NHPO is a non-profit organization that provides networking opportunities, educational seminars and professional development training.
83. Hispanic Business Alliance The HBA provides access a network of business resources that help foster economic growth and development of the Hispanic community.
84. National Society of Hispanic MBAs If you’re in the process of getting or have already gotten your MBA, the NSHMBA can be a great opportunity to get to know other Hispanic MBAs, gain leadership skills, and foster connections that can help you get ahead in business.

Stories of Hispanic Entrepreneurs

Business ownership can at times be a scary endeavor, but it can be a great help to hear stories from those who’ve been there before you.

85. Bucking the Odds in Columbus Business owner Efrain Quezada went from new immigrant to owning a chain of successful restaurants.
86. Emergent Entrepreneurs This article describes the growth in numbers and success of Latina business owners and the economic impact it has had.
87. Sara J. Gonzalez Sara came from Cuba with little more than the clothes on her back and 2 children in tow. Today she is president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and helps other Hispanic entrepreneurs learn to be successful in business.
88. Finding Their Niche Sisters Amelia and Pilar launched a successful scrapbooking business with products designed specifically for Hispanics.
89. Leading Latinas This article profiles several Latina entrepreneurs who came from all walks of life to become leaders in their fields.
90. Carlos Devis Devis, of Bose systems, was named Ford’s “El Visionario” for his work in educational and community development.
91. Linda Alvarado This article profiles Linda Alvarado, CEO of a large construction company and the first Hispanic owner of a Major League Baseball team.
92. Joseph Unanue Along with his brothers, Joseph made Goya foods a nationwide success. He now uses his wealth to help others through philanthropic ventures.
93. Fiesta FoodsThe Bequer family has turned their small Hispanic grocery into a successful chain of stores.
94. Zully Alvarado Polio and numerous hardships haven’t stopped Zully Alvarado from being successful in business.
95. Demand for Hispanic MBAs Here you’ll find good news for businessmen and women getting MBAs.
96. Amy Salazar From a small table outside her parents store to a chain of 21 stores across Texas, Amy Salazar has made her dream a reality.
97. Don Quijote Awards The Don Quijote Awards go to businesspeople who have translated their efforts at entrepreneurship into success.
98. Rafael Cuellar Rafael Cuellar rose to success as owner and board member of several large supermarket chains.
99. Successful Hispanic Women This article shares stories from three successful businesswomen about how they got to where they are.
100. The Latino Small-Business Boom Hispanic businesses are booming in the Washington DC area. This article details their rise as well as profiles of several local businesses who have been especially successful.