The National Federation of Independent Business recently released their study of small business owners and their opinions. The first part of that study reads:

“The Index of Small Business Optimism gained 1.3 points, nudging the Optimism Index up to 90.2, below the year-to-date average of 91.1 and only slightly better than the average since January 2009 of 89.1. As was the case in September, the “gain” in the Index was primarily a result of less negative views about the prospects for real sales and business conditions. Hardly the basis for strong economic growth.”

So is that good news or bad news? The state director of the NFIB office in Oklahoma is Jerrod Shouse, he’s not that impressed. “Even though I can say we’re up it’s still been a very negative year” he said. So what are the leading issues? “Sales are still our #1 issue, federal regulations, health care, those are all issues for us” he commented.

Hear the entire interview with Jerrod by clicking here.

I wanted to get a better idea of how real small business owners felt so I went to talk to one. George Van Wyke owns the Steak Stuffers restaurant just west of Memorial on 51st. His business is good, it always has been but that doesn’t mean it’s all roses. When I asked George what his biggest challenges were he didn’t hesitate to say “labor.”

George went on ”when people come for a job, four questions they have in their mind whether they’ll acknowledge them to you or not.”  I knew this had to be good so I asked what those questions were. “How late can I come in, how early can I leave, how little can I do, and how much can I get paid” he said.

My conversation with George was informative and entertaining, you can hear the entire interview here.

And if labor wasn’t a big enough hassle, there are also massive amounts of government regulations to wade through. “Little clauses that I have to adhere to that are nuisance and they’re not for my benefit” he began. “They’re just so government can keep track of what I’m doing” George said with a disgusted look on his face.

Everyone agrees that they hope the holiday season solves at least a little of the latest woes but neither side is holding their breath. Click on the links below for more and please vote in our poll before you leave.

For more, go to: http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/small-business-not-optimistic-new-study-thinks/nFZnQ