The Journal Record features op-ed piece
October 22nd, 2010 Posted by adminNeese: Women business owners need certainty to operate
“I have 137 employees I’m trying to keep on the payroll. I can’t even think about hiring one more – I have no idea what my costs are going to be next year. With health care, taxes… they’re killing me.”
That’s how one New York-based woman business owner described the challenges she faces in this economy. But her statement could have come from almost any of the women business owners and entrepreneurs who participated in a recent listening tour.
The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, along with several other women’s organizations, held events throughout the country to gain insight on the key concerns women have in trying to run their businesses.
The women who participated were a microcosm of America: They spanned political, ethnic, and religious spectrums, and headed large established businesses to small startups. Yet their concerns were strikingly similar. By and large, they believed government was out of touch with the challenges they face, and they viewed Washington politicians as making their problems worse, rather than better.
No one policy accounted for their anxiety. Most cited the new health care law, which they fear will increase their employment costs, and the looming threat of tax increases. They lamented that planning has been impossible when they don’t know (and claim no one can tell them) how exactly the new health care laws will affect their businesses, or what their tax rates will be in just a few months.
While many also noted that loans are harder to come by than in years passed, a survey of conference participants found eight in 10 said they could get loans – but won’t take them as they don’t feel confident enough in the economy to try to expand anytime soon.
Again, the vast majority blamed uncertainty for their stagnation. They know uncertainty about regulations and taxes affects their own businesses, and fear it will drag down the economy generally.
These business owners also worried about the effects of government’s growing debt. As I would hope all Americans do, these women found it outrageous that this generation would leave our children and grandchildren with a level of debt that today exceeds $100,000 per family.
These savvy business leaders also know that the government’s trillions in borrowing already comes with considerable costs. It leaves less capital available for businesses, entrepreneurs and consumers. Credit-rating agencies warn they’ll have to downgrade the U.S. debt rating unless something is done to significantly improve the situation. A downgraded credit score will make borrowing more costly – not just for the government, but for everyone else too. Loans will become more costly not just for business owners, but also for their potential customers, making an already difficult sales environment worse.
No surprise, women business owners are increasingly concerned, and increasingly frustrated. Sandy Abalos, president of an accounting firm in Phoenix with 16 employees, summed up the situation: “I’ve been in business for thirty years. I’ve never seen an economic and policy environment that made it so difficult for small business to survive. It’s unreasonable and unnecessary. What’s going on in Washington is making a bad situation worse.”
President Obama recently referred to small businesses as the “bricks and blocks of our entire economy.” He’s right. So here’s what so many women business leaders suggest Washington must do so America can get back to business: Cut excessive and wasteful spending and reduce the burden they’re placing on us; provide us with certainty about the rules we’ll operate under next year, and for years after that, so we can plan to invest and expand – and actually get this economy moving again.
Terry Neese is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Terry Neese Personnel Services in Oklahoma City. She is also former national president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
