You might think that the numbers say it all but I believe we need to look deeper. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are 27.9 million small businesses in the United States and they make up 99.7% of U.S. employer firms. These businesses employ about 50% of the country’s private sector workforce. For a time, small business was one of the few bright spots in the economy –growing and creating jobs. But recently the positioning of small business as the “little engine that can pull us out of the economic downturn” has stalled.

Over the past few weeks I have had the chance to talk to the owners of two relatively new businesses in different parts of the country. One is a commercial cleaning company and the other is a manufacturer of specialty ice cream.  The passion that these owners possess is very common among small business owners. They have invested most of what they own and decided to bet on themselves to start the business. While these two businesses could not be more different their problems were remarkably similar.