Another survey, no surprise: Small business owners do not consider regulations to be a major concern
We’ve seen several surveys on the subject, and today’s findings are not a surprise. In a report released by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and the Small Business Majority, a vast majority of small business owners do not see regulations as a major concern. In fact by a wide margin, “weak customer demand” is most troubling to small businessmen.
This goes against all the rhetoric spewed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Big Business advocates and their supporters in Congress, all of whom have never allowed facts to get in the way of a convenient talking point. The truth is, the great zeal to roll back the standards and safeguards that protect us from health, safety, environmental and financial disaster is not to help small businesses to create jobs, but to give wealthy corporate interests a free hand to skirt rules in pursuit of larger profits. Jobs for us regular folks, much less our health and well being, is really not part of their equation.
Here’s a look into the numbers from the Small Business Majority:
- Weak demand is small business owners’ biggest problem: 34% of respondents said weak demand is their biggest problem, while 15% cited the cost of health coverage and other benefits. Only 14% said it is the level of government regulation. The level of taxes came in fourth place with 12% and competition with larger companies garnered 10%.
- Small business owners see regulations as a necessary part of a modern economy and believe they can live with them if they’re fair and reasonable: 86% of small business owners agree some regulation of business is necessary for a modern economy, and 93% of them agree their business can live with some regulation if it is fair, manageable and reasonable.