The Latino entrepreneurs in the United States are thriving - or at least, they should be. In recent years, there have been a lot of Latin Americans venturing into opening their own businesses.

In 500 Startups recent Batch 15, at least 10 percent were Latino. However, the demographic faces a number of challenges that are keeping Latinos from truly succeeding in conquering the market.

Numbers show the potential

A new survey by the Stanford Graduate School of Business looked at about 1,800 Latino businesses and discovered they currently have a potential of boosting the economy with $1.4 trillion in revenue. It's not that difficult to believe once one realizes that around 80 percent of the new businesses in the U.S. from 2007 to 2012 were Latino-owned.

However, the revenue did not quite live up to the potential as the Latino businesses raked in $155,806 compared to the $573,209 earned by their non-Latino counterparts. The disparity is stark and a problem when it comes to developing entrepreneurship in the Latin American community in the U.S.

"When you start looking at that difference, you realize how much money is being left on the table," Jerry Porras, professor of organizational behavior and change in Stanford's business school, explained.

Lack of funding

It's also not surprising that many of the respondents cited not having enough capital as the problem. One reason is they are not being given much-needed funding with less than one percent of the companies who are granted venture capital funding being Latino-owned. The Stanford researchers found that 43 percent of the respondents have been rejected for funding by banks or commercial lenders.

Another reason is some of the Latino entrepreneurs simply do not know the various funding options that they can seek. A lot of them are unsure of extending help for outside funding or sharing equity with more than half never attempting to get outside funding and around two-thirds are not comfortable with giving up a share of the business.

Cultural factor

Much of the reluctance to get help from outside sources make sense from a cultural standpoint.

"It's partly cultural," Porras explained. "Family is important, and many Latinos feel uncomfortable going beyond it."

Of the nearly 2,000 respondents in the survey, about 92 percent got their capital and funding from family and friends. Personal loans are also common, but business loans are not.

In an effort to help Latino entrepreneurs, Porras started the Latino Business Action Network, which is non-profit in collaboration with Stanford on the Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. The group identifies Latino-owned companies with substantial potential and enrolls them into an intensive six-week program.