Having 'Built It', Entrepreneurs Must Talk About It

While there's much sturm und drang about the influence big business may have on this election cycle through monetary contributions, there's a much bigger potential political impact available for small business: we can do the most for the cause of free enterprise by simply and fairly educating our own employees.

WARNING: The following advice may scare the most timid among us. Entrepreneurs are, by nature, focused on solving the problems in their own world. Whether that's making a better widget or providing better service, most of us just want to be left alone to concentrate on our businesses. The thought of talking politics can be both alien and daunting, especially with so much red tape and fear of the impending legal nightmares if one violates an unknown prohibition.

But sticking our heads in the sand is just not an option when the boot of big government is increasingly heavy. Entrepreneurs know some of the problems all too well. Tax burden, complexity, and changes make up half of the top 10 items marked this year by the National Federation of Independent Business's survey of the problems small business owners face. The cost of health insurance remains the number one concern-just as it was in 2008.

However, there are still the "known unknowns"-uncertainty over economic conditions and government actions both make the list, as does complying with unreasonable government regulations. Indeed, this has been a constant cause for worry, with a 2011 Gallup poll showing that complying with regulations was the single biggest concern for small business owners.

Beyond the litany of external problems and challenges, entrepreneurs know something else: they know their business and they know their employees. Now is absolutely the time to talk to the latter about the former.

Six decades ago, my father, his partners and many of their colleagues in the contracting world envisioned a world where their industry-construction-was driven by merit and free enterprise, rather than the restrictive and less-efficient predominant model of the time. They would have thought it laughable, if not absurd, to specifically undertake a program of educating employees about the economic environment and the policies that threatened their jobs.

Recently, though, our company has made a concerted effort to discuss the impact of heavy regulation, uncertainty, and crony capitalism collectively has on our business. Our employees need to know why the construction industry has seen such high unemployment and why the outlook, at least for commercial construction, is influenced by people they've never met making rules they've never heard of.

The impact of small business can be big: 99 percent of firms in America have fewer than 500 employees and about 20 million Americans work for companies that employer 20 people or fewer. The reach is particularly interesting when one considers that small business owners are among the most trusted people in society-a society in which only 40 percent of eligible people voted in 2010. Entrepreneurs can make a difference if they talk to their employees and make sure they show up to vote for free enterprise.

Of course, there are ethical and important legal considerations for discussing politics and policy. We don't tie employment or compensation decisions to an employee's view and we don't endorse candidates. We rely on clear guidelines for what we can and cannot say (see as an example, "Do's and Don'ts") and we point employees to non-partisan voters guides (see state-by-state examples). But the point is, we say something.

I used to think it was awkward to talk to employees about "political" issues. But now I believe it's unfair not to discuss the ideas and policies. With all due respect to the chattering class and those who think government drives job creation: We built that, and now it's time to talk about it.