Immigrants More Likely to Start a Business
It is not necessary to be a US citizen or have a green card to get a credit card and begin building good credit. Any individual with a US visa can follow the steps to get a social security number (which is necessary to get started), and many immigrants go on to start a small business of their own.
According to a report by Robert W. Fairlie for the Small Business Office of Advocacy, immigrants are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business than are nonimmigrants, and they represent 16.7 percent of all small business owners in the United States. They also generate nearly a quarter of all business income in California and nearly a fifth of business income in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
Many of these foreign-born business owners are concentrated in just a few states. In California, for example, nearly 30 percent of all business owners are immigrants, compared with the United States as a whole where 12.5 percent of business owners are foreign-born. In New York, 25 percent of owners are immigrants and in New Jersey, Florida, and Hawaii 20 percent come from outside the US.
Immigrants from Mexico make up the largest share of business owners, but owners come from all over the world and their contributions differ across the economy. They own more than a fifth of businesses in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry, while they also contribute significantly to other services, transportation, and the wholesale and retail trade, according to the report.
One immigrant, Naishu Wang, was interviewed in a recent article by Leslie Berestein, a Union-Tribune staff writer. A doctor in her native China, Wang came to the United States two decades ago and found there was plenty of help and encouragement available for people who wanted to start their own business. She came without a “business mind,” but attended seminars and workshops and used the internet to find information and advice. According to the article, Wang started her company, Alpha Scientific Designs, with only $100,000 and relied on credit cards for a portion of this sum.
Credit cards are a good way to establish credit if you are new to the United States and want to start or grow a small business. To obtain a bank loan you will need to establish a good credit score, which you can do by selecting a business credit card and using it responsibly.
