Investigating the Impact of Social Movements on African-American Business Success

Abstract

Despite boasting a long tradition of enterprise, the collective narrative of African-American entrepreneurship is one of marginal success, mainly because entrepreneurs experience an array of barriers, from segregation to lack of access to capital, that limits resiliency and increases susceptibility to shocks. Challenging this narrative are cases of entrepreneurial achievement that seem to coincide with periods of social change in the United States. This two-part study explored the effects of social movements on the trajectory of entrepreneurial firms. Study one delved into the business histories of six prominent African-American beauty industry entrepreneurs active during the First Great Migration, Civil Rights, and Black Lives Matter eras. Findings suggest that entrepreneurial opportunities and decision-making evolve as social action cycles progress. Study two scaffolded atop study one’s findings and concentrated on entrepreneurial actions inspired by change movements. Specifically, while movements are emergent, entrepreneurs respond to social and market constraints by introducing a service or product-based remedy. As movements progress, entrepreneurs carve and serve a defined niche while contending with whether to contract market positioning or expand it (bound-radiate paradox). It used the Golden Age of hip hop and its wake as the focal socio-cultural movement, along with its derivative streetwear fashion industry, to probe deeper into the interplay between social movements and entrepreneurial decision-making; it examined bound-radiate decisions and in doing so unlocked a novel value-based framework that motivates entrepreneurs to act, conceptualized via the Value-Based Three-States Model. Results expand the opportunity perception and realization literature and increase the knowledge base on conditions affecting the success of black-owned businesses. Study findings could be the foundation for a research-informed decision-making matrix that employs knowledge of patterns and trends to predict and respond to uncertainty and competition. The matrix could serve as a roadmap for aspiring and current entrepreneurs, along with their consultant allies, which helps read market directionality, informs strategic planning, and aids in the defter navigation of analogous circumstances.