Issue #8, November 2008

The Top 9 from 411SmallBusinessFacts.com

If you are interested in the financial problems and credit issues small business owners now face, you are probably going to have to familiarize yourself with the so-called "mark-to-market" issue and the financial implication of real estate ownership. Ninety-six (96) percent of small employers own real estate of one type or another. Nearly one in 10 now owns at least one property that is upside-down. Late next week the NFIB Research Foundation expects to release the most comprehensive set of data yet available on current credit conditions. December 8, it will release its monthly economic report, Small Business Economic Conditions. Both will be available at www.nfib.com/research.

The new Administration indicates it intends to address the nation's health care problems as an early item of business. Two issues of the National Small Business Poll focus on aspects of small business and health care, Health Insurance and Purchasing Health Insurance. In addition, the Foundation expects to release three studies on small business and health in the next month or two, a monograph on health care cost control being prepared by Lou Rossiter at William & Mary, a staff simulation modeling the economic impacts of an employer health care mandate on small firms and the larger economy, and results of an economic experiment on small business owner decisions under selected health benefit scenarios conducted by Vernon Smith's group (Smith is the 2002 Nobel prize winner in economics) at George Mason and now Chapman.

Regards,

The NFIB Research Foundation

The TOP 9 Questions for November 2008

1. 1
   CREDIT LINES – How many small business owners have one or more credit lines at a financial institution, NOT including credit cards? (Vol. 8, Iss. 3, Q#25.)
2. 2
   IMMIGRATION – Do more small business owners think they benefit from expanding the number of H1B visas (for highly skilled people) than think they would be damaged by it? (Vol. 8, Iss. 2, Q#12.)
3. 3
   BUSINESS FORMATION – If most current business owners got into business by starting their firms, what is the second most common form of entry? Purchase? Inheritance? Or, Employees brought into ownership? (Vol. 2, Iss. 6, Q#12.)
4. 4
   HEALTH INSURANCE – Who shops for employee health insurance on behalf of small firms? (Vol. 7, Iss. 3, Q#3.)
5. 5
   INVENTORY – How many days of inventory do small business owners try to maintain on their most important items (among those whose inventory is a major expense)? (Vol. 6, Iss. 4, Q#3a.)
6. 6
   HOME OFFICE – How many small employers have a home office? (Vol. 8, Iss. 4, Q#9.)
7. 7
   DISASTERS – What is the biggest problem typically caused when natural disasters strike small businesses? (Vol. 4, Iss. 5, Q#4.)
8. 8
   CREDIT CARDS – What portion of small business owners typically pay off credit balances at the end of every month? (Vol. 8, Iss. 3, Q#24.)
9. 9
   TECHNOLOGY – How well do small business owners think they embrace new technologies in their businesses? (Vol. 5, Iss. 5, Q#5.)