I’ve owned my business long enough to know that nothing about running one is easy — that’s fine. What’s not fine is how much harder it’s become thanks to boneheaded decisions made far above our pay grade.
Every day this year feels like another lesson in what happens when the people running the country have no idea how business actually works. Most small business owners I talk to are exhausted. Not because of competition or innovation or growth — we love that stuff — but because we’re getting buried by policy chaos, inflated costs, and zero predictability.
It’s Death by a Thousand Cuts
Healthcare costs are out of control. Small businesses like mine are looking at double-digit rate hikes next year, and if Congress screws around and lets federal subsidies expire in December, those premiums could double overnight. You can’t plan for that. You can barely stay insured.
Tariffs change every other week, which might sound like a headline until you realize it means our vendors are changing prices constantly. Manufacturers are losing contracts. Agencies like mine are losing clients because everyone’s cutting back.
Then there’s the never-ending shutdown. Federal loans are frozen, contracts delayed, checks stopped. Real people, small business people, are paying for political BS.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate here in Michigan climbed past five percent, and confidence among small business owners has fallen to the lowest level in decades. We’re hiring less, paying more, and feeling like the people making the rules couldn’t care less about what that means for jobs or communities.
The Disconnect
Running a business means making hard calls and living with the outcomes. The same can’t be said for the folks on the federal payroll lately. There’s no accountability. Programs that used to support entrepreneurs: training grants, capital access, SBA aid, are getting slashed or buried in red tape.
The result? Uncertainty. And uncertainty is a small business killer.
You can’t plan for growth when the cost of health insurance, shipping, and materials is a moving target. You can’t invest when the game changes mid-quarter. You can’t hire confidently when you’re wondering if a tax credit or benefit program will quietly vanish next month.
We’re the Ones Paying for It
Small business owners are scrappy by nature, it’s literally how we survive but our collective grit shouldn’t be an excuse for bad policymaking. Every time a politician talks about how “resilient” entrepreneurs are, what I hear is: “We know you’ll figure it out.”
Here’s the thing, we always do figure it out, but it’s getting really old and I’m sick of seeing my friends hurting. We’re running leaner, managing burnout, and watching year after year of progress get chipped away by decisions that make zero economic sense.
I don’t have the patience for political bullshit. What’s happening right now in this economy isn’t a blip. It’s the direct result of failed priorities, and it’s hurting the very people who keep communities working.
Pay Attention
The disconnect between federal leadership and small business reality has never been wider. We don’t need press conferences; we need competence.
Our businesses can thrive if the people making the rules stop acting like they’ve never signed a paycheck in their lives. Until then, the rest of us are stuck navigating an economic mess we didn’t create but will have to clean up — again.
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