A Small Business Wish List for 2009

Sometimes, I amuse myself by making a small business/microbusiness wish list.

I’ve been very good this year; okay, okay, there have been occasional forays into naughtiness, but nothing too dreadful; and I hope the fact that I can share the fruits of this list with all the small and microbusiness owners out there is worth some brownie points with the Big Guy in Red.

So, in the spirit of the season, I thought I’d share my Holiday wish list with you.
 

1. A tax code we can understand.
2. A microlending program that really works for microbusinesses.
3. Regulators who view small businesses as allies instead of adversaries.
4. A federal procurement system that works for businesses of all sizes.
5. Recognition of self-employment as the true engine of job growth.
6. An SBA Administrator who actually knows something about small businesses.
7. A voice in economic policy that is as large as our numbers.
8. Policy makers who are less inclined to suck up to special interests at the expense of small businesses.
9. National leaders who recognize that small is beautiful.
10. A President who won’t forget the world’s second largest economy.

As methods of appealing to big-picture policy makers go, asking Santa to lobby for us is as likely to be effective as any other.

Imagining the headlines is fun, too.

Hope you and yours had a lovely Holiday!

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About the Author: Dawn Rivers Baker, an award-winning small business journalist, regularly reports and analyzes small business policy and research as the editor and publisher of The MicroEnterprise Journal. She also blogs at The Journal Blog.

Dawn is a member of the Small Business Trends Expert Network.