Small Business Owners Say Upcoming Elections Are Too Close to Call

November 2, 2006; 04:15 AM

As the high-stakes Nov. 7 elections approach, a survey of small business owners by payroll service provider SurePayroll finds that small business owners don't have a firm prediction one way or the other as to whether the Democrats will regain control of the U.S. Senate.

SurePayroll surveyed 258 randomly-selected small business owners during the week of October 23, 2006 and asked them for their election predictions regarding control of the U.S. Senate.

Responses were split evenly with 50% of respondents indicating that the Democrats will take back control of the U.S. Senate and 50% of respondents indicating that the Republicans will maintain control of the U.S. Senate.

Despite the lack of consensus on election outcomes, the SurePayroll survey uncovered some common attributes regarding how small business owners approach voting.

For starters, small business owners vote. 91% of the surveyed business owners indicate they will vote in the upcoming election. Given that less than 50% of Americans vote in most elections, the survey results suggest that small business owners are more politically active than the average citizen.

When it comes time to vote, what is it that drives small business owners to make their final candidate decisions? Conventional wisdom would say that small business owners who focus the majority of their time on their businesses would vote with their wallets. But the SurePayroll survey indicates otherwise.

According to SurePayroll's survey, small business owners place more emphasis on personal issues rather than business issues when they vote. In fact, two thirds of the small business will cast their votes with a primary focus on personal issues.

"It's interesting that small business owners dedicate the majority of their time and energy to their businesses, yet their votes are mostly influenced by issues that do not relate to their businesses," said SurePayroll President Michael Alter. "Prior to the survey, our prediction was that most small business owners would vote in the way that would most positively improve their individual business results."

Healthcare Coverage Top of Mind for Small Business Owners

Though business issues are secondary for small business owners, the single greatest business matter on their minds is healthcare costs. Thirty percent (30%) of respondents picked healthcare coverage costs as the single most important business issue in the upcoming election.

What do you feel is the single most important business issue in the upcoming election?

Energy cost: 8%
Telecommunications service fees: 1%
Healthcare coverage cost: 30%
Government & regulatory reform (limiting the burden of small businesses to adhere to complex regulatory requirements): 17%
Tax relief: 15%
Labor issues (such as raising the minimum wage): 3%
Immigration: 12%
Social Security reform: 6%
Other: 8%

While small business owners may have distinct opinions on which business issues are most important to them, they fall in line with most Americans on one major election concern: only 35% of the surveyed small business owners indicated that they are satisfied with their candidate choices.

About SurePayroll:
Privately held SurePayroll (www.surepayroll.com) is America's fifth largest full-service payroll provider and the nation's largest online full-service payroll provider. Catering exclusively to the needs of small businesses, SurePayroll provides a simple, reliable and economical way to process payroll in minutes via the Internet.

In addition to providing payroll services directly to small business, SurePayroll also provides a private-label payroll service that allows SurePayroll's numerous partners to offer payroll processing to their small business clients. Business partners include ABN AMRO, Pitney Bowes, and MasterCard. SurePayroll will process nearly $3 billion in employee and contractor payroll payments in 2006.