Top 10 Things That Keep Small Business Owners Up at Night
If you ask any small business owner “How’s business?” invariably they will respond: “Well, I can always use more customers.” So if someone asked you what’s the greatest concern of small businesses, you could be forgiven for being wrong if you said they need more sales, because that’s what most people think – especially politicians.
When it comes to buying and selling, small business owners are pretty good at that – every company is founded, and has been built to do those things. But operating a small business in the 21st century has become more complicated than ever before, which is why people who know small business know the best way to find out what’s really going on is to ask the owner what keeps them up at night.
One organization that knows how to ask small businesses the right questions is the National Federation of Independent Business. As you may know, the NFIB’s monthly Index of Small Business Optimism has been the gold standard for such research for 43 years. They also have a quadrennial report that speaks directly to the “what keeps you up at night” question. It’s the NFIB Small Business Problems and Priorities Survey, and in the 2016 report, you may be shocked to learn that “more sales” came in at #45 out of 75 options.
With an almost 15% response from 20,000 members they surveyed, 2,831 small business owners told the NFIB that their greatest challenges weren’t the competition (31), or social media (64), or online retailers (61). What about poor profits? Nope, that’s #16. Even the most initiated observers of small businesses would feel safe in presuming that cash flow would be #1, but this primordial Main Street challenge is actually #25.
If you listen to politicians, you’d think needing a loan is what wakes small business owners up at 2am. Surely you know better than to listen to politicians when it comes to small business or the marketplace, because needing a loan is almost last, at #70. That monthly NFIB Index I mentioned earlier has reported that since 2007, established small businesses have been adhering to what I call “The Great Deleveraging.” They don’t want no shtinkin’ loans.
So what is the numero uno greatest small business challenge? Drum roll, please: The cost of health care. Number 2 is oppressive government regulations. Number 3 is federal income tax on businesses. Number 4 is uncertain economic conditions. Number 5 is tax compliance complexity. And six through nine are also all government related. This next point is very instructive: The first operating challenge to break through the top ten is #10 – finding qualified employees. Let’s review: Nine of the top 10 greatest small business challenges are directly associated with government.
Some might say health care costs are not the government’s fault, but that would be Rip Van Duffus who just woke up from a seven-year nap and never heard of Obamacare. To be fair, let me hasten to add the cost of health care was a small business challenge prior to Obamacare. And this law did “bend the price curve,” as promised. Unfortunately, for the small business sector, Obamacare bent the cost curve up, not down.
Thanks to the NFIB Survey, President Trump and the 115th Congress can’t say they don’t know where to start helping small businesses. Indeed, they’re neck deep with the Obamacare “repeal and replace” debate right now. But here’s some “Breaking News”: We polled our online audience about that issue and 94% said “Yes” to repeal and replace, but half said, “Take the time to do it right this time.”
There’s no doubt that 26 million American small business owners – with health care costs on their minds – had a significant impact on the November election. So my advice to the political class of all three parties – Democrats, Republicans and Trumpicans– is to take the time to get healthcare right this time. And then quickly start reducing the other eight non-operating challenges government is imposing on the most important job creators in America: the heroes of the Main Street economy – small businesses.
Write this on a rock … What’s good for small business is good for the world.
Jim Blasingame is host of the nationally syndicated radio show The Small Business Advocate and author of the multi-award-winning book The Age of the Customer: Prepare for the Moment of Relevance.
