NFIB: The Voice of Small Business - National Small Business Poll

Issue #12 March 2009

The Top 9 from 411SmallBusinessFacts.com

The most recent published issue of the National Small Business Poll, Owners and Managers, examines small business management from a slightly different perspective. Professional, i.e., full-time and paid, managers are typically considered a relevant topic only for larger firms. But the employment of managers by small business owners has several novel twists which make the phenomenon more than of passing interest. Check it out!

More NFIB Research Foundation-sponsored health care research can be found on the NFIB site (www:nfib.com/research):

*"Health Insurance Reform in an Experimental Market," by Stephen Rassenti (Chapman University) and Carl Johnston (George Mason University). Those interested in applying experimental techniques to business decisions in contexts other than health care will also find this study worth reviewing.

*"Rising Costs for Healthcare: Implications for Public Policy," by Louis F. Rossiter (College of William and Mary).

"Small Business Effects of a National Employer Healthcare Mandate," by Michael Chow and Bruce Phillips, both of NFIB Research Foundation staff. The paper models the small business-specific economic impacts of a national employer health mandate using the BSIM module of the REMI macro-economic model.

"The Case Against Mandated Employer-Provided Employee Health Insurance," by William J. Dennis, Jr., also of NFIB Research Foundation staff.

Regards,

The NFIB Research Foundation

The TOP 9 Questions forMarch 2009

1. OWNERS and MANAGERS – What proportion of employing small businesses are owner-managed? (Vol. 8, Iss. 8, Q#1).

2. BUSINESS EQUIPMENT – How often do small business owners and managers replace their business equipment, on a schedule or as needed? (Vol. 3, Iss. 3, Q#1).

3. SATURDAY MAIL DELIVERY – How would small business owners be affected by the elimination of Saturday mail delivery? (Vol. 2, Iss. 3, Q#1.)

4. CASH FLOW – What are the most frequent actions small business owners take to resolve cash flow problems? (Vol. 1, Iss. 3, Q#4.)

5. TAXES (AMT) – For tax year 2007, how many small business owners were forced to calculate the Alternative Minimum Tax on their personal income? (Vol. 7, Iss. 7, Q#6).

6. CREDIT RECORDS – What proportion of small business owners have checked their firm’s credit records in the last three years to determine if they are correct/accurate? (Vol. 7, Iss. 7, Q#2.)

7. FULL-TIME/PART-TIME EMPLOYEES - What is the distribution of full-time and part-time employees among small, employing businesses? (Vol. 6, Iss. 1, Q#1.)

8. WOMEN IN BUSINESS – Are women more likely to be the owner/manager of a small, employing business or the manager of a small, employing business employed by someone else as its manager? Hint: there are actually two correct answers. (Vol. 8, Iss. 8, Q#12.)

9. SALES – How important are repeat customers to small businesses? (Vol. 6, Iss. 8, Q#2).