One thing about small businesses that most people miss, I think, is the personal connection. I know a number of online merchants who have staff, ranging from three people to more than a dozen. They feel responsible for their employees to a certain extent. Cutbacks and layoffs aren’t done lightly; the business owner has likely met the children and spouses of his employees. He knows what’s at stake when a job is lost. Contrast that with working at Fortune500Co.

There’s an email going around the web now, supposedly from a small business owner to his employees (though I think it’s fictional). In it the owner acknowledges that he can’t pressure his employees to vote for a certain candidate in the upcoming presidential election but they should think carefully about what yet more government taxation and regulation will do to the business. He reminds them that he’s built up a multimillion dollar asset that can be sold and if the business environment becomes too punitive he can close his office and retire to the Caribbean, sipping fruity drinks and watching the waves come in. They, on the other hand, will be out of work. As someone once said, Elections have consequences.

Like I said, I think this email is fictional but it certainly taps into a deep well of resentment among business owners.