The popular image of Main Street America is familiar and welcoming: charming storefronts, restaurants with brightly colored awnings, old-school pharmacies, newer cafes, coffee shops, shoe repairs and more. Those small businesses make up a large part of America’s cultural history and its modern economy. Jon Hurst, President of the century-old Retailers Association of Massachusetts sees an even more powerful tradition at play in those mom-and-pop shops.
“Historically, it’s been the go-to industry for entrepreneurs. Maybe you worked for a large company, but always had a dream of opening your small business, employing people, and serving customers,” Hurst says. That tradition of bootstrap entrepreneurs chasing their dreams and creating local jobs is alive and well in America today. According to the Small Business Administration’s most recent survey results, U.S. small businesses created 1.9 million net jobs in the span of a year, and firms employing fewer than 20 employees experienced the largest gains, adding 1.1 million net jobs.
But those small business entrepreneurs, having saved the money to start a company and poured their heart and soul into their vision, face an increasingly complex environment in 2019. Next-day internet shipping, dominant big box stores, skyrocketing rents, and minimum wage increases make margins tight. But most mind-boggling of all can be navigating all of the red tape of managing details like payroll taxes, paid sick leave, family leave, workers’ compensation and more. Hurst worries that even the hardiest of new business owners may become overwhelmed by the grittiness and complexity of compliance. “Because of those challenges, you get concerned about whether we will have the same number of entrepreneurs jumping in with both feet and taking that risk of opening up a new shop,” he says.
That’s part of the reason why RAM announced a partnership with ConnectPay five years ago. It’s the first payroll and compliance company the association has endorsed in its hundred-year history. RAM’s goal in teaming up with ConnectPay is to help its small business owner members address those complexities and cut through the red tape, so that they can focus on the important things: namely, running their companies.