New data from the Intuit QuickBooks 2026 Business Owner Report shows Black entrepreneurs defining success in a way that reaches beyond their own bottom line, even as bias in access to capital and pressure to prove themselves persist.
The traditional business narrative often centers on the "exit"—scaling rapidly to sell for a life-changing sum. For other business owners, success is personal, rooted in passion and the daily joy of serving their craft.
Many Black entrepreneurs have an additional goal: creating a legacy of opportunity. According to Intuit QuickBooks' 2026 Business Owner Report, a survey of 1,305 U.S. small business owners conducted in December 2025, 74% of Black owners say it's very important that their business creates career paths for people from backgrounds similar to their own. That's the highest share of any racial or ethnic group surveyed, and nearly double the 42% of white business owners who say the same.
How Black business owners redefine success through career paths
Many Black entrepreneurs see their businesses as a path to career growth for themselves and others. For 69% of Black owners, that comes with a heavy personal responsibility to prove that people from their background can be successful entrepreneurs. While this sentiment is shared at similar rates by Hispanic and Asian business owners (66% each), it is significantly higher than the rate for White business owners (49%).
That sense of responsibility shows up in concrete plans, not just sentiment. Asked how they intend to use their business to impact their local community over the next five years, 54% of Black owners point to creating jobs for local residents—the highest of any group, and a clear lead over the 38% of white owners who say the same. For a meaningful share of Black entrepreneurs, building a business and building up a community aren't separate goals.
Addressing funding gaps for Black entrepreneurs
That drive to open doors runs up against a funding system that many Black business owners don't trust to be fair. Among those who avoided applying for a loan due to expected denial, 40% cited concern over their race, gender, or age as a primary reason—more than double the rate of every other group in the survey (12% to 18%). It's the single largest gap by race in the report's data on funding.
Jilea and Jamie Hemmings founded Nourish+Bloom Market, the first Black-owned autonomous grocery store, based in Atlanta. According to Jilea Hemmings, "It's been really hard to raise capital, even with all of the proof that we've been able to show. And I definitely feel like if we were not Jamie and myself, and maybe somebody else, we'd've gotten more than what we needed a long time ago."
Black entrepreneurs and AI: A pragmatic approach to technology
The Hemmings founded Nourish + Bloom to create a comprehensive shopping solution that uses AI to make healthy food more accessible while addressing the larger issue of food deserts.
Jamie Hemmings says, “Technology is the foundation of what drives our business...Using AI-powered tools, we can streamline tasks like forecasting so we can stay on top of our cash.” Nourish + Bloom is using technology to advance their business goals, but other Black business owners are taking a more measured approach to AI.
Just 35% say AI is a tool that helps level the playing field against larger competitors. When it comes to trusting advice on cost-cutting or revenue growth, 41% say they'd rely on a human financial expert over an algorithm. This aligns closely with white business owners (40%), but represents a statistically significant shift compared to Asian business owners (24%), who are the most likely to trust AI and a human advisor equally.
The impact of entrepreneurial legacies on Black business owners
A majority of business owners surveyed (61%) didn’t grow up with a parent who ran a business. But for the 39% who did, it gave them confidence—especially for Black and Asian business owners. For Black business owners who grew up with a business-owning parent, 78% say that exposure gave them the confidence and knowledge to start their own — the highest of any group, and well ahead of the 65% of white business owners who say the same.
The future of Black entrepreneurship: Building for the next generation
By prioritizing community impact and the creation of intentional career paths, Black business owners are growing their own enterprises while actively dismantling long-standing barriers to capital and mentorship, ensuring that the next generation of entrepreneurs enters a more equitable landscape built on the foundation of collective success and resilience.
As Jilea Hemmings says, “What truly sets Nourish + Bloom Market apart from other AI grocery stores is our mission to increase access to better foods. This goal isn’t just about providing convenience through technology, but also ensuring that the community has access to nutritious and healthy food options.”
Methodology
In December 2025, Intuit QuickBooks commissioned an online survey of 1,305 US business owners. Respondents were adults aged 18+ who identified as a sole owner, co-owner, or co-founder of a business with 0–250 employees. To support reliable comparisons across groups, the survey oversampled Black, Hispanic, and Asian owners, with final overall results weighted to reflect the national demographic makeup of US business owners based on the US Census Bureau's 2025 owner characteristics (derived from the 2024 Annual Business Survey and 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics).
The weighted racial and ethnic breakdown of the sample includes White business owners (N=301; 23% raw, 65% weighted), Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (N=304; 23% raw, 12% weighted), Asian or Asian American (N=300; 23% raw, 14% weighted), Black or African American (N=300; 23% raw, 7% weighted), and Other (N=100; 8% raw, 2% weighted), with a gender distribution of 62% male and 38% female. Responses were collected via Prodege audience pools and partner networks with double opt-in validation and random device engagement checks to ensure data quality. Respondents received compensation for their participation. Statistical significance is noted in data visualizations where applicable, with asterisks (*) or footnotes denoting differences between specific racial groups that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (p<0.05).
For the total sample (N=1,305), the estimated credibility interval (a measure of precision for online non-probability samples) is 2.7 percentage points at the 95% level. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number, so values shown in charts and graphics may not add up to 100%, and responses to multiple-choice survey questions are shown as a percentage of the number of respondents, not the total number of responses, which may sum to more than 100%.
This story was produced by Intuit QuickBooks and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
