The challenge for most African-American women isn't the entrepreneurial spirit, it's having sufficient access to funding and venture capital, according to CAP, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.
"It's been very difficult because I have no cash," DaCosta said. The Jamaican-born Harlem resident created a business plan for her beverage line two years ago, but it wasn't until she won $5,000 from a business competition last year that she began to forge ahead.