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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Events and Tourism Review                                     
 
December 2023                                                                                                                                                     Volume 6   

   

 

Social Entrepreneurship in Black-majority Neighborhoods: The Case of 

Indianapolis 

 

 
Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis 
Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 
 

Suosheng Wang 
Indiana University, Indianapolis 
 

Correspondence: shjiavgousti@bsu.edu (S. Hji-Avgoustis) 

 

 
 

 

 

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Recommended Citation 

Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023). Social Entrepreneurship in Black-majority 

Neighborhoods: The Case of Indianapolis. Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32.  
 

 

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
12 

Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Abstract 

 

The study explores how social entrepreneurship is shaped by its environment and particular 

institutional arrangements and contextual factors by focusing on the nature of engagement and 

participation by business owners in Indianapolis’ fourteen Black-majority neighborhoods. The study 

seeks to answer the following two research questions:  a) In what ways can these small business 

entrepreneurs be considered social entrepreneurs, and b) how do these small business entrepreneurs 

overcome existing barriers to contribute to the revitalization of their neighborhoods?  The study uses 

an exploratory research design involving an online structured questionnaire and informal 

conversations with study participants.  Selected participants met three criteria:  a) geographic 

sampling, b) institutional context, and c) different business typologies.  Findings from the survey 

and the informal conversations point to the daily struggles many small businesses face as they 

struggle to survive, including access to financial and human capital, generating low revenue, and 

operating with few employees.   

 

Keywords: Black-majority Neighborhoods; Social Entrepreneurship; Motivators; Barriers; Small 

Business 
 

 

 

Introduction 

 

This study explores the motivations of owners of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 

in Indianapolis's fourteen Black-majority neighborhoods to create social value while maximizing 

profits. Social entrepreneurship began drawing the attention of academic researchers in the 1990s 

(Boschee, 1995; Bornstein, 1998; Dees, 1998a, b; Leadbeater, 1997; Thompson et al., 2000). The 

early definitions discussed the roles of mainly nonprofit organizations and their executives as agents 

of social change. Dees (1998 a, b) refers to a social mission carried out with the discipline, 

innovation, and determination to run a business. Thompson et al. (2000) discuss improvements to 

meet social needs that the state welfare system has not met. Recent definitions have added the term 

commercial entrepreneurship to explore the role of business ventures as agents of social change 

(Austin et al., 2006). Other authors refer to sustainable ventures that combine "business principles 

with a passion for social impact" (Wolk, 2008, p. 1) and a desire to change the social equilibrium to 

reach a better state (Light, 2008).   

Social entrepreneurs are individuals who strive to create social value by employing business 

concepts in new and "entrepreneurial" ways that improve the lives of marginalized segments of a 

population who are unable or incapable of improving their conditions (Peredo & McLean, 2006; 

Seelos & Mair, 2005; Thompson, 2002). Martin and Osberg (2007) define a social entrepreneur as 

someone who "targets an unfortunate but stable equilibrium that causes the neglect, marginalization, 

or suffering of a segment of humanity, which brings to bear on this situation his or her inspiration, 

direct action, creativity, courage, and fortitude; and who aims for and ultimately affects the 

establishment of a new stable equilibrium that secures permanent benefit for the targeted group and 

society at large" (p. 39). 

The discrimination experienced by Black entrepreneurs in this country has deprived them of 

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

access to capital while impoverishing their customer base (Unger et al., 2011; Waldinger et al.,1990) 

and is strongly related to closures and low levels of profitability (Bates & Robb, 2014). Rather than 

recognizing the actual impacts of discrimination, scholars in the 1960s and 1970s attempted to 

explain the lack of a robust Black business ecosystem by using social and cultural reasons. One 

reason offered is the lack of unique home country cultural needs that might generate entrepreneurs 

in the black community (Glazer & Moynihan, 1963). A second reason is that Black communities are 

too individualistic and lack the supporting network and solidarity that other thriving ethnic groups 

enjoy (Light, 1972). Light goes a step further by suggesting that black cultural values do not foster 

entrepreneurial activity.   

Black entrepreneurs began pursuing their dreams of owning businesses soon after the 

abolition of slavery. One notable example is Black Wall Street of Tulsa, Oklahoma (Messer et al., 

2018). Walker (2009) calls the period from 1900 to 1930 the "golden age of black business," where 

"leading black capitalists . . . reflected their success within a black economy, which developed in 

response to the nation's rise of two worlds of race." (p.183). Walker observed that Black 

entrepreneurs served mainly Black customers in a country divided along racial boundaries. Prieto 

(2019) notes that many early Black business entrepreneurs realized the importance of supporting 

and strengthening the people they serve, including their employees, customers, and local 

communities. Indianapolis' own Madame C. J. Walker is one such example. Walker built a hair 

products empire and is considered one of the twentieth century's most successful, self-made women 

entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and activists (Bundles, 2020).   

Racial discrimination, including the adverse effects of Jim Crow laws, contributed to the 

steady decline of the Black entrepreneurial ecosystem in the 1940s. Over four decades, Black 

business ownership began to grow again (Feldman, 2017). Nevertheless, black entrepreneurs 

continue to experience the impacts of structural and institutional racism. Fischer and Massey (2000) 

and Fairchild (2009) found that residential segregation depresses Black self-employment. Sixty-five 

percent of Black people live in sixteen states that score poorly on the US Economic Opportunity 

Index (Rackers et al., 2020), the majority residing in poor neighborhoods. The Index is a composite 

measure made up of indicators in four dimensions that include economy, education, health, and 

community.  

Black homeowners also experience discrimination in lending. Homeownership is a vehicle 

for creating generational wealth, giving oneself independence, and pursuing dreams of owning a 

business. However, Black people have historically not been given the same access to 

homeownership as people in the majority. A report by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 

(Howard, 2019) explains that segregationist policies, such as redlining, zoning laws, and 

discriminatory lending policies, prevented Black families from building wealth throughout the 20th 

century. The results of these discriminatory practices are striking. According to the Federal 

Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (Bhutta et al., 2020), the median wealth of white families 

was $188,200, compared with $24,100 for Black families.   

The lack of generational wealth significantly impacts Black business owners' ability to 

secure loans based on current loan scoring models. Such models consider credit score, personal 

debt, annual income, and the home's physical location and assessed value. Collins et al. (2016) 

concluded that it would take a couple of centuries for the average Black family to earn the same 

wealth as the average white family. Shapiro et al. (2013) found that each increase of one dollar in 

average income that Black households saw between 1984 and 2009 yielded $0.69 in additional 

wealth. For similarly situated White households, the same increase in income created $5.19 in 

wealth. This gap will never close if the country stays on its current economic path. 

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

From this context, the study explores the following two research questions: 

1.  How can business owners of SMEs in the city's Black-majority neighborhoods be 

considered social entrepreneurs? 

2.  How do business owners overcome existing barriers to owning a business to improve 

lives in their neighborhoods? 

 

Literature Review  

 

Business owners in Black-majority neighborhoods 

The widely held stereotype that Black-majority neighborhoods are poor and dangerous 

places is misleading. Black-majority neighborhoods are diverse and changing like other 

neighborhoods, but poverty and unemployment remain a reality (Berube & Frey, 2005). A review of 

the available literature points to conflicting strategies to address these issues. For example, Porter 

(1995, 1997) argues against investing in minority supplier development programs because Black-

owned businesses are too small to contribute significantly to neighborhood revitalization. On the 

other hand, Sawicki and Moody (1997) argue that Black-owned businesses in depressed 

neighborhoods contribute to regeneration by offering employment opportunities to a disadvantaged 

labor force.   

Several studies explored the challenges minority business owners face in accessing capital 

compared to equally credit-worthy White-owned businesses (Bates, 1973; Bates, 2010; Casey et al., 

2011; Chetty et al., 2020; Derenoncourt & Montialoux, 2021).  Moreover, among the minority 

community, Black-owned businesses with similar credit scores as other minority-owned businesses 

are the least likely to access the financing they need (Small Business Credit Survey, 2021).  Several 

studies of firm-level data document this disparity (Bates, 1997; Fairlie et al., 2020; Robb & Fairlie, 

2007; Fairlie & Robb, 2007).  For example, a mystery shopping study (Bone et al., 2017) concluded 

that White borrowers were more likely to be offered follow-up appointments with bankers than 

better-qualified Black borrowers.  The authors concluded that a central challenge to Black 

entrepreneurs is not a lack of assets but access to capital and credit needed to grow their businesses.  

Thompson Cochran et al. (2002) argued that passing the Community Reinvestment Act 

(CRA), revised in 2020, remains one of the more promising strategies for helping underserved 

populations and communities accumulate savings and access credit. CRA pressured commercial 

banks and thrifts to consider the credit needs of all borrowers, including those in low-income 

neighborhoods (Immergluck, 2004). The pressure applied to banks resulted in a net increase in 

minority owners seeking financing to start or expand businesses in these neighborhoods (Bates & 

Robb, 2015). 

The average level of startup capital for Black entrepreneurs is around $35,000, a third of 

their White counterparts (Baboolall et al., 2020). Perry (2020) reports that almost 40 percent of 

Black business owners feel discouraged from applying for business loans. Less than a fifth of them 

say receiving assistance from loan officers in completing business loan applications. According to 

the Network Journal (2021, July 9), 80 percent of Black-owned businesses fail within the first 18 

months. Common reasons cited include poorly designed business plans, lack of market research, 

poor management, and no access to capital. 

Black-owned businesses in black-majority neighborhoods are essential to the financial 

backbone of their communities. In addition, black-owned businesses are more likely to hire Black 

workers (Boston, 2005). According to Maxwell et al. (2020), Black Americans own less than 20 

percent of small businesses with employees. That translates to just over 2.6 million Black-owned 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

businesses. Their numbers have risen by more than 30 percent in the past decade, but many are 

struggling to survive, generating revenues of less than $100,000 annually and having few 

employees. A Brookings report (Perry & Romer, 2020) points out that Black-owned businesses 

create an average of ten jobs, while non-Black businesses create twice as many jobs. If Black-owned 

businesses were to match their White counterparts in job creation, they would start over 1.6 million 

jobs. The average pay for a non-Black-owned business is around $51,000 per year. If Black-owned 

businesses matched that, their employees would earn a combined $24 billion per year. Moreover, if 

Black-owned businesses earned the same revenue as non-Black-owned businesses, total revenue 

would increase by $5.9 trillion. Investments at these levels would go a long way to reducing social 

disparities in Black-majority neighborhoods. 

There are encouraging signs that point to a rise in the number of Black business owners 

across the nation since the recent pandemic. Revised estimates from the University of California, 

Santa Cruz (2022), reported initially by Fairlie (2020), point to an increase of 38% in Black-owned 

businesses between February 2020 and August 2021. In Indianapolis, the Indy Black Chamber of 

Commerce reported a 33% increase in membership, adding eighty-two new small businesses to their 

organization in 2021 (Drenon, 2022, January 6).   

 

Theoretical framework 

Shane and Venkataraman (2000) define commercial entrepreneurs as those who can 

mobilize resources to turn opportunities into businesses. Another important consideration is the 

social context's influence on commercial entrepreneurs' behavior (Jack & Mouzas, 2007). Sarason et 

al. (2006) describe commercial entrepreneurship as a "social undertaking" only explained within the 

context of social systems. As commercial entrepreneurship increasingly becomes more socially 

aware (Burchell & Cooke, 2006), society's expectations of businesses' social outcomes will continue 

to rise (Jack & Anderson, 2002; Berglund Johansson, 2007).  

Like their commercial counterparts, social entrepreneurs' interests also lie in identifying and 

pursuing opportunities through creating and operating new businesses, often to reduce customer 

needs. In many instances, their interests are even more ambitious than those of commercial 

entrepreneurs (Clark et al., 2017; Dees & Anderson, 2003) as they seek to address societal 

challenges, such as poverty and social exclusion, within the context of social value creation (Mair & 

Martí, 2006; Sharir & Lerner, 2006). Perrini (2006) describes that social value can improve social 

conditions, such as working conditions, employment opportunities, or integration and participation 

within the community. 

For this paper, we define the term social entrepreneurship as an entrepreneurial activity with 

a social purpose in either the for-profit sector (Dees & Anderson, 2003), corporate social 

entrepreneurship (Wei-Skillern, 2002), or the nonprofit sector (Dees, 1998b). The underlying desire 

is to create social value (Weitzel et al., 2010; Zadek & Thake, 1997). Seelos and Mair (2005) 

discuss the creation of businesses to serve the disadvantaged by creating innovative solutions to 

solve existing problems. Social entrepreneurs value profit generation and an opportunity to create 

change by providing community value (Dees, 1998b; Johnson, 2002; Teakle, 2000) towards 

building a sustainable community (Johnson, 2002). This definition supports the broader 

understanding that social entrepreneurs aim to improve their communities' well-being through 

actions (Agafonow, 2014). Choi and Majumdar (2014), Driver (2012), and Porter and Kramer 

(2011) go a step further and praise the benefits of integrating economic benefits with social value 

creation. This integration becomes the main characteristic of social entrepreneurship (Doherty et al., 

2014; Pache & Santos, 2013; Tracey et al., 2011).   

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Several recent academic case studies address the impact of social entrepreneurship in and for 

marginalized communities, often in developing countries (Biddulph, 2017; Laeis & Lemke, 2016). 

However, very few studies investigate the impact of SMEs as agents of social change in underserved 

communities in developed countries, particularly in the United States. Furthermore, the few studies 

available focus on the challenges faced by ethnic minority and women-owned businesses (Bates et 

al., 2018; Fairlie & Robb, 2008; Wang, 2018a), while a few others focus on the role of cultural 

entrepreneurship in underserved urban areas (Wang et al., 2021; Wang & Richardson, 2021).    

From the above theoretical position, we use an adapted framework proposed initially by 

Kimbu and Ngoasong (2016) to investigate whether business owners in Black majority 

neighborhoods can be social entrepreneurs. In doing so, we explore how they overcome existing 

barriers to owning a business while improving the lives of people around them. Kimbu and 

Ngoasong proposed the original framework to illustrate how women tourism entrepreneurs in 

Cameroon could meet their own commercial and social transformation goals while contributing to 

meeting the needs of the very poor and underprivileged in their communities. 

 

Research context and methods 

 

The context of business owners in Black-majority neighborhoods 

Most of the literature on minority entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in disadvantaged 

communities has focused primarily on the entrepreneurial activities of immigrant groups. 

Entrepreneurial activity in Black-majority neighborhoods has received little attention in the 

academic literature. According to the Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy (2020), 

48% of Black Marion County residents live in a Black-majority neighborhood where 88% of the 

homes are valued less than the county's median home value. Our research setting is Indianapolis, the 

capital of the state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. Indianapolis has a population of almost 

900,000; 29% of the population is Black or African American (US Census Bureau, 2021). The 

fourteen Black-majority neighborhoods that comprise the study's population are identified using 

Indy Vitals (2022). This online community information system relies on population data from the 

US Census Bureau's 2020 Decennial Census (Table 1). 

Indianapolis presents a stark contrast between socioeconomic statuses, and this study aims to 

identify social entrepreneurial activity in some of the city's most depressed neighborhoods. We 

identified fourteen Black-majority neighborhoods whose demographic indicators, such as median 

household income and poverty rates, trail other neighborhoods in the city. Zip codes are only 

utilized to define targeted neighborhoods. Therefore, some neighborhoods cross over multiple zip 

codes. In this project, the data is organized mainly by the 2019 census data gleaned from Indy Vitals 

and the SAVI database run through the Polis Center in Indianapolis. 

In terms of institutional context, the devaluation of the housing market in the city's Black-

majority neighborhoods points to the lasting effects of past racist policies. These policies prevent 

Black families from building wealth and make it much harder for business owners to open and 

maintain a business than their counterparts in other neighborhoods. A recent SAVI report (Townsley 

et al., 2021) studied over a million loan applications filed in Central Indiana between 2007 and 

2020. It concluded that there are still racial and geographic differences in loan denial rates. The loan 

denial rates tended to be higher in low-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color. A reason 

for this disparity is that the applicant's income and creditworthiness are not the only criteria 

considered. Lenders consider a neighborhood penalty when approving or denying home purchase 

and refinance loan applications (Steiner & Nowlin, 2022).   

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Research design and data collection 

More research is needed about SMEs' contributions to neighborhood development, their 

characteristics, and their owners' motivations (Seidman, 2002). These business owners face 

challenges ranging from higher crime rates, poor infrastructure, and poor employee skills to 

difficulty accessing capital to sustain and grow their businesses (Gartner & Bhat, 2000). For 

example, a study by Morland et al. (2002) found that wealthier neighborhoods have four times as 

many supermarkets as Black-majority neighborhoods, and the stores in Black-majority 

neighborhoods are much smaller. Kugler et al. (2017) reported that businesses in low-income areas 

have fewer employees, lower average payrolls, and are more likely to have no paid employees than 

businesses in other neighborhoods. Moreover, most businesses in low-income areas are Black-

owned (Boston, 1997; Simms & Allen, 1997; Williams, 1994). 

We adopted a mixed methods research design consisting of online structured questionnaires 

and informal observations from the study's participants. This approach is considered suitable for 

studying SME owner-operator goals and the performances of their firms (Newby et al., 2014). Study 

participants were selected using purposive samplings, a non-probability sampling in which 

researchers rely on their judgments when choosing members of the population to participate in a 

study (Etikan, 2016). The selection of participants was based on three criteria:     

• Geographic sampling (14 Black-majority neighborhoods) 

• Institutional context (business owners of diverse racial backgrounds) 

• SMEs with assets not to exceed $1 million 

Table 1. Neighborhood Demographics 
Neighborhood/corresponding 

zip code(s) 

People of 

Color 

(2019) 

Black 

(2019) 

Median 

Household 

Income 

(2019) 

Poverty 

Rate 

(2019) 

Population 

(2020) 

Total 

neighborhood 

jobs (2016) * 

Arlington Woods (46226) 78% 59.71% $27,700  29% 8,291 10,410 

Brendonwood (46226) 67% 56.21% $44,600  26% 3,264 185 

Crown Hill (46208) 74% 68.03% $28,500  37% 4,506 3,944 

Devington (46226) 85% 73.07% $40,400  25% 11,925 798 

Devon (46226) 61% 50.43% $47,400  16% 1,951 22 

Far Eastside (46219, 46225, 

46235) 

75% 57.56% $36,700  27% 40,647 11,594 

Forrest Manor (46218) 89% 83.20% $37,600  27% 3,497 71 

International Marketplace 

(46254) 

91% 59.42% $32,100  37% 720 3,631 

Mapleton/Fall Creek (46205, 

46208, 46218) 

69% 63.19% $42,900  24% 6,829 1,664 

Marian-Cold Springs 

(46222) 

82% 63.13% $40,900  32% 3,242 1,696 

Martindale-Brightwood 

(46218) 

91% 84.34% $24,200  30% 12,578 3,950 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Meadows (46205) 92% 81.29% $25,600  39% 6,561 2,184 

Near NW-Riverside (46208) 78% 63.99% $29,100  35% 7,856 3.356 

Snacks/Guion Road (46254) 77% 54.52% $55,000  12% 29,592 8,381 

*https://www.savi.org/2016/08/09/indy-vitals-blog-series-economic-profile-of-indianapolis-which-job-sectors-are-

present-in-your-neighborhood/ 

 

Table 2. Community Gatekeepers 
Community Gatekeepers Organization Websites 

Community Alliance of the Far Eastside https://www.cafeindy.org/ 

Councilwoman La Keisha Jackson/District 14 https://www.jackson4indy.com/meet-ms-jackson 

Edna Martin Christian Center https://ednamartincc.org/ 

Far Eastside Community Council  https://www.feccindy.org/ 

Fervent Prayer Church https://fpcindy.com/ 

Finish Line Youth Foundation https://www.finishline.com/ 

Hispanic Business Council https://www.hispanicbusinesscouncil.com/ 

Indiana Black Expo https://www.indianablackexpo.com/ 

Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center http://www.inrc.org/ 

Innopower https://innopowerindy.com/ 

International Marketplace Coalition https://www.imcoalition.org/ 

Kheprw Institute https://kheprw.org/ 

La Plaza https://www.laplazaindy.org/ 

LISC Indianapolis https://www.lisc.org/indianapolis/ 

Mapleton Fall Creek Development Corporation https://mfcdc.org/ 

Martindale-Brightwood Community Development 

Corporation 

https://mbcdc.org/ 

Moorhead Community Resource Center https://hawthorne.warren.k12.in.us/ 

Mt. Carmel Church https://mtcarmelindy.org/ 

Pace Indy https://www.paceindy.org/ 

The Alliance for Northeast Unification https://www.anuimpact.org/ 

The Indianapolis Recorder https://indianapolisrecorder.com/ 

The Ross Foundation http://therossfoundation.org/ 

 

In collaboration with twenty-two community gatekeepers (Table 2) operating within the 

geographic boundaries of the fourteen neighborhoods, the lead author recruited the study 

participants and offered instructions on how to take the self-administered Qualtrics questionnaire 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

online. These community gatekeepers represent organizations that have already earned the trust of 

their respective communities (Kay, 2019), and their involvement in promoting the study allowed the 

researchers to gain trust, establish rapport, and form empathetic, non-hierarchical relationships with 

neighborhood business owners. 

This phase of the study lasted between August 2021 and May 2022. Since some business 

owners spoke Spanish, the questionnaires were available in Spanish and English. During the 

recruitment phase, the lead author discussed the study and offered to answer questions. These 

informal conversations led to valuable data that complemented and added to the data generated 

through the questionnaires. A review of contemporary qualitative research literature shows that 

researchers are using informal conversations as part of participant observation (Simpson et al., 2014; 

Thompson & Trigwell, 2018). As Swain and King (2022) point out, informal conversations in 

specific settings may be the best and sometimes the only way to generate good data. The use of 

these conversations as a secondary data collection method met the following criteria to avoid 

participant identification:  a) notes were not to be organized in a way to allow for the attribution of 

comments to a particular participant; b) no direct quotes were to be used, and c) no audio or video 

recording to document the conversations. 

A total of 94 completed and valid surveys were collected. The data were exported from 

Qualtrics to SPSS for quantitative data analyses, including descriptive statistics, independent 

samples t-tests, and multiple regression analyses. Specifically, respondents' demographic profiles 

and business backgrounds were explored with frequency analysis. The mean ratings of all perceptual 

items were reported. The independent samples t-tests were employed to understand how people in 

different demographic and business groups perceived the items differently. Finally, multiple 

regression analyses were conducted to identify the significant factors in predicting the social 

entrepreneurs' motivation, challenge, business success, and community involvement.  

 

Findings 

 

Respondents’ Demographic Profiles 

As shown in Table 3, male and female respondents are equally distributed, with male 

respondents accounting for 55.3% of the total sample. The mode age group is the 50s' (50-59 years 

old), representing 44.1% of the total. Respondents over 50 represent 72.1% of the sample. While 

those between 30 and 49 years of age make up 26.9% of the sample, only one participant is younger 

than 30. Among the respondents, 38.3% are college graduates or have post-graduate education. 

Around a quarter of the respondents (23.4%) are singles, 42.6% are married, and the others are 

widowed, divorced, or separated. Concerning race, over half of the respondents are black or African 

American (58%), 27.3% are white, and the rest are Asian or of other races. 

 

Table 3. Respondents’ Demographic Profiles 
  Freq. %   Freq. % 

Age Below 40 8 8.6 Gender Male  52 55.3 

 40 to 49 18 19.4 Female 42 44.7 

50 to 59 41 44.1 Single 22 23.4 

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Hji-Avgoustis, S. & Wang, S. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 11-32. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

60 or older 26 28.0 Marital 

status 

Married or in a 

cohabiting 

relationship 

40 42.6 

Education High School or 

less 

44 46.8 Widowed/ divorced/ 

separated 

32 34 

Some College 14 14.9 Race Asian 10 11.4 

College/ 

University 

28 29.8 Black or African 

American 

51 58.0 

Postgraduate 8 8.5 White 24 27.3 

   Other  3 3.4 

 

Respondents’ Business Backgrounds 

About half (45.7%) of the respondents have owned the current business for more than ten 

years, nearly 30% for 6-10 years, and the others (24.3%) for five years or less. Regarding business 

size measured by total assets, 41.3% of the businesses are worth $100,000 to $500,000, 33.7% are 

worth less than $100,0,00, while the other businesses (25%) are worth more than $500,000. None of 

the businesses exceed $1 million in assets. Participants operate a diverse group of neighborhood 

businesses; a fifth of these businesses are restaurants and coffee shops. Regarding business 

lifecycles, 39.1% are at the growth stage and 38% at the maturity stage. Only 12% are startups. A 

tenth (10.8%) of the businesses employ only one person, half (49.5%) employ 2-5 people, and 

around a quarter (28%) employ 6-10 people. Only one business employs more than 50 people. 

Regarding sources of capital, the vast majority (n=83) report some form of self-financing followed 

by financing from family and friends (n=53). Commercial banks make up the third most prevalent 

source of financing (n=32). 

 

Ratings of the Perceptual Items  

The perceptual items include motivation for starting a business, barriers to starting and 

running a business, factors affecting business success, and benefits to community involvement. 

Based on the mean values, the top-rated business motivations include: 

1. To gain economic independence/advancement and to be my own boss (4.20) 

2. To improve the quality of life in the neighborhood ( 4.18) 

3. To contribute something useful to society (4.12)   

The primary business barriers and challenges based on the mean values include: 

1. Minority business owners encounter more significant difficulties than others 

in creating a new business (4.35) 

2. Minority business owners find less support in society to create a new business 

than the majority group (4.35) 

3. Availability of capital (4.25).   

The top three business success factors include:  

1. Ability to manage the business successfully (4.20) 

2. Ability to identify business opportunities (4.15) 

3. Ability to solve problems facing the business (4.05) 

The top community involvement benefits include: 

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1. Makes my community stronger (4.58) 

2. Helps me build business relationships (4.52) 

3. Increases sales for my business (4.49) 

4. Broadens my business network (4.49) 

5. Preserves the culture and traditions of the community (4.47). 

Results of Independent Samples t-test 

Independent samples t-tests were conducted to understand better how people with different 

backgrounds perceived these items. The independent variables include gender (male vs. female), 

education (some college or less vs. college or more), race (non-Black vs. Black), business age (10 

years or less vs. more than ten years), business status (startup/growth stages vs. maturity/survival 

stages), business size (5 people or less vs. more than 5) and years of experience (9 years or less vs. 

more than nine years), respectively. As illustrated in Table 4, the different groups perceived many 

significant items differently. All items in Table 4 are significant at the threshold P-value of 0.05; the 

positive t-values indicate that, for a grouping variable, the mean ratings of the first group are 

significantly more significant than the second group. 

The negative t-values indicate the reverse result. Specific patterns of the perceptual 

differences of the items between the groups are notable. For example, regarding motivation for 

starting a business, males find the listed items more important in motivating them to start a business 

than females. In terms of barriers and challenges encountered, the listed barriers and challenges are 

more critical to the success of businesses by males, the relatively less educated Black Americans 

than non-Black Americans, businesses in operation five years or less, businesses at the maturity and 

survival stages, and the ones with relatively more people employed. Regarding the success factors, 

male businesspeople and those with higher education attainment levels perceived these abilities as 

more important in contributing to the success of a business than the other groups (i.e., females and 

the less educated). Finally, concerning the benefits of community involvement, males, the more 

educated, businesses with more than five years in operation, businesses at the maturity/survival 

stages, and business owners with longer years of business experience view community involvement 

as a significant contributor to the success of their businesses.   

 

Table 4. Items with Significant Different Perceptions between the Groups 

 

Between males and females: 
Motivation 

for starting 

a business 

To take on the challenges and risks that go with owning/running a business (t=2.03); To seek 

greater recognition and social prestige (t=3.00) 

Barriers to 

starting and 

running a 

business 

Lack of qualified employees (t=3.89); Too much competition (t=4.31); Availability of capital 

(t=1.66); Too much state interference/bureaucracy (t=1.80); Weak economy (t=2.68); Racial 

discrimination (t=2.89); Unsafe surroundings (t=2.68); Overall business challenge (2.00) 

Factors 

affecting 

business 

success 

Ability to act in uncertain environments (t=2.55); Ability to develop new products and services 

(t=1.87); Overall business success (t=1.80) 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Benefits to 

community 

involvement 

Increases sales for my business (t=2.76); Helps with my personal and professional development 

(t=2.02); Helps me Build business relationships (t=3.94); Helps me to model positive values for 

employees and applicants (2.51); Provides opportunities for feedback from customers (t=2.73); 

Broadens my business network (t=2.65); Makes my community stronger (t=2.27); Preserves the 

culture and traditions of the community (t=2.90); Overall community involvement (t=3.56) 

 

Between some college or less and college or more: 
Motivation 

for starting 

a business 

To take on the challenges and risks that go with owning/running a business (t=2.55); To seek 

greater recognition and social prestige (t=2.14); To have my own business so that my children will 

inherit it (2.49); To advance further professionally rather than working for others (t=-1.82); To 

leave a previous job (t=3.06); Overall motivation (t=-3.15) 

Barriers to 

starting and 

running a 

business 

Lack of qualified employees (t=4.5); Too much competition (t=5.13); Availability of capital (2.82) 

Too much state interference/bureaucracy (2.50); Weak economy (t=3.71); Absence of positive 

business role models (t=2.02); Racial discrimination (4.32); Minority business owners encounter 

greater difficulties than others in creating a new business (t=1.87); Minority business owners find 

less support in society to start a new business than the majority group (t=2.01); Unsafe 

surroundings (t=4.33); Balancing family and work life (t=-2.43); Overall business challenge 

(t=3.81) 

Factors 

affecting 

business 

success 

Ability to identify business opportunities (t=-2.20); Ability to use creativity in producing and/or 

selling something new (t=-3.03); Ability to solve problems facing the business (t=-2.15); Ability to 

manage the business successfully (t=-3.18) 

Benefits to 

community 

involvement 

Increases sales for my business (t=2.38); Helps me Build business relationships (t=2.55); Helps me 

to model positive values for employees and applicants (t=2.06); Provides opportunities for 

feedback from customers (t=2.34); Makes my community stronger (t=1.89); Preserves the culture 

and traditions of the community (t=1.95); Overall community involvement (t=3.23) 

 

Between non-black and black Americans 
Barriers to 

starting and 

running a 

business 

Too much competition (t=2.00); Racial discrimination (t=-1.72); Minority business owners 

encounter greater difficulties than others in creating a new business (t=-3.20); Minority business 

owners find less support in society to create a new business than the majority group (t=-2.56) 

Benefits to 

community 

involvement 

Overall community involvement (t=2.05) 

 

Between 10 years or less and more than ten years of business age: 
Motivation for starting a 

business 

To gain economic independence/advancement and to be my own boss (t=1.69) 

Barriers to starting and 

running a business 

Lack of marketing training (t=2.38); Overall challenge (t=2.01) 

Factors affecting 

business success 

Ability to identify business opportunities (t=1.99) 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 Sotiris Hji-Avgoustis and Suosheng Wang 

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Factors affecting 

business success 

Helps with my personal and professional development (t=-2.99); Provides opportunities 

for feedback from customers (t=-1.71); Helps me maintain work-life balance (t=-2.51); 

Makes me a better leader (t=-1.75) 

 

 

 

 

Between start-up/growth stages and maturity/survival stages of business: 
Motivation for starting 

a business 

To gain economic independence/advancement and to be my own boss (t=1.76) 

Barriers to starting and 

running a business 

Lack of qualified employees (t=-2.55); Too much state interference/bureaucracy (t=-

1.95); Racial discrimination (t=-1.66); Minority business owners encounter greater 

difficulties than others in creating a new business (t=-2.17); Minority business owners 

find less support in society to create a new business than the majority group (t=-1.87) 

Factors affecting 

business success 

Ability to identify business opportunities (t=1.99) 

Factors affecting 

business success 

Helps with my personal and professional development (t=-1.778); Makes me a better 

leader (t=-1.67); Makes my community stronger (t=-2.22); Preserves the culture and 

traditions of the community (t=-1.93); Overall community involvement (t=-1.86) 

 

Between 5 people or less and more than five people of business size 
Barriers to starting and 

running a business 

Lack of qualified employees (t=-2.89); Too much competition (t=-3.29); Weak 

economy (t=-2.31) 

Benefits to community 

involvement 

Overall community involvement (t=-1.96) 

 

Between 9 years or less and more than nine years of business experience 
Barriers to starting and 

running a business 

Minority business owners find less support in society to create a new business than the 

majority group (t=1.68) 

Factors affecting 

business success 

Ability to identify business opportunities (t=2.02); Overall business success (t=-2.56) 

Benefits to community 

involvement 

Helps with my personal and professional development (t=-2.54); Provides opportunities 

for feedback from customers (t=-1.92); Makes me a better leader (t=-2.39); Preserves 

the culture and traditions of the community (t=-1.71); Overall community involvement 

(t=-2.77) 

 

Determinants in Predicting the Overall Motivation, Business Challenge, Business Success, and 

Community Involvement 

Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the significant variables in 

predicting: 

a) Overall, how motivated are you to start/run a business? 

b) Overall, how challenging is it to start/run a business? 

c) Overall, how successful do you think you have been starting/running a 

business? 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

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d) Overall, how successful has your business been with community 

development? 

As indicated in Table 5, the adjusted R2 shows the total variance explained by the 

independent variables remaining in the models, ranging from .168 to .385. The F-ratios are all 

significant (F values range from 2.50 to 13.66, Prob. < 0.01), indicating that these results could 

hardly occur by chance. Furthermore, the t-values of the independent variables remaining in the 

models range from 2.681 to 4.449, meaning that all the partial correlations are statistically 

significant at 0.05.  

The results show that one determining variable (to gain economic independence/ 

advancement and to be my own boss) remains in the model of "overall, how motivated are you in 

starting a business. Two significant variables (too much competition and lack of training in 

management skills) remain in the model "overall, how challenging is it to start/run a business. One 

determinant (ability to develop new products and services) is significant in predicting "overall, how 

successful do you think you have been starting/running a business. Finally, two variables (providing 

opportunities for customer feedback and increasing sales for my business) are significant predictors 

of "overall, how successful has your business been with community development." 

 

Table 5.  Results of Multiple Regression Analyses 
Dependent variable Independent variable(s) 

remaining in the model 

b β t Sig. 

Overall motivations 

(Adj. R2 = .168, F=2.50, Sig.=0.01) 

“To gain economic 

independence/ advancement 

and to be my own boss.” 

.297 .396 3.333 0.001 

Overall challenge 

(Adj. R2 = .385, F=13.7, Sig.=0.001) 

“Too much competition.” .178 .275 2.857 0.005 

“Lack of training in 

management skills.” 

.185 .250 2.681 0.009 

Overall business success 

(Adj. R2 = .168, F=3.17, Sig.=0.004) 

“Ability to develop new 

products and services.” 

.463 .493 3.048 0.03 

Overall community involvement 

(Adj. R2 = .329, F=3.21, Sig.=0.002) 

“Provides opportunities for 

feedback from customers.” 

.482 .457 4.449 0.001 

“Increases sales for my 

business.” 

.353 .329 3.208 0.002 

 

Discussion and Conclusion 

 

The challenges faced by business owners in Black-majority neighborhoods persist today. For 

example, a Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (2022) report found that two-thirds of White 

families own their homes, while only a third of Black families are homeowners. In addition, a 

Brookings Institute report (Perry et al., 2018) estimated that houses in Black-majority 

neighborhoods in the Greater Indianapolis Metropolitan Statistical Area are valued at $18,000 on 

average less than similar houses in non-Black-majority neighborhoods. The report also pointed out 

that homes in Black-majority neighborhoods are valued at $48,000 on average less than similar 

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houses in non-Black-majority areas. Finally, a different report compiled by the Indiana University's 

Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy (2020) estimated the 2018 median value of 

houses in Indianapolis' Black-majority neighborhoods to be $87,821, two-thirds of the city's median 

home values that same year.   

Progress in overcoming such challenges is slow, and recent news stories highlight the lasting 

impacts of past discriminatory practices, including redlining in cities across the country. For 

example, in October 2021, Trustmark National Bank in Tennessee agreed to invest $3.85 million in 

loan subsidies and to open one loan production office in a majority-Black and Hispanic 

neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee (US Department of Justice, 2021). In addition, Old National 

Bank in Indianapolis has agreed to settle a federal complaint filed by the Fair Housing Center of 

Central Indiana (2021) by agreeing to expand mortgage lending opportunities to Black borrowers in 

majority-Black neighborhoods in Indianapolis. 

As a result of past and current obstacles to business ownership, only 4% of businesses in 

Indianapolis are owned by Black business owners.  This is based on data compiled by Common 

Future and Next Street (2021). However, according to our study, Black business ownership is 58% 

in the city's Black-majority neighborhoods. The national trends are similar, where only 2.3% of all 

businesses are Black-owned, even though Black people comprise 14.2% of the population (Perry et 

al., 2022). By applying the principles of social entrepreneurship, the study highlights the critical role 

of business owners of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Indianapolis's fourteen Black-

majority neighborhoods to create social value while maximizing profits.  

As the results of our study point out, the top three motivators for starting a business in Black 

majority neighborhoods include: gaining economic independence/advancement and being my own 

boss, improving the neighborhood's quality of life, and contributing something useful to society.   

These three motivators align with the foundation of the Kimbu (2016) theoretical framework. Social 

transformation goals, commercial goals, and community needs are the three motivators of women 

tourism entrepreneurs in Cameroon. In our study, the social transformation goals of these 

entrepreneurs include their valuable contributions to society, such as offering employment 

opportunities to their neighbors. Their commercial goals include their efforts to gain economic 

independence by becoming their own boss. In doing so, these entrepreneurs forge their opportunities 

to build wealth and legacy. Lastly, in terms of meeting neighborhood needs, these entrepreneurs are 

improving the quality of life of their fellow citizens by filling gaps for Black consumers and 

providing goods and services that reflect everyday needs and interests. In doing so, they help keep 

dollars circulating within these neighborhoods rather than supporting businesses owned by outsiders 

with no apparent ties to the neighborhood. 

The informal conversations with study participants reaffirmed the existence of many barriers 

to starting and running a business. Black entrepreneurs face significant inequities in the business 

world with direct consequences on the communities they serve, especially in Black-majority poor 

neighborhoods. They include lost job opportunities and inadequate access to essential goods and 

services that other communities take for granted, all contributing to declining quality of life. At the 

macro level, these inequities undercut the potential of millions of people of color to bolster the 

country's economic system and address many injustices. 

The informal conversations also reaffirmed the study's findings regarding what these 

business owners need to overcome these barriers. They include technical assistance in creating new 

businesses, including access to resources and business opportunities. Participants also identified the 

need to join robust business networks that offer them representation and participation in networking, 

mentorship, and sponsorship programs to help them overcome some sociocultural barriers. Thirdly, 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

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access to capital continues to be a significant barrier. In our study, the primary sources of financing 

were self-financing and financing from family and friends, followed by financing from commercial 

banks. Since Black business owners tend to have fewer resources, personally or through family and 

friends, they depend more on outside funding.    

 

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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 11-32, DOI: 10.18060/27602                                                                                                  

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