Every business was once small and then grew and became a big business. This is the natural healthy sequence of events . Small business is usually referred to as the engine of the economy as 60-80% of the new jobs come from small business. Small businesses employ 57% of the country's private workforce and pay 44% of the US Payroll. Unfortunately, only 50% of these small businesses survive the first 5 years, increasing the burden on small businesses with minimal or no reserve. For example in 2009 , and average small business went bankrupt every 8 minutes as 70% of small businesses are/were owned and operated by a single person.
Recent challenges to the small businesses have sharply increased during the current phase of surge in merges and consolidation.
For example, there are now four major financial institutions( Citibank, Wells Fargo, Chase , Bank of America) out of previous 37 financial institutions only two decades ago . Similarly, big insurance companies are merging , so there are maybe only three or four choices for patients to choose from. The same would apply for retails shops , and local restaurants which are now being replaced by big businesses that invested in technology which makes it easier for people to order online. And since only big businesses can afford these technological advances, people usually flock towards them due to the extra services. Now also a trend towards limiting number in outpatient surgery centers as they compete with hospitals and big medical centers.
Recent articles have echoed the looming death of small business in America and also found small business optimism is crashing as all businesses need working capitol which may not easy to access with limited options and prohibitive cost.
On the bright side, some realize what is going on and now are trying to give support back to small businesses such as Shop Small on Saturday and others to keep the traditional engine of the economy working to keep overall economy alive and well. Small businesses are going through transformation to adopt to the changing economic climate and challenges through innovation, entrepreneurship, and adopting new technologies and reaching out through social media.
There is always a niche for small business where consumers find satisfaction in quality customer service and personalized care.
We have adopted these concepts to make small business have big impact on people lives through improved health outcome, saving big for individual patients, and small and medium sized businesses through establishing the (Direct care Medicine) as we can very much share the value of affordable quality healthcare that does not break the bank. This has been proved over the past few years in our program and being replicated all over the nation.
This holds true for all independent physicians who have been running their small businesses for a long time but now realize the importance of unity, cooperation, transparency as they owe it to their customers( patients) . This will be the healthiest response to thrive during changing economic climate.