The Venture Edge

About a month ago I received a nice letter from the Small Business Administration: 

Listening to the political pundits, you might think that big business is the instrument of evil, responsible for all society’s ills. If we could only regulate, tax, and generally punish big business for the harm it has inflicted on everyone, all would be well. Those same feelings aren’t transferred to small businesses. No, small businesses, bless their little hearts, are virtuous, positive reflections of American ingenuity and hard work, and they create all the jobs worth counting. If only it were that simple. 

Sometimes what appears to be good news isn't.  And we've been seeing a lot of that lately. The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently reported on its fiscal year 2010, which ended September 30.  Despite much press about how small business is unable to get credit, the SBA loan approvals rose by 30% over those in 2009.  The agency approved about 54,826 small business loans to the tune of $16.84 billion.  Of course, that's still below the pre-recessionary levels of about $20 billion; still, it's not chump change.  

There's been a lot of talk lately about how the government needs to do everything possible to support small businesses with special lending funds (like the $30-billion fund currently under consideration by Congress), tax breaks, and more. Why? Because, as many politicians tell us, small businesses are "the engine that creates two-thirds of all new jobs."

As I have already mentioned here more times than I can keep track of, we're still in the throes of nasty economic downturn -- certainly the worst we've seen in many, many years. And despite everyone's hope for a rosier future, the near-term picture is still pretty bleak. According to government statistics, private payrolls rose by only 33,000 in May and 83,000 in June – not enough to sustain a recovery, and average wages and hours worked have both declined slightly. On top of all that, credit is still tight -- especially for small businesses. 

Small business owners are some of the brightest and hardest working people on the planet.  They have to be because they now find themselves competing in a global environment for customers, employees, suppliers, and distributors.  And their competitors are coming from places they had never even heard of.  It's not your grandma's small business anymore.  So are SB owners going to rush out to grab up the announced government subsized loans through the SBA?  I'm not so sure

If you've got a small-ish business and you're looking for financing, you know that there are plenty of challenges. One of these challenges is the fact that many banks are still holding back on making loans at all. Another challenge is that companies are bumping up against the SBA (Small Business Administration) loan limits. Fortunately, progress is being made in Congress to help in both these areas.

As often happens when the economy goes sour and unemployment is on the rise, many people get serious about putting their back-burner dreams of starting a business into motion. It's no surprise, therefore, that the number of articles in the press about this latest wave of "accidental" entrepreneurs is on the rise.