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Tech and Small Biz:Attitudes and Uses
Andrew Langer
Phoenix Center Retreat Presentation
October 7, 2005
Areas of Focus
• Who is NFIB?
• The Small Business Reality
• Paperwork and Technology
• Small Biz Computer Use
• Some General Policy Conclusions
Who is NFIB?
• Nation’s Largest Small Business Trade Association
• Great Breadth of Membership and Scope of Outreach
• Members Representing All Manner of Trades
• Average size is 5 Employees
NFIB’s Constituents Provide 60% of New Jobs!
Member Regulatory Concerns
• Figuring Out What Needs to Be Done
• Sheer Amount of Paperwork
• Time Spent Filling Out Paperwork
• Environmental Concerns are of Paramount importance to our members.
• But not one reg in particular….
Our Members See Regulation as “Death by a Thousand Pinpricks”
An Appraisal of the Problem
• The Current Regulatory Burden
• Small Businesses Are Different Than Big Businesses
The Current Regulatory Burden
• Scope of Regulations Impacting Small Business Is Vast
• Cannot Even Assess Number of Criminal Statutes on the Books
• Costs Calculated by SBA’s Office of Advocacy as nearly $8,000 per employee
PER YEAR!
Small Businesses Are Different Than Big Businesses
• Regulatory Costs Are Higher
• Don’t Have the Personnel of larger firms
• Don’t Have Access to State-of-The-Art Equipment
• Cannot Readily Hire Expertise
Electronic Assistance
• E-Rulemaking
• Business Compliance One-Stop
Eliminating Paperwork is of
Tremendous Import
Constraints For Small Entities: Time And Energy
NFIB Research Foundation Paperwork Survey
• Conducted In 2003
• Survey of Small Business Owners Generally
Findings
• Owners Most Frequently Do Paperwork
• Average Cost Per Hour is $48.72
• Most Use Both Computers and Paper for Recordkeeping and Filing
• Computer Use is Growing, now at 92%
Problems With Paperwork
• Unclear and Confusing Instructions
• Volume Itself
• Duplicative Requests
• Maintenance of Records
• Requests for Non-Existent or Inaccessible Information
Thus An Economic Problem
• Already Spending Considerable Amounts of Time Doing Paperwork
• Therefore An Opportunity Cost Situation Arises
Which is where use of technology comes in…
Use of Computers to Reduce Burden
• 82% Have Internet Capabilities;
• About half use it to find out regulatory information;
• 57% of regular users have a high speed internet connection, mostly at home;
• Smaller business more likely to use the internet to educate themselves;
• Use it for specific searches and to sift through information;
Use of the Internet Generally
• 57% Use The Internet for Business-Related Purposes
They use it to:
• E-mail Customers and Suppliers
• Gather information about the field
Websites?
• 2/3 of Businesses that use the internet have websites;
• Income from Websites Generated Indirectly
• Customers Are Driven From Web to More Traditional Sales (face to face or by phone)
• Lifespan of Websites is approx. 2 years.
• Negligible cost to the small business owner.
High Speed Net Access
• More Generally Found in Homes Rather than Businesses;
• Most Common Access in Business is DSL;
• Attitude Towards High Speed is Mixed;
• Those Who Have It, Like It, but Few See Competitive Advantage to It;
Other Tech Issues
• Considerable Competition for Small Firms’ telecom biz;
• 40% shopped for new local phone service in previous three years, 71% switched;
• 78% Use a Cell Phone. 57% shopped for new service and 63% switched;
Poor Service Biggest Issue for Cell Phones70% of Owners Take Responsibility for Choosing
Telecom Options
Home Internet Access – Special Issues
• Convenience Factor in Ability to Do Business-Related Work Away From Office;
• Problems Created When Sharing Computer Among Family Members;
• Creates Its Own Special Set of Security Problems
Those Combatting Online Piracy Should Have Taken a Different Tack
Conclusions…
• Small Business Owners are like many other consumers in their tech use;
• Cost and Service Conscious;• Don’t Want Access to Come at Taxpayer
Expense;• Use Is Growing, But Some Business
Owners Will Never Be On Web or Tech Savvy
