Street smarts

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     to help you better operate your small business.

     Stores and salons, coffee shops and cafes line Main Street everywhere. This is where small business lives. Gas stations, chiropractors, and garden centers--these make America work. 

     The media pretty much ignore Main Street. They pay attention to Wall Street where big business congregates. Every day the New York Stock Exchange closing prices are announced with gusto.

     Wall Street is the world's largest casino. It's all about guessing the future and playing the odds. Who will be worth how much tomorrow, and how much should we discount that?

     Meanwhile, there are upwards of 25 million small businesses in the country, and they provide most of the jobs. Main Street is all about today. Who's buying what and how much will they pay for this or that? Main Street is where the rubber meets the road in the national economy. It's where America lives.

     But the elephant in the room is K Street. This is where lawyers and lobbyists have taken up residence in Washington DC. The silk suits who inhabit K Street are all about making the future happen to the liking of their special interest clients. A steady stream of big bucks flows through K Street and into the halls of the federal government. How can we influence what Congress does and how much will it cost us? 

     Small businesses on Main Street are left out in the cold. Yes, the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business claim to represent Main Street. But, taken together, these two groups account for fewer than a million members.

     What's a small business owner to do? Main Street faces its struggles alone. You and almost all of your small business compatriots must keep the national ship afloat--with precious little help. Wall Street and K Street are doing their own thing. And the media, having little appreciation for business and economics, post a daily menu of juicy sensationalism. 

     Keep on truckin' and never, never give up! You are the backbone of the nation.

     Two things in the U. S. Constitution account for our economic success--private ownership of property and contract law. Even the Chinese came to recognize the value of these principles. When they put them in place back in the 1980s, look what happened.