NFIB Focus – Jack Faris

“Not open for business. Go away.”

No responsible small-business owner would dare post such a sign on the front door of his or her shop. After all, the key to being a successful entrepreneur is attracting customers.

But more than two-thirds of American small-business owners are, in effect, turning customers away because they fail to take advantage of the technological revolution.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), more than two-thirds (67 percent) of the nation’s small firms don’t have Web sites, so the increasingly techno-savvy customers of today have no idea these firms exist. That’s startling in the Internet age, especially considering that the IDC survey shows 41 percent of firms that launched a Web site reported higher sales.

IDC says the main reason cited by small-business owners for not creating a Web site is a lack of money to hire information-technology workers and to buy the necessary equipment. Tight budgets are a way of life for these firms, which employ more than 99 percent of the nation’s workers. Their slim profit margins and other operating efficiencies leave little available capital for such activities.

As the U.S. economy begins to gain traction on the road to recovery, it is imperative that both the federal government and the information-technology industry lend a helping hand.

One step Congress could take is to make permanent a tax provision that allows small firms to expense $100,000 of new equipment purchases per year. This temporary measure was passed in recognition of the vital benefits small business provides to the American economic infrastructure, but the provision is set to expire at year’s end. Simultaneously, the information-technology industry should work to educate small businesses about ways to take advantage of available technologies. More capital for purchases would be a boon, but without the knowledge to apply technology to their benefit, owners will continue to miss key opportunities.

To their credit, some leading firms in the technology sector have reached out to small business with innovative educational programs. Last summer, Dell unveiled an 18-wheel mobile “classroom” loaded with technology solutions for small businesses.

The company’s “Total Business Tour” brought not only the latest technology, but also experts to assist entrepreneurs in their own communities. But the task of bringing millions of small firms up to speed is massive and time-consuming.

Lawmakers and technology experts have an obligation to play a key role in encouraging programs and policies that will ignite greater innovation and growth by the nation’s Main Street firms. Entrepreneurs should be unhindered in their efforts to do what they do best: grow, create new jobs and provide meaningful livelihoods for themselves, their families and their employees.

One certain way to spur the success of those millions of small firms is to aid them in erecting more signs that read “Open for Business. Please come in.” on the electronic highways and Main Streets of the World Wide Web.

Jack Faris is president of NFIB (the National Federation of Independent Business), the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. More information is available on-line at www.NFIB.com.