All the other small business owners have gone out of business.....

Sorry - wasn't here to reply when you originally posted.

Been a SB owner since 2005, so I can certainly sympathize. It's been rougher than I ever imagined. I'm a planner by nature so we survived the roughest of years in 08 and have continued to grow as we weathered the storm but like the economy the pace is very slow, almost stand-still slow at times.

This administration claimed to be all about small business but I haven't seen any help at all, have you? In fact, it's been the opposite - the credit tightening that the government demanded almost put me out of business when they (as usual) over-did it, squeezing everyone, even th ehighest of credit scores. Thankfully I have stellar credit and was able to replace a line that was rescinded (AMEX blows) but I wonder about those sb owners who didn't have reserve assets and a very high credit rating.

This government gives a rats ass about small biz. They care about big corporate dollars ONLY. That's what gets them elected.

I actually operate my small business without any loans/lines of credit. It is service oriented, and my overhead is very, very controlled. Of course my partner and I invested most of our own savings into the start-up to accomplish this, but we decided early on that this was how we wanted to operate.

Jumping to the politics. I'm not convinced that anything the government does has a set-in-stone, definable result. The reason is because we simply cannot predict response by the private sector. The psychological factors just seem to contain too many variables. That's not to say there aren't people out there who get a lucky guess in here and there, but by and large the "experts" seem to be talking out their asses. The swings in the stock market, the non-existent economic growth, and the steadily high unemployment rate just at times has made little, to no sense, to me. It has in fact seemed to stymie the "experts" too. I opine that they talk "doom and gloom" because they don't actually have a clue, so they stick with what sells.

In my original post, I wrote it at the time this year where the economic news was especially forefront in every single news outlet and it was all "doom and gloom". I noted that my business was growing. In fact we are still on pace to exceed 2008 revenues and profits, after 2009 tanked. 2010 resumed roughly 2008 levels, but it was anemic all the same. I'm seeing a lot more local business growth and new business start-ups in my area. Some leasing spaces that have been empty for the past 2 years are now boasting businesses moving into the area.

For my business and the area I am in it seems like things are on the rise again. Slowly for sure, but still fairly steady.

These questions are directed to Agent Incorrigible, and any other small business owner who wishes to respond. If you want to, answer in a PM. Please feel free to answer as many of the questions as you wish. Anything you say in a PM I will keep confidential.

1. What line of business are you in?

2. How did you learn enough about that line of business to feel comfortable starting a business in it?

3. How much of an initial investment did you need to get started?

4. How many employees do you have?

5. What would induce you to hire more employees, or to cut your pay roll?

6. Do you consider your main problem to be taxes and regulations, or low consumer demand?

If you wish to say anything else about your business, please do so. I am not trying to start an argument; I am curious.

Service based. That's all I'm going to share for privacy reasons.My business is related to my college degree. I also had some previous experience with purchasing, A/R, and A/P.Initial investment was around 20-25K. We've taken a fair amount of our potential profit and reinvested it since beginning.Right now it is just my partner and I. We wear many hats.Once the business grows enough we will hire front office staff. We will at some point also employ an accounting firm to handle things other than end of year tax filings.Taxes and regulations do not hinder us. I think our two biggest limiters are market saturation and consumer ignorance as to what our service can provide. We spend a fair amount of time and money on educating opportunities.

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