This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
The Looming Death Of Small Business In America (In 1 Simple Chart)
The latest small business survey from NFIB shows mounting pressures for small business resulting from limited pricing power and modestly rising wages (in fact the worst pressure since 2008's crash and 1999/2000's plunge).
Chart: JPMorgan
Absent a substantial growth pick-up that helps top-line sales (extremely unlikely in a surging USDollar, slumping global economy), the hopes and dreams of continued wage growth in 2016 will be dashed on the minimum-wage-driven, Obamacare-slayed bankruptcy shores of middle America.
Is it any wonder that small business optimism is crashing?
- 249 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -




It's time for sensible Americans to take lessons from the black market. Take your business underground and under the table. Stop paying taxes, fools. Stop paying the assholes who have made your life miserable and unlivable. Unplug yourself from the system. Stockpile hard assets. Prepare for the worst, because the worst is coming.
Only the beginning: http://www.wired.com/2015/11/zerocoin-startup-revives-the-dream-of-truly...
The NFIB is part of the crony-capitalism problem. They have endorsed Lindsey Graham in past elections, as one example of this. I believe thy endorsed the TPP too. But please correct me if I'm wrong.
+100 for Gladius
WITHDRAW YOUR CONSENT
We can not prevent these baby eating pig fuckers from screwing us and the rest of the world into the ground but we
DO NOT need to feel obligated to help them do so.
DO NOT give up 1 penny that you can avoid giving up.
DO EVERYTHING in your power to starve the beast.
DO NOT SUBMIT to fear of the system for the system is afraid of us !
Savor that
The NFIB’s political and legislative agendas at both the national and state levels align mostly with big — not small — corporate interests.
http://www.nfib.com/assets/tpp-facts-nfib.pdf
There will be no place to hide very soon.
What about the FSA people?
Small biz used to be the driver of most employed.
We have have seen NO RECOVERY AT ALL with our small Resturant.. 2010 was a MUCH BETTER Year than 2014 or this year.
Thank you president Obama..
I'm in tech, and my small biz is down 14% v. 2010, and down 26% from 2012.
I've already talked about how much my healthcare is up. Most other expenses are roughly flat.
My brother's auto recycling business is down about 95% from 2010, he's all but done and I've been pushing him to max out on as many federal benefits as he can, since I'm getting raped in taxes it only makes sense for him to help recover some of them.
This entire economy is fucked until the revolution/reformation happens.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-20/charting-slow-30-year-death-us-...
Oh, you would be so much better off though if you doubled your workers wages, gave them two weeks paid sick leave per year, another couple weeks paid for caring for offspring, and throw in a couple years of free community college . . . on the house!
I let my small business go in 2007. Now I work for a small corporation that is about to be swallowed up (I fear) by a large corporation. I don't know how people do it anymore. The only restaurants I see that can make it are the foreigners that "employ" their whole family and therefore do not pay taxes on those people since they are not employees. Those small restaurants have small margins but manage to make it on tips and by under the table accounting. Otherwise, I weep for the small businesses and restaurants that can no longer pay OBAMACARE and still keep their doors open.
I think this is all intentional. The big corporations run the gov't and they want to destroy small businesses. They use programs like Obamacare, all the various taxes, social security, medicare, red tape and regulations to force us small business owners out of business. They don't want you to be independent. They want to to be a slave to the system.
Yes. Obama Care costs have caused business owners and those who work for themselves a large loss of disposable income. Many have or are going out of business simply because this is the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak. Not to mention with less disposable income - ie more going into health care insurance costs - you simply don't buy as much stuff or expand your business (which usually takes money to do).
Bottom line: more difficult to compete with big business even as your assets are forwarded to big business. It is brilliant strategy, thank you Obama.
Stop blaming government, our economy is like this because the big corporations control the politicians, and the big corproations LOVE this economy! Why hire when they can borrow cheap money and buy back their own stock? Why hire American when they can outsource to India or hire illegals for a fraction of the cost? They are raking it in right now thanks to all that free shit from the Fed! So what if it is deflationary, that's what MOAR DEBT is for!
Big corporations and big government are two sides of the same coin. We do not live in a democracy, nor a republic, and we are definitely not represented by anyone in power. We live in a corporatist oligarchic kleptocracy. In other words, an empire.
Cool idea. You don't have to get paid for the work you do in dollars. You can be paid in gold, silver, food, gas, WEED, BEER, JD, chicks can pay you with blow jobs, negotiate trade service e.g. motor mechanic fixes a car and gets paid by the baker in bread. Go hunting, fishing, grow your vegetables, get solar panels, make your own gas using stills + you've also got white lightening! Fuck the GOVERNMENT!
Or you could transact using BitCoin
Yes. The barter economy needs talents. Small biz are aberrations in an Oligarchy. Tolerated insofar as they can be extracted. Promoted as cheaper outsourced R&D where their successes will be absorbed. This is global not just in US except for places that have gone "barter".
don't be sad, bcoz the fed is our lord and savior, you must put your faith in the lord.
America had a better and more stable economy in the 1960's and 70's. Hoards of mom and pop shops everywhere. There really was choice and competition in the economy then.
Then came the 80's when the defined benefit plans were replaced with defined contribution and the rest is history.
I know 'cause I lived it. I entered the full-time workforce in 1980. I knew something was wrong shortly thereafter but couldn't put my finger on it until the mid-1990's. It was the internet that opened the door to the propaganda that TPTB had been able to mask through the MSM up until that point.
Do note that this was a planned demolition (not unlike 911). When people finally 'get it', the change and carnage will be devastating....
" It was the internet that opened the door to the propaganda that TPTB had been able to mask through the MSM up until that point."
Before the internet, there were BBS systems. There were countless text files and "zines" circulated through BBSs with plenty of discussions about "conspiracy theories", drug manufacturing, etc.
I remember those BBSs, email and forums, downloads from the 80s to early 90s those were pre internet.
People act like there was nothing prior to 1998. There was plenty.
Compuserve... at 1200 baud.
ha...USENIX via uucp !
BBS's and MS-DOS 3.2! I remember buying my first printer! HP Deskjet 500. Also had an Amiga 2000.
"My" first computer was my dad's 286 PC clone that he built. 12 mhz, 1 mb of memory (each chip installed into individual DIP sockets), two 40 MB Seagate MFM (or RLL?) hard drives, ATI VGAWonder video card with 256kb ram, Samsung SyncMaster 15" monitor, on MS-DOS 3.2, with an Epson dot matrix printer and a 2400 baud Hayes modem. I miss that computer.
In the early 90s I would stay up late at night dialing boards to play Trade Wars 2002, and downloading messages off FidoNet (mainly from the Trade Wars echo) and games from the files section. I remember it taking forever to download Halloween Harry (an Apogee side scroller) off this one TriBBS board. Other boards in this area were Remote Access, PCBoard, Renegade, and Wildcat. Iniquity came along towards the end, which was amazingly cool. I wanted to start my own BBS so badly, but as a young teen just did not have the necessary resources.
Dad was too cheap to pay $5 a month for area calling, and one month when I ran up the phone bill hundreds of dollars dialing BBS's outside the calling area, he yanked the modem right out of the computer while it was powered on, ruining it. A few months later he replaced it with a 14.4 modem which was a huge improvement. Later on we got a 33.6 external, and not too long afterwards ('96-'97) we got a dialup internet account which changed everything, and not necessarily for the better. The internet just wasn't the same and still isn't. Back then computing was fun. Dialing out to boards in other towns was exciting and special. Nowadays computing has become tedious and annoying.
I just "dialed up" some telnet BBS's earlier today and really enjoyed it. Surprisingly enough, there's about 350-400 BBS's out there still kicking. The Synchronet BBS software is under active development and has been nicely integrated with many internet functions. There are still enthusiasts out there who are writing cool doors and utilities for this system.
Most of these Synchronet boards will give you a free no-strings-attached email address when you register, which is a nice touch in an era where all the free email accounts out there are shit, and/or owned by shitty companies like Google. I have a feeling that there is going to be a resurgence in BBS usage especially as people look for ways to fly under TPTB's radar.
What I'd like to see is some good open source radio hardware that hobbyists can build on the cheap to put up a board and "dial in" to it via a radio link, kinda like HAM AX.25 packet radio but faster, since that's limited to only 9600 baud. A solid 256-512+ kbaud radio link should not be too difficult to implement and that would be plenty fast enough, even for large file transfers. A mesh network of radio relay stations could be established to link users over a wide area. Combine that with some good encryption and folks could swap information and files without worry of interception by TPTB.
small businesses are crushed by the wheels of industry
Um, you mean the state, local, county and federal govt. The wheels of industry don't come through my door monthly with a new fee, regulation, licensing requirement, tax. The wheels of industry aren't interested in dictating the price of my hired help or the benefits they must receive. In fact, my small business contacts with the "wheels of industry" usually consist of them trying to gain my business as a client. They actually want me to succeed.
State, city and county are actually worse than federal. Last two weeks of the year, those fuckers are coming through the door (physically!) almost every day, having passed a new emergency reg or fee or product I must purchase to remain in compliance.
Go ask the mom and pop store owner, who is your biggest threat: Walmart or your benevolent government.
THANK YOU AMY !!
Carnegie... "Competition is a sin." Translated: We will build a system where only those deemed suitable to promulgating the Fascist take-over of the United States of America and all sovereign nations of Europe and Asia will be allowed to operate under the auspices of the CBC - Central Banking Cartel.
Corporations are like weeds; weeds will eventually, if not countered, kill a lawn.
Corporations also spawn billionaire oligharchs. That process spells doom to small and medium size business, and the middle class.
But you knew that didn't you?
It's just that you don't act like you know that.
As Dearl Leader wishes. Then once only the large companies are left he will fiish taking them over and will not longer envy China,,, we will China
Obama will be too late. The Fed will quantitatively ease all the common stock and the companies will be controlled by the commercial banks that own the Fed. When the banks freeze company borrowing, the companies will no longer be able to buy their own stock and will welcome the buying from the Fed to boost their bonuses. Obama will be left with debt - oops we will be left with debt.
What you mean "We", white man? -Tonto
What you mean "We", white man? -Tonto
This is their objective under TPP-TTIP, commodity prices are being suppressed to get rid of small companies [competition] you either join the Corporation or fold. As just happened to [British Steel] Tata wasn't under a Corporate umbrella, so had to go, and because of EU rules, the Government aren't allowed to step in with any finacial help?
We are being screwed by the Corporations & Bankers! Just 147 Corporations control everything that goes on in the world, via banks, pension funds all interlinked with 'shareholders'! One huge Cartel!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that...
The solution is simple but will never happen. We need sound money. Obviously for money to be "sound" it cannot be created nor manipulated by central planners. Everything is fucked and will continue to be fucked until/unless we get sound money.
The interest income small businesses earned on their float used to be one of the benefits of running your own small business. Now with ZIRP, there isn't a small business in the country benefitting from the interest income they used to get. To be successful, our small businesses, that collectively are the largest employers in the country, need the interest income their money used to earn. Small businesses are exactly like savers. They know they're profitable, when their deposiits at the bank rise. And one way in which those deposits used to rise, was the interest income their deposits used to earn.
Successful small businesses are rarely run underwater, in debt. Debt is the kiss of death for a small business.
Sound money is one thing, but a markert rate interest income would be a move in the right direction.
Heard of Bitcoin?
"Heard of Bitcoin?"
This 'virtual' currency is all a plot to get people used to 'cashless', how does one access their 'money' when the net goes down?
Where does one go to 'punch someones lights out' when you get robbed? http://of-enslavement.beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/12/beware-cashl...
We need to bring pressure on Governments to take creation of cash, away from banks. This way they can then issue 'debt free money' and Basic Income wouldn't cost anything! Just imagine, scrap Social Security and minimum wage, Give everyone just enough to live on; Rent, Utilities, Clothes and food. They can work for the rest at what ever they are competent in, at a wage to be negotiated by both parties. People would have to WORK for their 'extras', not have them given by the state! Economies would thrive.
large corporations write the laws.
...brought to you by carl's jr. [/idiocracy]
It may be the death of small biz and the middle class [private sector], but it's never been better for the FSA and gubmint parasites.
starting or operating a legal small business
in the usa today is likened to breast feeding
on a skate board on the highway at rush hour.
.
Loudon WainWright-The Sh*t Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-LeKkUsMpE
The Fed's ZIRP has made running a small business much more expensive. Rents are up, taxes are up, shipping costs are up, cost of merchandise is up (due to the previous 3),healthcare has exploded and margins have been slaughtered due to Amazon and the open market for the Chinese to set up here and ship from China. Add in the additional costs for employees due to all the government regulations forcing small businesses to cover benefits or pay the penalties.
I liken the federal government, Congress, Wall street and the bankers as terrorists against the American people. Everything they have done is to destroy and impoverish the middle class in America.
When will the people wake up and not take it anymore.............
Local Governments are at war with small business, while they conspire in city hall to give tax breaks, free land, rebates on property taxes to pay for utilites, etc. etc.
Every city council is swayed to feed the corporations, while passing small business killing regulations as their hobby.
Cincinnati just received a new trolley car last week; everything is awesome and no one can ride it for another year and another several million dollars (lots of local fraud)...but they are "progressive". Northern Kentucky has a joke that the best thing Northern Kentucky has in its favor is the Cincinnati City Council.
Just got another stupid time-wasting survey from the state. That one small business gets so many of these is a crime. This one was a four pager requesting detailed title, pay, skills, and qualifications for all the job openings planned for the next year. I just wrote NOT HIRING and mailed it in. At least this time I wasn't threatened with "penalties under the law". Some of these are more detailed than IRS forms. I have to believe everyone just makes stuff up as fast as they can and sends it in. What they do with all this garbage data I have no idea - just shuffle it back and forth I guess.
SMELL THAT? Another chart fart. Meaningless.
IT'S THE WORST SINCE 2012. DOOM, I TELL YOU!
Get with the program - Worst since Lehman.
The small business in the US is dead after severe illness for at least 30 years now.
Creation rate of new businesses is worse than in socialist Germany. 90% of new businesses revenue is less than $5000 a year and after burning all the savings and/or loans from family or maxing out credit cards they collapse under debt at a rate of 99.9% within year or two for one reason alone, a collapse of demand due to collapse of income and consequently depression of standard of living of 99% of Americans.
People massively downsize or eliminate purchases of everything, houses, cars, vacations, appliances, electronics, entertainment/cable/internet, cloths, services such as transport, babysitting, schooling, training, not to mention basic food staples, you name it, under devastating weight of health insurance, rent, education etc., skyrocketing inflation.
Majority of the so-called sole proprietors (or self-incorporated) are just nothing but part time/seasonally self-employed, actually handy men/women trying urgently to sell themselves and/or their skills to even more desperate friends neighbors, or on YT, CL, EB and living precarious live supported by handouts/charity, welfare state or their parents’ retirement money and roof over their head for free especially in the case of impoverished, social media confused millennials.
Those “lucky” getting any job paying close to minimum wage are actively subsidizing their employers with thousands of dollars a year if all costs are properly taken into account, not realizing that they are being fucked.
All crevices of even niche markets dominated by micro business are being attacked and monopolized by global corporates financed through ZIRP supported franchising or strait forward fronts, pretending to be small businesses while selling phony cannibalistic expansion stories to junk stock and bond markets.
An interesting take on death of small business and phony diversity policies can be found here:
https://sostratusworks.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/diversity-of-one/
And more on the collapse of standard of living in the US:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/economy-update/
That's a little bleak. There are opportunties, but there are predicated on having good ideas (try thinking about ways you can make $$ by helping others save $$), and MINIMIZING start-up costs. Starting a business is a wonderful lesson in self-reliance. I DO believe Americans dont have as much of this as they did a generation ago. Plus taxes and asset prices are SOOO much higher. When the economy sucks, it takes longer for a start-up to reach critical mass. Ride hard, sleep fast.
It has long been recognised that corporatist/fascist governments have no particular liking of small businesses because they represent independence, individualism and choice, none of which are on the agenda of such governments.
They much prefer bigger corps which have wider and deeper powers since it reduces the numbers of orgs they have to deal with and exercise political control over. Small businesses just get in the way.
Well you have it backwards. It's the corps who pay chump change to keep the chumps in. They get a HUGE ROI. Granted, pols probably don't want to deal with the riff raff, ie, the people.
Read an article last summer (sorry I forget where) about an enterprising fellow (Greek?) who set up a barter site where no cash is exchanged so untaxable. For ie, one guy needs grain and the farmer needs labor, or garden produce is traded for labor, whatever. Completly circumvent the gov.
This article should be about how the internet jerks, Google, Yahoo, and Bing decided to screw every small business in the world.
With the internet should have come an amazing surge in manufacturing of custom goods of much higher quality for fairly low prices. The equation of direct to consumer marketing could have easily supplied the impetus. Making extraordinarily quality goods at direct to consumer prices and being able to get the word out that you exist would have created a micro-Industrial revolution.
Except for the jackhole Page and his page rank system that would have been the eventually result. Instead of concentrating on making and producing products, a small business has to spend money with the Internet Morons to get page rank in order to be able to be found by anyone. They get buried in the back of no where because their keywords or back links are not good enough. Those front page positions are of course good enough for the scammer websites who want to sell you nothing but regurgitated crap. I simply point out the fact that there are only two published legal dictionaries in the US and neither one of them has ever appeared on the front page of Google. But 160 year old legal dictionaries and scam dictionaries that define a few hundred words always do so.
So instead of 500 custom shoe makers appearing and doing extremely well we get ZERO. Instead of 1000's custom clothes makers, we get ZERO, and on and on and on. Wonder why small business is dying in the US? THEY ARE THE REASON; Google, Yahoo and Bing.
You see hererin the application of a simple concept; which is simply that we have allowed morons to control our lives. We have allowed someone with ties to the NSA to simply run the web. In contrast, one must look as those like Henry Ford when he had his day he spread the wealth and understood the importance of a middle class and a lot of people getting to live a good life.
and yet, small business continues to add jobs faster than any other group. Huh?!
So why don't small businesses form a people's small business lobby and start talking to "progressives" like Bernie Sanders about legislation to aid small businesses while cutting some of the corporate giveaways? We need a real arm to unite small business -- a website with volunteers to start. You all may hate it but Sanders-Warren may be the best for this. Don't let the anti-socialist ideology you were indictrinated with deter you. They will still work in the capitalist system (despite its inherent dysfunction). Also you might want to learn what democratic socialism actually is, which is more of a mixed economy. That said, we are killing the planet, so anything that exists must be eco-- no more plastics, no more chems, no more pesticides, etc. etc. Empowering small business who will come up with biophilic instead of necrophilic technologies may help this as well.
I could have never imagined why use mail forwarding address cloud provide a new identification for my home based business, unless I had used it personally.