On Tuesday, Nation's Restaurant News asked its readers to let them know how their restaurants would fare under the new health care reform bill (which is still under revision). It appears that restaurant owners, among other types of small businesses, are feeling a great deal of concern.  "This will close our business.  The downturn in the economy and the escalating cost of labor, food, and fuel has us using our own savings to meet restaurant expenses," claimed one Savannah, GA business owner.  A Greenville, TX restaurateur worries that the new costs associated with the bill come at a time when the industry is already suffering from less consumer spending. Probably the biggest fear is fear of the unknown because, frankly, at 2,400+ pages, a lot of nasty things could have easily gotten through.  If you've ever looked at the bill, you'd know why - it was not written so anyone could understand it.  And there are surprises popping up every day.  For instance, it's being reported that the Congressional leadership and their staffers exempted themselves from the new law - Oops!  But I digress.

There are about 30 million small businesses in the U.S. employing about 58 million people.  Whatever the ultimate impact of health care reform, we know it will be huge because the bill will fundamentally change the way small-business owners purchase and provide health insurance.  Most of the "benefits," and their associated penalties to those who don't comply, don't kick in until 2014, but it appears that the taxes go into effect this year.  For Pedro Alfonso, who co-founded Dynamic Concepts, a Washington-based technology firm, it's time to do some number crunching to figure out how his business, which employs 60 people, will be affected.  USA Today reporters Bruce Horovitz and Laura Petrecca report that right now his company covers 60% of his employees' insurance costs and about two-thirds of the employees have signed up for the program, which means that about 20 people will have to be added to his budget.  That's a big expense!

So what is a small-business owner to do?  Things will be shaking out for a long time to come as amendments to the bill are offered, challenges make their way through the courts,  and mistakes are corrected.  The best thing you can do immediately is to conduct an assessment of your business.  Are there ways you can cut costs and operate more efficiently without hurting the business?  Cash flow is critical. Hold off on big capital expenditures and adding a lot of personnel unless you can point to sufficient cash inflows that are stable and continuing--preferably growing!  We'll all know a lot more in the next six months, so hang on--it's going to be a bumpy ride!