Feeling lucky? Entrepreneurs may need all the luck they can get

Dr. Cornwall offers up an assessment of the mind-set of the entrepreneurs and the other small business owners with whom he crosses paths. Just a warning: it's not overly optimistic.

By Dr. Jeffrey R. Cornwall,?Guest blogger / June 5, 2012

Governor Mitch Daniels joins local inventor and entrepreneur, Scott Jones, right, to kickoff Lemonade Day at the east lawn of the State House in this May 2012 file photo. This recession is far from over, according to Dr. Cornwall, and neither Presidential candidate has a good track record on small business issues.

Frank Espich/The Indianapolis Star/AP

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My good friend Ami Kassar wrote his first blog post for the New York Times today.? In his post he offers a rather stark assessment of the current state of the small business economy:

Skip to next paragraph Dr. Jeffrey R. Cornwall

Jeff is the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

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We have been reading reports that the recession is over and that the economy is on the mend. I can assure you that for most small-business owners that we talk to at MultiFunding, this is far from the case. Many are still reeling from the recession and struggling to catch up. Working capital is a fight. Banks are not easy to deal with, and fair loans are tough to come by. If you own a retail or service business, it is even harder.

This is the same thing I am seeing among our alumni entrepreneurs and the many other small business owners with whom I cross paths.? This recession is far from over and I see very little hope for a recovery any time soon.

Both candidates for President give lip service to entrepreneurs, but neither have a very good track record.? One distrusts free markets and views bigger government, more regulation, and higher taxes as the solution for whatever ails us.? The other has a history of using bigger government and cozying up to big corporations for his favorite bag of tricks.

Thank goodness for the resiliency of entrepreneurs in this country!? They are going to need it!

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.drjeffcornwall.com.

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