What helps Small Businesses More?

[mojo2012]

Ask a small business owner:

Which do you want more? Tax Breaks (Romney's plan to cut taxes to the rich) or More Customers (Obama's plan to grow the middle class) ?


Who are your customers? The wealthy 1% or Middle Class?

[Sunlei]

1. The LOCAL regulations, permits and taxes kill small businesses from even starting around here.

I would like the States to drop all local zoning rules that prevent Americans from starting their own family or couple employee, small businesses.

I like the Federal tax breaks for hiring persons who have a harder time finding local work.

It's the most local of permit fees, sales taxes, property taxes and local zoning that prevents small home based businesses from even being able to start-up.

It's the State Gov. and local town politicians who in my opinion prevent local people from self-employment.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Just government, eh? Rent, consultant fees, supply costs...

financing costs and all that other stuff you spend on don't count? Nor do the tricks from entrenched competitors?

Commercial rents around here are putting people out of business faster than new ones can find funding and considering the short 2 1/2 month summer season is when they make their money, it's become obscene.

[Sunlei]

4. It's the local Gov that doesn't allow small residential land to be used as commercial/agricultural

To drop all zoning that restricts home based businesses would remove the barriers to self-employment. The local economy used to be the backbone of America, our country needs that back. All easements need to be leasable to agriculture.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. All zoning? Some zoning is a problem, but I hope you don't mean...

setting up a recycling center or hog farm in a residential cul-de-sac.

Zoning is local, and besides applying to boards of appeals, sound off at town hall meetings or try to throw the bums out if they won't let you have a small garden or home office. Good luck, though, since I've lived in towns that required a certain type of grass and it couldn't be more than 3" high. Cops actually came around with a ruler and the population loved it because they thought it kept home prices high. Another town quickly redid some zoning rules when they found the astronomical mercury levels in a schoolyard were from the guy next door who wholesaled liquid mercury from his garage and was kinda sloppy about handling it.

Zoning rules are often voter driven, so you gotta convince your neighbors first. And, from what I've seen, a lot of the quibbly stuff tends to be neighborhood associations who are largely immune to government interference.

[mojo2012]

3. In part, I agree

No question there. But still, if you don't have customers who buy your product or service, what good will tax breaks, federal or state, be in the long term?

[LiberalFighter]

6. I would think customers benefit the business more than the "tax breaks".

Aren't tax breaks commensurate to the size of the business? So tax breaks are likely not to have a significant impact on a truly small business (no box business).

Here's the thing too... do big businesses really need the tax breaks as much as the smaller businesses?