This is National Small Business Week.The celebrations, seminars and promotion are in full swing. As a Board Member of the National Small Business Association (NSBA) and Chair of the Small Business Association of Michigan’s PAC, I know how important it is to support and promote small business. There has been a lot of hype this week, so I thought it might be a good time to stop and consider the state of small business in America.

It’s a pretty obvious fact. When you are in a personal relationship each party has something to gain when things go well. Each party also has something to lose when it all goes south. We all have relationships with customers but what happens if you are your customer’s customer? Think about it. You provide goods or services to them and they provide something to you. I actually have that kind of relationship with a number of customers and it is interesting that these relationships move to a very different level quickly.