In the midst of the economic recession and the failure of the super committee to begin fixing the federal budget, it is not surprising that households and businesses across the nation harbor doubt and perhaps a defeatist attitude about the future.

But HispanicLatino households of all sizes – and business owners in particular – might do well to consider a contrarian approach, a strategy that nets returns by going against the current grain.  Contrarian thinking requires perceiving the future differently.

Any graduate business student knows that economic growth requires population growth – a principle often assumed but not fully understood.  A nation whose population is not growing is a nation imperiled.  HispanicLatinos are guaranteeing the future growth of the national economy by growing their population now.  It stands to reason that the location of the growing HispanicLatino population offers possibilities for business ventures – now.

HispanicLatinos viewing the current economic situation as a crisis and unable to see around or beyond it might not survive a prolonged recession especially if Europe’s difficulties increase.  Yet, in the middle of bad times, HispanicLatinos have in their corner the very engine of economic growth.  Their challenge is to recognize and perceive the economic opportunities within their immediate world.

Oddly enough, new economic opportunities exist because of the emphasis and attention being given to HispanicLatinos.  They are becoming more cognizant of themselves as their population grows and as reaction to their growth intensifies at a time when the overall appetite for investment is at its lowest point in years.

Corporations and other investors who otherwise would invest are holding back – creating a void within the HispanicLatino population that HispanicLatinos can fill if they can come to see the value of their own market.  The success of Fred Loya Insurance, a multimillion-dollar company with 2,500 employees in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and California, might serve as an example.

In almost every conceivable line of business, opportunities exist to create parallel HispanicLatino companies.  Everything – ranging from local dry cleaners to architects to wedding planners to production companies – can become opportunities.  This is especially true for small and medium-size businesses that can recognize those being affected most adversely by current economic conditions.  They can expand intelligently and prudently.

Important to the success of smaller businesses making the move to grow is to understand the concept of local emotional marketing – a way to take advantage of changes in the local population – that will be developed in future writings in this space.  Finding financing to expand could be accomplished through foreign markets that still see the United States as the most solid place to invest.  To develop local markets, business owners must respect their customers by offering excellent products and services through flexible local credit arrangements that allow for lower household incomes but can circumvent the interest charges paid to banks and credit card companies and thus allow for margin.

Defeatism is an abundant commodity in today’s economy, except that HispanicLatino business owners have the richest resource available – their own communities.

(Foundational thinking for this line of thought can be found in the essay What Every HispanicLatino Needs to Know on this website.)

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