A Peak Into the Real World of Small Business Survival

Why do I get physically ill when I read about Solyndra, the company that announced last week that it was declaring bankruptcy DESPITE $535 million in federal loan guarantees. Maybe because I've just been through an 18 month long cash crisis where I've had to go to the mats to survive. Federal policies didn't cause my problems, but they sure didn't help matters. Take the small business credit crunch, which is ongoing and brutal for millions of small business owners who could use a little cushion. I believe its continuation to be an unintended consequence of stepped up bank regulation. And I don't think anyone in Congress or the Administration has a clue about small business. Or truly gives a damn, except when the cameras are rolling.

What do I mean going to the mats? Well, it starts with a commitment to never give up, no matter what the odds, or the amount of humble pie you have to eat. (If humble pie were fattening, I'd weigh about 400 pounds!) But a little of it is good now and again, it helps keep one grounded. Too much gets tiresome, especially when you read about $535 million pissed away on a company that apparently doesn't know how to do financial projections.

And then I learn that "a major fundraising bundler for Obama" - or rather George Kaiser's family foundation - was a major investor in Solyndra. In Saturday's Washington Post (9/3/2011), there was an inside article about the George Kaiser Family Foundation issuing a statement that "George Kaiser is not personally invested in Solyndra and did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. Government regarding the loan." Translation: that's what underlings are for.

Why the rancor?

I feel like I don't have a voice. There is a serious small business credit crunch going on, and the federal government just seems to make it worse. Yet they find $535 million for a "green" company funded by a campaign contributor. That's just not fair.

Meanwhile, I have to fight American Express tooth and nail to get more time to pay a huge bill I ran up in anticipation of new sales that did not materialize. It was a week after the 15 day grace period that I got the call. I was dreading it, like you can't believe. This was mid to late December, 2010, just before Christmas of course. I find that Murphy's law is strongest when applied to matters of small business cash flow. Two weeks earlier, my daughter Kelly, who had moved back temporarily with us because she lost her job (with guess who!) - totaled our only car and broke her pelvis. She had no health insurance of course.

She had driven my wife, Laurie, to work that day so she could have the car. It was raining, and I assume she was late (operating on "Kelly time" as we family members affectionately call it). She didn't see the speeding (at least that is our contention) vehicle barreling down the George Washington parkway as she pulled out to turn left, and took the full impact in the driver-side door. It was about 7:30 a.m., 2 or 3 hours into my workday, when I got a call on my office phone from a number I did not recognize.

I ascertained that she was alive and conscious, and then much discussion ensued about how to get me to the scene. One of the good Samaritans who stopped to help offered to pick me up (Kelly was driving our only car). But traffic had been stopped in both directions on the parkway. It was only two miles away. I grabbed a backpack, my iPhone, and lots of reading material (ever been to an emergency room?!), hopped on my bike, and pedaled furiously in the rain..

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