Five Things Small Businesses Want From Washington

Small business owners' wish list includes relaxed lending requirements and a repeal of 1099 reporting requirements.

August 26, 2010

WASHINGTON - A report earlier this week at BusinessNewsDaily.com revealed five key trends that small business owners would like to see emerge from Washington to help put their businesses back on track:

(1) Ease lending requirements: Despite the theoretical ease of obtaining a SBA loan, requirements are still too stringent, small business owners said.

"I had the opportunity to acquire inventory at pennies on the dollar," said Jeremy Shepherd, owner of Los Angeles-based jewelry retailer, Pearl Paradise. "The only type of loan or line of credit [the bank] would consider would be a cash-collateralized loan. The best we could do was [the equivalent of] a prepaid credit card."

Execs said banks must "lighten up," even if that means the government must back the loans 100 percent. Additionally, they argued for the SBA to raise the cap on 7(a) loans and American Capital Recovery (ARC) loans, which they said would allow for substantial gains.

"Without adequate financial assistance, the new generation of entrepreneurs will find it difficult to acquire existing business operations," said Grover Rutter, a CPA based in Findlay, Ohio. "This deficiency in adequate capital is a detriment to current and future employment."

(2) Repeal 1099 reporting requirements: "The government needs to repeal or amend the 1099 reporting requirement in the health care bill," said Mariette Knoblauch, an accountant at Blue Stone Accounting in Seattle.

Set to take effect next year, it would require businesses to file a 1099 for every company from which they purchase more than $600 in goods or services.

"It??s totally unworkable," said Rick Smith, owner of Chef??s Resource, an online cookware retailer based in Laguna Hills, Calif.

(3) Make it easier to get government contracts: "The federal government needs to simplify its bid process so small manufacturers can bid for government contracts without having to spend days and pay lawyers to fill out paper work to just place a bid," said Garvey Rich, vice president of product development at KD dance, based in the Bronx, N.Y.

(4) Communicate better: Small business owners are demanding straight talk from Washington.

"The ability to clarify the implications of past and future legislation would go a long way," said Mike Bucci, president of K&M of VA, a Richmond, Va.-based company that makes paint and craft products. "When legislators say that they don't understand the implications of what they have enacted, it makes them sound idiotic and scares us all."

(5) Get out of the way: Many owners reported feeling that the government is regulating them out of business.

"Let business do what it does best: Make stuff and provide services that meet the needs of the customers," said Paul Chase, a Pennsylvania-based real estate agent. "There is certainly a need for some regulation, but companies are being regulated to death."

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