Trump Assembles Small Business Advisory Panel – Identifies 5 Issues


Trump small business issues panel

Presidential candidate Donald Trump announced the formation of a Small Business Advisory Panel this week.

The panel, consisting of 17 business leaders, says it will give advice on small business issues.   According to the announcement on the Trump website:

“The Council is geographically, gender and ethnically diverse. It represents a cross section of the Small Business Community. Members are Small Business people with an interest in policies that make it easier for Small Businesses to hire, invest, build, grow and produce in America. They also want to be on a level playing field to compete globally creating jobs here, not overseas.”

The panel’s role appears to be that of identifying key small business issues. The panel also will help formulate solutions and positions, according to the announcement.

The panel has identified five key small business issues:

Top Issues Affecting Small Business Owners today

Overregulation and costs associated with government record keeping and mandates (RED TAPE). 

Businesses are being stifled by over the top regulation and reporting requirements. No industry seems to have been saved from this issue over the last seven years. The burden in cost and time alone can put a Small Business out of business.

ObamaCare is a drag on the economy in general and especially on Small Business. 

In addition to cost, mandates and record keeping the, businesses are being forced to make poor business decisions as to number of employees, hours worked and part-time vs. full-time. (Bad for both employer and employee)

Taxation and accounting requirements 

Many small businesses are taxed as individuals on the owner’s 1040 so the rates can be higher and deductions are limited or eliminated. Payroll and FICA accounting and reporting can be very costly and one mistake can lead the owner into great legal trouble.

Labor issues like minimum wage, overtime rules, and union organizing all take their toll. 

It seems to many Small Business Owners out here in “flyover land” that the insiders in DC have it in for them. And they probably do. They tell you what you have to pay, set your work rules, mandate benefits and make it impossible to get a fair organizational vote.

Availability of capital 

Banking regulations favor large national banking organizations which typically do not lend to Small Businesses. Dodd frank made this worse. Community Banks are disappearing or being consolidated thus losing the local lender. SBA has gotten much harder to deal with and is not as viable for many businesses.

If these small business issues sound like ones you’ve heard before, it’s because the issues actually haven’t changed much … in years.

A common complaint is that small business issues don’t ever seem to get solved by politicians.  That’s despite promises in hundreds of local, state and federal campaigns across America over the years.

The announcement does not lay out detailed solutions to the five small business issues.  However, Trump has addressed most of the concerns multiple times in his speeches. (All of Trump’s rallies and speeches are available on RSBN Network’s YouTube channel.)

We previously pointed out quotes from Donald Trump on small businesses. Quotes from candidate Hillary Clinton about small businesses are here.

Embedded below is the full statement of the Trump small business advisory panel.

Image: DonaldJTrump.com

1 Comment ▼

Anita Campbell Anita Campbell is the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses.

One Reaction
  1. Not to mention that businesses are conscripted into duty as tax collectors for sales tax, payroll taxes, etc. Government needs to get out of SMBs way if they really want to get serious about growth.