Today the House passed a new $42 billion bill to help small business -- given its prior passage in the Senate, it is now ready to go to the president for signing. Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index polling supports the idea that help is needed, with small business owners now more pessimistic than at any time since inception of the Index in August 2003. Right now, more small business owners expect the number of jobs at their companies to decrease over the next 12 months than expect them to increase.
The question is whether this is the kind of encouragement small businesses need to hire more people. Wells Fargo/Gallup polling also finds that even when small business owners are hiring, 34% admit adding fewer employees than needed. Why? Most are worried about their future revenues and cash flows, but concerns about healthcare costs and finding qualified people are also significant.
As entrepreneurs, small business owners are optimists by nature -- otherwise they wouldn't undertake all the risks associated with starting and running a small business. All they need to return to their optimistic roots is the feeling that U.S. policymakers are pro-business and pro-entrepreneur. Hopefully, the post-midterm elections environment will reinvigorate this pro-business perception -- the feeling that the private sector, not government, is the answer to U.S. economic success -- no matter the election outcome.