Small Businesses Need Credit
In his February 24th speech to Congress, President Barack Obama said the solution to our economic troubles lies “in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.” As of 2003, well over 12.2 million Americans were self-employed. President Obama vowed to make it easier for entrepreneurs to get loans, which may be the only way for us to weather the storm of a struggling economy. Of late, many of us have seen a reduction in available credit that threatens to stop our business’s growth dead in its tracks.
When you own a small business, your life becomes a perpetual to-do list. Not being able to get loans and financing adds insult to injury. It seems as though the system is against us, but in fact the US creates and fosters more independent businesses than any other nation. Now that President Obama is working hard to give us the financial tools for success, it’s up to us to use them wisely.
Inspanning and Outspanning
“Inspanning” is a term of African origin meaning “to yoke an animal.” Inspanning is the process we go through when we start a small business. Slowly we become yoked by the business, which seems to take and take until we feel like we have nothing more to give.
This blog is about “outspanning,” or unyoking yourself from the stress of your business. In its original South African usage, outspanning referred to the unyoking of an animal. We’re going to focus on unyoking people from the oppressive struggle of making ends meet without a surplus of cash. For our purposes, “small business owners” may also be heads of their household, church, or even a small town.
By creating a safe place for small business owners to talk about their struggles and share solutions, we want to help you unyoke yourself from the stress of living and breathing nothing but work. We encourage our readers to share the tricks you’ve discovered for making your business run more smoothly and for relieving stress. How do you keep yourself going every day?