Innovations in Microenterprise Development in the United States
By William Burrus - Published: 2006
This paper outlines the history of the microenterprise field in the United States, the characteristics of the current microenterprise market, and the challenges presently facing the field. It describes the creation in the late 1980s and early 1990s of organizations providing credit and business training to self-employed Americans lacking access to traditional bank loans. Two decades later, despite rapid growth in the number of microenterprise institutions, the field has still reached only a tiny percentage of the estimated number of small business owners who have never had a bank loan. It faces increased competition from banks and financial institutions, as well as uncertain sources of future funding. The author concludes that achieving scale and financial self-sufficiency should the primary goal for the field of microenterprise. He proposes increased specialization and consolidation of existing groups as important steps for the microenterprise field to take to develop into a microenterprise industry.
