Franklin was right. Photo by Paul Hudson

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin said in a letter that there are only two things you can be certain of death and taxes.

He was certainly right about the taxes. Especially sales tax. We are hearing from clients and accountant colleagues about the increase in sales tax audits. These are turning out not to be friendly, let’s talk audits but somewhat nasty, prove you’re innocent audits where the assumption is that your business is not paying what it should.

The real issue is not whether you’re paying but whether you’re collecting, then paying. Since that’s what you are really doing. You’re the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John wants his due.

We are recommending to our clients that they actually pick up the phone and talk to someone at the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Their mission, should they accept it, is to validate what products and services they offer that are taxable. And, collect and pay the taxes of course.

This is not something you do once and forget. State legislatures in tough times move the goal posts to find “lost” revenue and a smart business owner is right there, ready to go. It’s very likely that what you thought was not taxable is now or at least part of it is. Their position, quoting the Texas Comptroller is “State Sales and Use Tax is imposed on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services”.

The second guilt for a business is payroll taxes. You are guilty of having employees and needing to pay taxes on them unless you can prove otherwise.

Even though people and bookkeeping software refer to “Contract Labor”, there’s no such thing. There are only employees and contractors.

As I heard every time attorney Tommy Simmons from Texas Workforce Commission spoke at my Street MBA and Owners MBA programs, no one can “sign away” their rights to be classified as an employee. So, don’t think you can ask someone to sign a paper that says they’re not an employee.

Everyone is an employee unless you can prove otherwise and that’s tough. There are 20+ ways to recognize you’ve got employees that are spelled out in a grey way by the IRS and Workforce. They look to see how many of those apply. If enough do, that person is an employee.  In general terms, the IRS says what matters is if the employer has the legal right to control the details of how the work/services are performed.

There is some information on employee vs contractor at the IRS site. We refer owners to Especially for Texas Employers that has a great section on the issue by Simmons who has been a business owner himself. Pay special attention to Appendix D & E which have a test that the IRS and Workforce apply.

So, be wary and prepared.

Have a happy Sales Tax Holiday, August 19-21 when you get a break as a consumer or business from state and local sales taxes on purchases of clothing, footwear, backpacks and school supplies priced at less than $100.

I saw Keith Olbermann’s Countdown program, “Small in Name Only” on MSNBC on September 22, 2010, about the “kooky” (their word not mine) definition of small business. It isn’t weird, it’s just flexible as the Small Business Act intended it to be. Maybe it needs work. I certainly think so.

This is what the SBA (Small Business Administration) says on the FAQs page of their website. You can check me out on this.

“Size standards define the maximum size that a firm, including all of its affiliates, may be to participate in federal government programs that are reserved for small businesses. The Small Business Act states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately.”

It then goes on to say to read the Small Business Size Act. If you follow the link, you get this:

“The SBA defines a business concern as one that is organized for profit; has a place of business in the U.S.; operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor; is independently owned and operated; and is not dominant in its field on a national basis. The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form.”

There’s part of my problem. The Countdown show maintains that when it comes to  taxes,  a small business designation is only for “pass through” entities (sole proprietorship, partnership, S corp) and then points out how ridiculous this is. But that statement about legal entity status does not pass the SBA test. Or, at least part of it.

The SBA goes on further to say:

“These size standards apply to SBA’s financial assistance and to its other programs, as well as to Federal government procurement programs when there is a benefit available to qualifying as a small business concern.  Also, the Small Business Act states that unless specifically authorized by statute, no Federal department or agency may prescribe a size standard for categorizing a business concern as a small business concern, unless such proposed size standard meets certain criteria and is approved by the Administrator of SBA.”

The expert that Olbermann brought in to comment really didn’t give a full picture of how federal agencies, including the IRS, are supposed to define “small business”. So why was there no slide of it to give viewers that definition?

Why was no one at the IRS not asked to comment? Better theatre I guess.

Why didn’t the IRS want to comment? Have they screwed up in their definition of “small”? Probably not. Smart tax attorneys found a way to take advantage of that definition.  Other small business owners and I used to joke that if you had a business that was the smallest in your NAICS code, the government defined you as a small business. That would make Chrysler a small business.

Not the only time either that “small” has big consequences. It’s been proposed that venture firms that own part of “small business” be eligible for the really one and only government grant, the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research Grant). Now, that is really weird and in my view and others it’s also totally unfair!

In other words, just because you say you are “small” does not by government standards say you are. Of course, these definitions refer to programs for small businesses including procurement and loan guarantee assistance. Shouldn’t a federal definition be the same across all areas of government including taxes? I always thought so or how can anyone keep up with being an on again off again small business.

Where is the IRS on all this? Nowhere to be seen. Odd. For years, the IRS director just around tax time would go on record saying that the regulators would be on the lookout for small businesses because we were all out to cheat the government. Maybe these men and women were thinking of the businesses like Bechtel and Price Waterhouse Coopers that were labeled by Olbermann as  “small businesses”. By whose definition? Be specific. Where are they getting their definition? Let’s see it!

I am not saying I am for reducing taxes for the wealthiest. I am saying check your facts before you get out the tar and feathers. I’ve been a moderator (for KUT radio’s nationally syndicated show “The Next 200 Years”)  and there are rules even for commentators.

If you would like to read more about the size standards and judge for yourself about who the heck people are talking about, here are some useful links.

• Size Standards Methodology
• Small Business Size Regulations
• Table of Size Standards
• Summary of Size Standards by Industry
• Guide to Size Standards
• Size Protests, Size Determinations, and Appeals
• Revision of Size Standards
• Use of Size Standards for Government Procurement
• Businesses Determined Other Than Small

And, if you don’t think that’s confusing enough, the states have their own definitions by statute. In Texas, a small business is defined in Vernon’s Civil Statutes as under 100 employees. That said, if you look just at the latest statistics on the number of firms in the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area, there are 35,129 firms under 500 employees. About 880 of them have from 100-499 employees. That’s 2.51 % of that total; pretty close to the 3% people are yelling about. And, this percentage holds true in most MSAs where I can find numbers. (These particular numbers are provided by the nonpartisan LMCI division at the Texas Workforce Commission.)

Some of those 880 are probably making a lot than $250,000 in order to support the overhead of that number of employees. And, unlike the commentator would lead one to believe, I’ll bet they are not all Republicans. I could be wrong on that and I can’t exactly check. But, it would seem reasonable given the bigger small business owners I have met are not from just one party. (Some of their spouses have even served as Democrats in the legislature and elsewhere.)

What good can come out this mess? Maybe, the powers that be will get real and come up with a definition that actually and accurately defines who we small businesses really are. How about media people being a help to solve the problem instead of exploiting it. Yes, there are some who don’t quality for the term. Then change the tax laws and stop stomping on small business as a whole.

Finally, you never even talked to one of us to see our take on this issue of definition and taxes. Call me, Mr. Olbermann. I’ll talk to you about what it’s like to be a very small business owner who pays taxes, meets payroll, and provides for health insurance for staff for over 20 years.

I have been asked to testify before the Texas Senate’s Economic Development Committee about our small business climate. I have my own observations from my clients but I would like input from other business owners and hope you will make sure I have the best information to give them about what we want and need.

I have put together a 10 question survey. Click here to take survey. This is your chance to be heard.

Thank you and please respond before Sept. 15. I will post what happens at the hearing so check back.

Special thanks to Jules Says and Julie Gomoll for helping me with the technology to do this. And I want to thank Will Newton, Executive Director of National Federation of Independent Business in Texas for asking me to do this and Senator Mike Jackson (District 11) for requesting this information for his committee.

Here’s to our success!

What is Austin City Manager Marc Ott doing about the Small Business Summit Resolution?

I have not seen City Manager Marc Ott’s proposed budget. I am curious to see if he followed Council’s directive and included anything about how the City will try to address the needs and wants expressed by the 40 business representatives that were part of the original Summit.

According to the resolution that passed in June, Ott has 120 days to come back to Council with a report and policy recommendations to enhance the City’s effort to facilitate growth of locally-owned businesses.

That means there may be nothing in the budget. If his budget passes, it looks like it will mean higher sales and property taxes (and they wonder why we aren’t  hiring or buying).

If you are a business owner  in Austin, you also should want to know if there is anything in it for you.

It is not only the City’s responsibility to take action of course. Those of us who are the visionaries behind those businesses have responsibilities, too.

As for this visionary, I would like to know what, if anything, the City can and wants to do along with a time frame so I can see how it will affect my plans.

Part of the reason, is that like many other businesses, I find that sometimes the City  becomes my competitor by offering goods and services that are already competitively available from me or other locally-owned for-profit businesses.

Where is the call to see if these goods and services for local businesses already exist?

I would like to see the City see what is out there and how it can engage in promoting those locally-owned businesses first before deciding it has to be our 800 pound competitor. I saw some requests on the list and heard some at the Summit that I know companies in the Austin area already provide and I would be happy to help identify them.

Let’s keep local money circulating locally. That’s just good business and appropriate economic development. If we do, that means that hard-working City staff can focus on what they do best. There will be no need for the City to hire because local businesses will do the hiring. That’s what they keep asking us to do. The City can help us do that.

Because we are local businesses we have had to make payroll, pay taxes, and fulfill our regulatory obligations. We really do know how to better serve other businesses than any well-meaning bureaucrat ever will. (Before I started my business 28 years ago, I was a bureaucrat so I know.)

What can the City do for your business to make it stronger?

I was invited by Bijoy Goswami of Bootstrap Austin to attend an event sponsored by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin that was billed as an “Intimate Conversation with Bill White”. Bill White, former mayor of Houston, is running against Rick Perry for Texas Governor this fall. It turns out that White is an honorary EO member.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is running for TX Governor

It was intimate as promised. I was about two feet away from the man who started by saying that he was pleased to be here for this “job interview” which brought some chuckles. In his prepared remarks, he said if he were “hired”, he would run the state like a customer-centered business. He would focus on what people want, not what the state wanted to “sell”. Sounds pretty good.

When Q&A time came, I asked Mayor White a question about how he viewed the state’s role in something that is near and dear to my heart: the role of government especially in hard economic times when there are tough decisions to be made.

I referred to what the state should do when you have warring factions and differing interests when it comes to economic development and property rights. I should know. I have spent three years of my life focusing with a great group of people, my neighbors and fellow business owners from Responsible Growth for Northcross, an organization that was formed to try to keep our neighborhoods livable and our independent businesses sustainable against WalMart, the biggest corporate giant since the Roman empire.

In addition, during that fight I found my own city government allied against us instead of being neutral or acting as a facilitator. I also saw them take a more appropriate role over a similar redevelopment issue with a neighborhood  in the university area that did not have Allandale Neighborhood Association’s reputation of fighting changes that it felt would destroy the quality of life and the safety and well being of those who live there. The outcome of this fight was viewed by all as a precedent for the future of other neighborhoods in other parts of Austin and in other cities that faced this dilemma of redevelopment vs. retention.

White’s response to my question about economic development controversies

Perhaps Mayor White misunderstood my question about the state’s role in this aspect of economic development. First he asked me if I wanted the truth. I said “yes”. Then, he said that he did not think that the state should take sides but should let this be decided locally. I appreciate his honesty because I do believe he really does feel that way.

I agree that the state should not take sides in this kind of issue although in Texas, Austinites frequently feel like the District of Columbia, that there is a lot of “Austin-bashing” when it comes to legislation that only applies to us.

But, I disagree on the “no role” to play. What I hoped he would say is that he thought, like a well managed business, that the state should take the higher road and seek ways for the parties to get to know each other and arrive at some mutually agreed upon points so they can reduce the mistrust and anger and get something done.

White says he is a doer. I thought he would want to do something. Guess I was wrong. Texas has an $18 million shortfall. To get through this, we all need to cooperate and find a way that neighbors and businesses large and small, local and recruited can be heard and have a mediator, even an ombudsman to discuss things safely.

For a few years, Texas did have a small business ombudsman under the Department of Economic Development. Not that this lone person got involved in these kinds of issues, but maybe they should have. Of course, with just one person to cover the whole state, that was probably not reasonable. But, maybe as White touted when talking about his accomplishments in Houston, one person could focus on finding others to help out and together they could get things done.

What I think the government’s role should be in economic development controversies

How do I view government’s role? What is my expectation? It is one based on my experiences. I worked for the state before starting a business. I have worked on political campaigns. I have helped with voter registration and for years kept these forms available and visible for anyone who came to our offices. I have walked door to door. I have been a delegate to local, state and national summits. I have been and am a small business activist.

I don’t believe in big government. I don’t believe in small government either. I do believe in adequate government, enough to do the job and that there are some issues that require a 40,000 foot view just as it takes a 40,000 foot view to run a successful business.

In regard to the issue of economic development, I believe we need to attract business. We also need to retain, sustain and grow our local businesses while protecting the integrity and safety of neighborhoods. We have limited resources and we will be borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Maybe though, Peter and Paul could agree to share and play nice if there were someone setting the rules and guiding the process. Someone who had that vision. I am not sure White is any different than any of the other politicians current and past.

I do have one hopeful memory to draw on. When the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law twenty years ago this week, there were a lot of mad and confused people. Some thought it was the end of  business as we knew it, businesses would go bankrupt trying to comply, and that the goals were unattainable and unreal. The Governor’s Office on People with Disabilities with support of  Governors Ann Richards (D) and later George W. Bush (R) and under Virginia Roberts, its wonderful executive director, brought together a charter group of businesses to create the Governor’s Business Leaders Network. My company was part of that charter group. We were all volunteers. Together, we came up with ideas that we could disseminate to our peers and make this transition easier and better for all. I am proud of what we did. I think this is a good pattern to follow.

Call me Goldilocks if you like but fairy tales have lessons to learn in them. And, if you remember, Goldilocks did find things that were just right because she kept looking. (Yes, there was some damage along the way.) Well, nothing is perfect.

What is your opinion?

How do you think we could build a better Texas for us all; something neighbors and businesses could live with and coexist? Maybe we can give whoever becomes governor some better ideas. I’m game are you? It might even help out other parts of the country or the world.

I want to thank Mr. Goswami for the invitation. I learned a lot and was inspired to raise some issues that I think need to be considered before we vote in November.

Caduceus image courtesy of Wikopedia Commons

If my cat is sick. I take her to  Dr. Roy Brenton Smith, at Central Texas Cat Hospital. He’s great and used to host weekly sessions where vets shared information on tough cases.

If he needs a specialist, he calls one or gets me into the wonderful folks at Texas A&M Veterinary Hospital. They have served more than 2500 vet referrals from 164 of Texas’s 254 counties and 31 of the 50 United States .

When it comes to cat care, I know that everyone is in touch with each other. I don’t have pet insurance but I know that they will care for her. They won’t “pass the buck”.

I have people insurance. I provide it to my employees. I thought I knew how things worked. After all, I am a doctor’s daughter. I worked in a hospital as a Nurse Aide my very first job in high school. My dearest friend is a cardiac nurse. My sister-in-law is a retired pediatrician.

Last Friday night I found I knew nothing.

WARNING: Doctor’s children and family members make terrible paitents and cause trouble. So here am I causing trouble for people I have a high respect for in terms of their skills and abilities. I have left out the names and places on purpose. This is unfortunately not unique to these medical professionals  or facilities but seems to be SOP — standard operating procedures — now.

My dear friend in Austin emailed me that she was at a hospital with her 87 year old mother and no one was talking to her or doing anything. It was late Friday afternoon and she was worried that no one would do anything since we were going into a weekend.

She related how she had taken her mother there the night before because she thought she was having a stroke or heart attack. The doctor in ER had been great, she said. That was in the early evening.. That’s good; they should. There’s a sign in the lobby of this hospital — not sure if there’s one in ER — that says anyone can get treatment here, insurance or not, and will be stabilized to move to another hospital if necessary.

She only took her mother there after she tried to get help from a very large, 19-office medical care facility Thursday afternoon. It  had taken care of her dad when he was alive. Her mother had not been sick and so had had little need of doctors up to this point. Her mother had insurance – two kinds, Medicare and another. But, they did not take either kind of insurance and would not take her. Nothing more. No one bothered to extend any effort to give her an alternative suggestion or pick up the phone.

REMINDER TO SELF: See if the hospital and doctors’ offices list the insurance they take so I don’t have to bother them with my illness or injury. Maybe they could put it on their front door as retailers do with credit cards. Then I would not even have to go inside.

My friend then took her mother to her internal medicine doctor who had seen her mother on several occasions. ) He would know what to do and do it she was sure. (That’s what we used to do in the good old days.)

They left her sitting alone with her mother in a room, no help. Finally after some period of time when no one came, she grabbed a nurse to get a wheelchair because her mother was in acute pain and passing out. It turned out this doctor had no admitting privileges. That meant, even if he had seen her, he could not get her into a hospital. But, he never saw her and no one ever bothered to tell my friend that he could not help.

REMINDER TO SELF: Be sick and start a file with a doctor who admits and has hospital privileges. Be sure to check which one and that you are current.

By the time I arrived at 4pm Friday, my friend was beside herself. She was trying to decide whether this was the right place or if she should move her to another hospital. Again, no help from anyone. And, worse no info. My friend camped out  all night and had to tell the tech 4 times that the alarm was going off. Finally, the tech agreed to look. Lo and behold, it was off. I used to work night shift for awhile and sometimes the family has to do things. But, she is not a doctor. This was not necessary. The hospital staff was just sitting around.

The hospital took her mother’s insurance. She was admitted and was in a room. They had run some tests the night before but it was 3pm  Friday before they saw a doctor. And, that seemed only to happen because my friend kept asking the nurse when the doctor was coming. The wonderful woman did call and 10 minutes later, a doctor appeared like magic.All she knew was that they had not seen signs of a heart attack or stroke.

REMINDER TO SELF: Bring your own nag or advocate.

The doctor came late that afternoon. He examined her but had given no indication who he was other than his name. Immediate surgery was his recommendation. But, what kind of doc was he? My friend thought he might be a heart surgeon. Was this surgery which would be life changing really necessary? All these questions ran through her head.

I thought I could help. I started to see what we could find out about the doctor. He’s great, by the way, but a typical surgeon. Enough said. But at the time, an unknown entity. Nurses know a lot so I talked to them. (When you wanted the real scoop, that’s what we used to do.) I talked to his office to get some background on him. They said I could get information on him on line. I told her I was calling from the hospital and did not have a computer available.

REMINDER TO SELF – Always take your computer with you when you go to the doctor’s office or the hospital. It seems to be expected.

I thought I could find an advocate for my friend’s mother. Someone who could help coordinate her care and answer questions, like the vet does for my cat, like my father did for his patients. So I started down my network of contacts. My friends helped. Even their clients who were with them tried to help.  One even gave me his niece, Elizabeth, who works with indigent patients. She was a godsend and dropped everything. She called the doctors she knew and gave me the names of others to try. But, even she could not help. Her referrals did not take medicare patients or did not admit or did not do something. I have never felt so helpless in all my life.

I heard on NPR later that weekend that Congress is going to pass something in healthcare once they dig out of the snow. Good for them.

But, bad for them because they are missing something critical.  We cannot  accept poor health “care” that no one is dealing with while we worry about healthcare insurance.

For those of you who look to Canada and other countries, my European ex-pat friends have a lot to say and there are  major lawsuits in England right now about quality of care. That may seem one-sided. I believe in access to healthcare for everyone. I think that the previous condition exclusion is bad medicine. And, access to insurance does not mean that you can get care – especially if it is Medicare.

But my friend and her mother did not get care. They did not get doctors and their staff who made sure something was done for this woman and her family. Most just said, not us. Go somewhere else.

My father used to tell stories of patients who came in, no money, and if he could not help them directly, he took the initiative to see they got care somewhere. Is that too much to ask?

Are our health care people so afraid that they won’t even spend a little time to help? Too busy to pick up the phone and at least refer or comfort or inform?

Checklist Manifesto, a new book by Dr. Atul Gawande, M.D.

Now, there is a good old-fashioned checklist in use in too few hospitals that was developed by Dr. Atul Gawande, M.D.  for the World Health Organization. It has cut down after surgery complications and reduced deaths in poor and rich hospitals where it is in use. He also has a book out, The Checklist Manifesto. One of the checklist items: introduce yourself. Some hospitals or doctors are reluctant to use a checklist. How weird is that? They are very smart, no one doubts that, but they have too much to remember. A checklist is an innocuous, relatively painless item.

Do we need ta  enact a Health CARE law? To remind doctors and staff what their responsibilities are – total patient care not just come in and take over. A checklist and some old fashioned courtesy seem a good low cost way to start asap.

We should address the “care” in health care or see if we can find a nice vet willing to take on another species, human beings. I think I will start offering pet insurance to my employees. I think it might improve their health.

Contact your Senator and Congresspeople. Tell them you want care back in healthcare. To find contact information for your representatives go to House or Senate.

Postcript. The surgery seems to have gone well. My friend and her mother now have a great advocate and the day staff on Friday and over the weekend were terrific. They now feel that people care. And, as I said the surgeon turned out to be terrific. But, very surgeon-like. All you doctor’s and doctors’ family members can relate.

Special thanks to Jon Lebkowsky for referencing these links e-patients.net and jopm.org that focus on participatory medicine.

A small business owner's response to the President's State of the Union Address 2010.

Mr. President, as a small business owner for over 25 years it was very encouraging to hear you acknowledge some of our contributions to the economy.

According to the Small Business Administration  (SBA) Office of Advocacy, small businesses have been responsible for all the net new jobs since the 1970’s. We are the ones that hire and train most first time job seekers or retrain returning workers.

We are also credited with inventing: the airplane, audio tape recorder, fiber optic examining equipment, heart valve, optical scanner, Pacemaker®, personal computer, soft contact lenses and the one thing none of us can live without, the lowly zipper. SBA research indicates that small businesses produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large firms. My own father was one of those inventors.

We bring diversity, artistry, strong value systems and uniqueness to our communities. We provide an opportunity for anyone who wants it to participate in the American dream of independence. The SBA estimates that three quarters of all businesses are non-employer business, those with no paid employees. Most are what we call “part-time entrepreneurs” who supplement their income with a business on the side. In addition, we see more workers with a disability starting a business when a job is not available or will not work given the kind or severity of the disability.

We also pay more than our fair share to support our neighbors and to protect the planet. The IRS says that we pay 60% of the taxes while big businesses only pay 10% and individuals pay the rest.  We also pay significantly more for regulatory compliance than businesses with 500+ employees.

Thank you for the offer of access to capital. You’re right that is critical. But, no offense to banks and credit unions, they really are not good at getting money out to us. Even with a 90% loan guarantee from the federal government’s SBA programs, they are reluctant to let go of the cash you give them.  My banker friends tell me they cannot understand why perfectly good loans were turned down. I can’t either.

But now there are other problems. Many have laid off most, if not all, of their loan officers so they have to rehire and retrain people which takes time. Even when there were more loan officers and staff, most did not have direct experience working for a small firm. The corporate attitude has been that a  small business is just a big business that has not grown yet and should behave that way. They forget that every big business was a small business first and had to be more creative and buck the trend to make their dream a reality. They get upset when we don’t play like “the big guys”. They don’t realize that we don’t have full-time lawyers and accountants on staff or the time to keep filling out the same paperwork over and over as we go from one financial institution to another hoping they will graciously consider lending us our money that we gave to bail them out.

Actually though, most of us like staying small. We are “roll up your sleeves” owner-operators who like finding the work, doing the work, and administering the work. We may complain about the hours, the money etc. but there is nothing so freeing as being your own boss and doing things the way you consider the best way for all concerned.

You asked for ideas in your State of the Union address. Here are my top seven.

1.  Give us the money directly. Cut a check  for every small business under 100 employees and less than $5 million in revenue that has an active federal tax ID number. No tax credit please because you have to have income to need a tax credit and we don’t have the jobs to need the credit — yet.

Then we can decide to buy equipment, upgrade, move to a new location, or add staff. If we are smart enough to invent the heart valve, we are smart enough to know what our businesses need instead of being told what we can use the money for. Yes, you have most of the gold and can make the rules. But for years, we have been making bricks and mortar out of straw we create ourselves and spinning that straw into new gold.

2.  Subsidize our new hires and retraining as you suggested. We used to have a state program, the Joint Training Partnership Act, which got federal funds. It had some fiscal and accessibility problems. It was really not set up for micro businesses (those under 20 employees and who create the bulk of the new jobs). Regulations favored larger businesses but it could have worked. Maybe it can be revived, revised, and tried again.

3. Access to affordable healthcare is vital. We are fortunate to have fought the battle for small business coalitions in Texas but we have not won the war. The reason: insurance companies are reluctant to underwrite even when they only have one administrator to deal with. Can you make them play? Maybe you can.

4. We need help getting our employees get through the torturous path of care and reimbursement, It  is a huge time waster and added expense. Big businesses have benefits people that do nothing but that all day. We don’t have that luxury.

Require providers and insurance companies to use uniformity in forms and share information electronically. These two things would save a lot of time and effort and result in more thorough care. It might even get everybody paid faster and would definitely save owners money.

5. We  need jobs for our workers or for any workers we would hire. Require every federal contract or any entity, organization or business that gets federal money to unbundle their contract requests. These groups may have great small business participation goals. But because they put out one contract and want everything from soup to nuts only extremely large corporations who have a “department store” of offerings can win the bid. This may save the entity paperwork and some time since they only deal with one vendor but it is short-sighted. It costs the nation and their community tax revenue, jobs, and the retention and growth of its local businesses.

6. Texas law (Vernon’s Civil Statutes: Chapter 2006) requires an impact statement on every piece of legislation proposed. This is supposed to provide lawmakers with how it might affect micro and small businesses. The federal government needs such a law. I realize the President does not make the laws, but the President can work to suggest that lawmakers do make laws happen.

7. Finally, here’s a thought. Ask us what we need and want and not a government bureaucrat who probably has an MBA but who has never worked for a small business or never had to make payroll and pay taxes when they hadn’t collected the money owed to them yet.

Why don’t you convene a new White House Conference on Small Business? The last one was in 1995. We came out with 60 top recommendations which we presented to President Clinton and the Congress. Some have been adopted. There are still some good ideas there that are worth looking at again.

I recognize you have a lot on your plate. Another option is to subsidize each state to hold a State Conference and then use a web-based national town meeting with you and the Congress. Small business owners representing each state could share their top recommendations.

Here’s to our success! I do wish you and our country the best of luck. Together, we can move mountains — or at least go around them. Speaking for other small business owners, we are ready to help. Just ask us.

Respectfully,
Jan Triplett, COO Business Success Center
1991 Small Business Advocate of Texas
1995 Governor’s Delegate, White House Conference on Small Business
2000, 2001 NFIB Delegate,  Congressional Summit on Small Business
Co-author Thinking Big, Staying Small & author Networker’s Guide to Success