12/01/2005
A packed ballroom of San Francisco Bay Area small-business owners today heard the results of two vital surveys on the economic health of Main Street firms just like their own.
The year's third NFIB-Visa USA Small-Business Economic Insights conference provided attendees with snapshots and analysis of both the California and American economies.
Keynote speaker Guy Kawasaki, a key player in the success of Macintosh computers and author of eight books, told the gathering that passion is the jet fuel of success. The people who will make it in today's business world, Kawasaki told small-business owners, are those who are passionate about what they can make. "It was not a desire to make money. It was a desire to make meaning," that was the driving force behind Macintosh co-founder Steve Jobs' success, said Kawasaki.
Raghav Lal, senior vice president for small business at Visa USA, said that the barriers to accessing capital have been greatly removed by the increased use of payment cards as a funding mechanism for start-up businesses. In the old days, small-business owners had to present their ideas and plans to loan officers at banks, Lal noted. Today, however, payment cards fill much of that need, and in some cases, instantly. "Studies have shown that seven out of 10 small businesses are started with less than $20,000 in capital," he said.
NFIB Western Region Vice President Nigel Ives apprised the gathering of NFIB's continued fight to remove state and federal barriers to acquiring health care for small-business owners and their employees, and in clearing the way of burdensome regulations.
NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg teamed up with Wayne Best, senior vice president for business and economic analysis for Visa USA, to provide small-business owners with an overall picture of the business climate for the nation and for California.
Lawrence McQuillan, director of business and economic studies for the Pacific Research Institute, provided attendees with additional analysis and trends to watch.
