Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

Back in the early days of the hip-hop nation, a popular saying emerged that summarized everyone's collective desire for financial success and freedom: "It's all about the Benjamins." Referring, of course, to the $100 bill.

Now, in the "Great Recession" that started officially in December 2007: "It's all about the jobs." The conventional wisdom among economists is that job growth generally lags other indicators of an economic recovery as the country moves out of a recession -- e.g., stock market gains, increases in GDP. However, for consumer confidence and other "feel good" indicators that most ordinary people use to assess their own personal situations and that of their neighbors and communities, job creation is the LEADING indicator.

Here's a post on the Bizcovering web site by Ron Fields that describes how entrepreneurs are vital to job creation. He has an interesting perspective on how the private sector, led by the creativity and ingenuity of entrepreneurs, can be the engine of job creation when government "gives them room and stays out of their way" with fewer regulatory hurdles and lower taxes.

That's true to a certain extent, but there's a lot more that goes into the decision to start or expand a business than the tax implications and regulatory environment. I, for one, believe that these factors play only a small role in an entrepreneur's overall equation. Rather, it's much more about the broader opportunity to create wealth for one's self, family, and the larger community; deliver a product or service to customers that's differentiated and offers tremendous value; and leave a legacy that has the potential to persist for years and years. In the many conversations I've had with current and aspiring entrepreneurs over the years, I have yet to meet one who has said, "You know, the critical things holding back my business are taxes being too high and onerous government rules and regulations."

Sure, wouldn't we all like to have lower tax rates and free ourselves of seemingly endless and complex government bureaucracy? When I had my restaurant business, I hit the roof every two weeks when I had to fork over thousands of dollars in payroll taxes and complained all the time about the costs of licenses and permits from the health department, liquor control commission, and other government agencies. However, taxes and regulations are the price we pay for an organized capitalistic system with the basic foundation and infrastructure and checks and balances upon which we can build a successful enterprise.

Therefore, I think we're better off focusing on how to increase entrepreneurs' opportunities to create or expand their businessses in the first place:

• Getting access to capital
• Acquiring skills and knowledge to be good business owners who make a positive impact on the community
• Finding and hiring good employees
• Reaching out to new markets
• Bridging the gap between the idea and its implementation
• Encouraging investment in technologies that create new industries for future growth and prosperity

As Mark Cuban said in a blog post that I wrote about earlier this year: "Bust your ass and get rich. Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes. Lots of taxes. Hire people. Train people. Pay people. Spend money on rent, equipment, services. Pay more taxes."

Entrepreneurs create opportunity, which leads to the creation of new and expanded businesses, which leads to more jobs. In the meantime, our government should invest in those areas that enable those opportunities -- education, infrastructure, R&D, energy efficiency, healthcare, safety/security. That's where we need to focus our efforts and energy.