| Are
you a… |
% |
| Business
owner |
54 |
| Corporate
decision-maker |
10 |
| NGO/service
provider to women business owners |
11 |
| Government
employee |
7 |
| Other |
18 |
|
|
| How
long have you owned your own business? |
| I
am considering or in the process of starting a business |
17 |
| Less
than 1 year |
10 |
| 1
to 5 years |
21 |
| 6
to 7 years |
3 |
| 8
to 10 years |
7 |
| More
than 10 years |
15 |
| None
of the above |
27 |
|
|
| If
you are a business owner, what share of this business do
you own personally own? |
| 100% |
45 |
| 51-99% |
11 |
| 50% |
10 |
| Less
than 50% |
5 |
| Don't
Know |
1 |
| Other |
28 |
|
|
| What
is the highest level of education you have completed? |
| High
school or less |
4 |
| Some
college |
20 |
| 2-year
college degree |
10 |
| Bachelor's
degree |
25 |
| Some
graduate school |
10 |
| Master's
degree |
25 |
| Doctorate
degree |
5 |
| Other
graduate degree |
2 |
|
|
| To
which of the following age groups do you belong? |
| Younger
than 35 |
19 |
| 35-44 |
28 |
| 45-54 |
28 |
| 55-64 |
21 |
| 65
or older |
4 |
|
|
| If
you are a business owner, how did you acquire ownership of
this business? Did
you... |
| Start
the business |
72 |
| Purchase
the business |
2 |
| Inherit
the business |
3 |
| Acquire
the business without personal investment such as through
marriage/divorce |
1 |
| Other |
23 |
|
|
| Which
broad category best describes the type of business or
service that your company provides? |
| Manufacturing |
5 |
| Wholesale/Retail
Sales |
13 |
| Finance
and Insurance |
13 |
| Real
Estate, Rental, Leasing |
6 |
| Administrative
Support Services |
7 |
| Health
Care, Social Assistance Services |
5 |
| Accommodation
& Food Service (hotel, restaurant, bar) |
4 |
| Other |
46 |
|
|
| Excluding
yourself, how many employees do you have? |
| Zero |
37 |
| 1
to 4 |
36 |
| 5
to 9 |
11 |
| 10
to 19 |
4 |
| 20
to 49 |
7 |
| More
than 49 |
6 |
|
|
| What
type of employer-sponsored pension plan do you offer your
employees? |
| 401
(k) |
16 |
| 403(b) |
2 |
| SEP-IRA |
8 |
| Standard
IRA |
0 |
| Defined
Benefit (DB) |
1 |
| Cash
Balance |
0 |
| Keogh |
0 |
| Other |
4 |
| None |
68 |
|
|
| eFORUM
RESULTS: Opening Session |
|
|
|
| What
would you say is the most important issue facing you as a
business owner? |
| Access
to Capital |
26 |
| Health
Insurance Costs |
13 |
| Workforce
recruitment & retention |
7 |
| Taxes |
11 |
| Regulatory
burden |
2 |
| Current
state of the economy |
22 |
| Competitive
business environment |
16 |
| Other |
3 |
|
|
| What
is the top difficulty in regards to providing a pension
plan for your employees? |
| Pensions
are expensive |
20 |
| Complex
laws are confusing |
5 |
| Company
is new and/or profits are not consistent |
36 |
| High
turnover - too many new and part-time employees |
4 |
| Too
few employees |
19 |
| Other |
16 |
|
|
| If
you were in the U.S. Congress, which ONE of the following
would you address immediately? |
| Pension
reform/retirement security |
7 |
| Health
care reform/affordable health insurance |
50 |
| Regulatory
reform/modernization |
1 |
| Increasing
access to capital |
9 |
| Tax
reform/relief |
11 |
| More
procurement opportunities for women entrepreneurs |
21 |
| Other |
0 |
|
|
| What
is the biggest obstacle you face in providing health
benefits for your employees? |
| Federal
and state coverage mandates |
1 |
| Administrative
and regulatory burdens |
3 |
| Cost |
72 |
| Lack
of purchasing power/negotiating ability |
15 |
| Other |
9 |
|
|
| Do
you currently provide health care benefits to your
employees? |
| Yes,
to all of my employees |
16 |
| Yes,
but only to full-time employees |
25 |
| No |
59 |
|
|
| How
much did your premiums increase this year? |
| 0% |
7 |
| 1
- 10% |
18 |
| 10
- 15% |
23 |
| 15
- 20% |
20 |
| More
than 20% |
33 |
|
|
| If
health insurance costs continue to increase, will you be
able to continue to cover your employees and their
families as you do now? |
| Yes |
10 |
| No |
90 |
|
|
| How
are you handling health cost increases? |
| Absorbing
all of the increase |
20 |
| Reducing
level of coverage |
24 |
| Canceling
coverage |
4 |
| Changing
health care providers |
12 |
| Passing
it to employees through higher premiums |
30 |
| Other |
10 |
|
|
| Do
you support the use of tax credits to encourage women
small business owners to provide health care coverage for
their employees? |
| Strongly
support |
57 |
| Support |
26 |
| Unsure |
13 |
| Oppose |
2 |
| Strongly
oppose |
2 |
|
|
| If
we could give you the same bargaining power,
administrative efficiencies, choice, and reduced cost as
large businesses in the health insurance market, would
this make a difference in your decision to offer health
care to your employees and their families? |
| Yes |
89 |
| No |
11 |
|
|
| Which
of the following comes closest to your opinion? |
| PERSON
1: Small businesses should be allowed to combine together
as a larger group to be able to offer less expensive,
better quality health insurance to more employees. |
95 |
| PERSON
2: Small business owners should not be allowed to combine
together as a larger group because the health plans would
then fall under federal law and individual states would
not be allowed to enforce state patient protection laws. |
5 |
|
|
| Some
have argued that one aspect of a Patient's Bill of Rights
may be harmful to small businesses because it allows
employees to more easily sue their insurance companies,
thus holding their employer liable for the actions of the
healthcare company. If
such a bill passed, would you be more or less likely to
offer health insurance to your employees, despite the risk
of legal actions? |
| Much
more likely |
15 |
| Somewhat
more likely |
26 |
| Somewhat
less likely |
37 |
| Much
less likely |
22 |
|
|
| In
your experience, how difficult has it been to obtain
funding such as a loan or grant? |
| Very
difficult |
35 |
| Difficult |
13 |
| Somewhat
difficult |
15 |
| Does
not apply to me |
37 |
|
|
| What
do you see as current internal (specific to your business)
barriers to the growth of your business? |
| Time |
39 |
| Enough
Staff |
10 |
| Cash
Flow |
41 |
| Other |
11 |
|
|
| When
developing a proposal for a potential investor, which
element do you highlight? |
| The
Return-on-Investment |
39 |
| The
fact that it is a good business idea |
4 |
| The
financial projections |
27 |
| Market
analysis |
9 |
| Management
team |
15 |
| Other |
7 |
|
|
| In
your experience, how difficult has it been to raise
private investment (angel and venture capital financing)? |
| Very
difficult |
72 |
| Moderately
difficult |
15 |
| Only
slightly difficult |
6 |
| Not
at all difficult |
6 |
|
|
| Which
of the following have you found to be the MOST helpful
source of information about business financing options? |
| Recommendation
from a friend or business associate |
40 |
| Government
website |
4 |
| Banks |
16 |
| An
SBDC/Women's Business Center |
6 |
| The
SBA |
16 |
| Private
source |
11 |
| Other |
7 |
|
|
| Which
of the following sources do you current rely on MOST for
the capital necessary to run your business? |
| Personal
savings or assets |
34 |
| Reinvestment
of business earnings |
24 |
| Second/Third
mortgage |
4 |
| Borrowed
money from a family member, friend or colleague |
3 |
| Venture
capital funding |
1 |
| Angel
financing |
2 |
| Personal
credit card or business credit card |
13 |
| Loan/line
of credit from a local bank |
12 |
| Other |
7 |
|
|
| Thinking
about the current state of your business, would you rate
your business finances as… |
| Excellent |
14 |
| Good |
32 |
| Fair |
39 |
| Poor |
16 |
|
|
| Looking
forward, how confident are you that your business finances
will improve over the next six months? |
| Extremely
confident |
26 |
| Very
confident |
36 |
| Just
a little confident |
24 |
| Not
at all confident |
15 |
|
|
| Is
your current business… |
| Your
sole source of income? |
46 |
| A
secondary source of income? |
54 |
|
|
| How
often have you attempted to do business with federal
agencies in the past 12 months? |
| Not
at all |
59 |
| A
couple of times |
19 |
| More
than a couple of times |
21 |
|
|
| How
successful have you been in your attempts to do business
with federal agencies in the past 12 months? |
| Very
successful |
4 |
| Somewhat
successful |
20 |
| Not
at all successful |
31 |
| Not
applicable |
45 |
|
|
| In
the next 12 months, do you project that the amount of
business that you do with the federal government will… |
| Increase
Greatly |
10 |
| Increase
Somewhat |
22 |
| Unsure |
44 |
| Stay
About the Same |
22 |
| Decrease
Somewhat |
3 |
|
|
| According
to the Small Business Administration's (SBA) most recent
The State of Small Business 1998 report, approximately how
many small businesses filed business federal tax returns
in 1997? |
| 36
million |
17 |
| 32
million |
19 |
| 28
million |
22 |
| 24
million |
*16 |
| 20
million |
12 |
| 16
million or less |
14 |
|
|
| According
to the SBA The State of Small Business 1998 report,
approximately how many new small businesses came into
being in 1997? |
| 2.9
million |
5 |
| 2.4
million |
17 |
| 1.7
million |
42 |
| 1.2
million |
29 |
| 900
thousand |
*5 |
| 500
thousand or less |
2 |
|
|
| According
to the Federal Procurement Data Center (FPDC) the Federal
Government awarded to women-owned small business (WOSB)
concerns during fiscal year (FY) 2001 prime contract
awards valued at what dollar amount? |
| $500
million to $1 billion |
25 |
| $1
billion to $2 billion |
20 |
| $2
billion to $3 billion |
21 |
| $3
billion to $4 billion |
12 |
| $4
billion to $5 billion |
12 |
| $5
billion to $6 billion |
*9 |
|
|
| How
many women-owned small businesses, that received one or
more contract awards valued at $25,000 during FY 2001, can
the Department of Defense identify? |
| 1,000
to 2,000 |
27 |
| 2,000
to 3,000 |
12 |
| 3,000
to 4,000 |
13 |
| 4,000
to 5,000 |
*17 |
| 5,000
to 6,000 |
14 |
| 6,000
or more |
17 |
|
|
| What
percentage of your sales comes from government contracts? |
| Zero |
73 |
| Less
than 10% |
17 |
| 11
- 25% |
4 |
| More
than 25% |
6 |
|
|
| Missouri's
workers' compensation system drives business out of the
state. |
| Very
strongly agree |
15 |
| Strongly
agree |
9 |
| Agree |
11 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
53 |
| Disagree |
9 |
| Strongly
disagree |
2 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
2 |
|
|
| Missouri
should reform its workers' compensation system by limiting
the definition of a "work-related injury" to
those injuries where employment was the dominant
substantial factor in its cause. |
| Very
strongly agree |
49 |
| Strongly
agree |
15 |
| Agree |
13 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
18 |
| Disagree |
4 |
| Strongly
disagree |
1 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
0 |
|
|
| Missouri
should reform its workers' compensation system by denying
benefit payments in cases where accidents were ere due to
alcohol or illicit drug use. |
| Very
strongly agree |
69 |
| Strongly
agree |
8 |
| Agree |
15 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
3 |
| Disagree |
4 |
| Strongly
disagree |
2 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
0 |
|
|
| Missouri's
unemployment compensation trust fund should be kept
solvent by requiring all employers to contribute to the
fund, regardless of whether the employer has ever filed an
unemployment claim. |
| Very
strongly agree |
7 |
| Strongly
agree |
10 |
| Agree |
17 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
23 |
| Disagree |
23 |
| Strongly
disagree |
8 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
13 |
|
|
| Missouri's
unemployment compensation trust fund should be kept
solvent by reducing unemployment benefits. |
| Very
strongly agree |
3 |
| Strongly
agree |
9 |
| Agree |
9 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
18 |
| Disagree |
29 |
| Strongly
disagree |
13 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
18 |
|
|
| Missouri's
unemployment compensation trust fund should be kept
solvent by increasing the state unemployment tax rate or
taxable wage base. |
| Very
strongly agree |
2 |
| Strongly
agree |
5 |
| Agree |
11 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
28 |
| Disagree |
29 |
| Strongly
disagree |
6 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
19 |
|
|
| Missouri's
unemployment compensation trust fund should be kept
solvent by removing the restriction on fund balance
growth. |
| Very
strongly agree |
12 |
| Strongly
agree |
10 |
| Agree |
32 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
42 |
| Disagree |
1 |
| Strongly
disagree |
3 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
0 |
|
|
| Missouri's
unemployment compensation trust fund should be kept
solvent by borrowing money from the federal government, as
was done with insolvencies in 1983 and 1992, and repaying
the loan. |
| Very
strongly agree |
4 |
| Strongly
agree |
3 |
| Agree |
29 |
| No
opinion/Don't know |
19 |
| Disagree |
26 |
| Strongly
disagree |
5 |
| Very
strongly disagree |
14 |
|
|
| Are
you a woman owned business (i.e. own more than 51% of your
business)? |
| Yes |
74 |
| No |
26 |
|
|
| If
you own more than 51% of your business, is your company
certified with your local, state, and federal agencies? |
| Yes |
29 |
| No |
71 |
|
|
| If
you are a minority woman owned business, are you certified
as both MBE and WBE? |
| Yes |
0 |
| No |
100 |
|
|
| For
those of you who are not certified, what is keeping you
from doing so? |
| Takes
too much time and paperwork |
53 |
| I
am not qualified to be certified |
9 |
| I
have heard that it doesn't help because women/minorities
still don't get many contracts |
30 |
| I
was denied certification |
