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

Issue #6 SEPTEMBER 2008

The Top 9 from 411SmallBusinessFacts.com

The nation's financial system is the immediate center of attention and concern. The most recent data on developments as they impact smaller firms can be found in NFIB's Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) at www.nfib.com/research. These data will be updated in the next week and are scheduled for release October 14. Given the degree of concern however, the schedule is likely to be accelerated.

The National Small Business Poll devoted two issues to banking in the last few years – Evaluating Banks and Bank Competition. Both are available in full text or by question at www.411SmallBusinessFacts.com.

Regards,

The NFIB Research Foundation

The TOP 9 Questions for September 2008

1. ENERGY – What are the most frequent steps small business owners have taken in the last three years to reduce their energy consumption? (Vol. 6, Iss. 3, Q#6a).

2. INVESTMENT – How do small business owners assess the financial viability of a major investment in their business? (Vol. 3, Iss 3, Q#7).

3. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS – How many different financial institutions do small businesses use for loans and services? (Vol. 5, Iss. 8, Q#5b).

4. BUSINESS OWNERSHIP – How many owners does a small business have? (Vol. 4, Iss. 7, Q#5).

5. IRS – How satisfied are small business owners with their recent dealings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? – (Vol. 6, Iss. 6, Q#11).

6. ECONOMY – As the economy began to decline late last year and the Federal Reserve adopted the role as the principal decision-maker on economic policy, how much attention did small business owners and managers pay to activities of the Federal Reserve Board? (Vol. 8, Iss.1, Q#19)

7. MANAGEMENT – How many small businesses have at least one employee (not including the owner(s)) whose primary job is to manage or supervise other employees? (Vol. 4, Iss. 7, Q#9).

8. SUCCESS – What are the most important factors small business owners use to judge the success of their firms? (Vol. 1, Iss. 6, Q#3a).

9. IT – How much long-term benefit would small businesses realize by increasing the use of information technology? (Vol. 7, Iss. 5, Q#12).