Despite this past year's economic slowdown, the recent credit crunch and plummeting stock prices on Wall Street, LGBT small business owners, like many of their straight counterparts, are successfully riding out the storm.
Top economists and business leaders have declared the current financial morass an "economic apocalypse," yet recent congressional action on the $700 billion bailout bill points the way to what many hope is a brighter economic future.
"This bill's success shows that America's lawmakers understand the importance of a strong economy—and particularly that the tightening credit crisis was risking the ability of small businesses to make payroll, stock shelves and keep up with day-to-day expenses," says Chance Mitchell, co-founder and CEO of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
"In short, without this package, small businesses which make up the engine that run the United States economy seriously risked coming to an abrupt halt," Mitchell adds.
The biggest threat to small businesses from U.S. financial woes is the tightening of credit markets. Credit is a lifeline for small businesses looking to grow and maintain operations, and in some places, it's getting harder to find. Many banks are boosting credit score thresholds and tightening credit all around.
"Small business owners, whether or not they use credit to run or expand their own businesses, know that access to credit and a fully functioning financial market are important to them and to their customers, suppliers and vendors," says Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business.
For LGBT small businesses, the focus is on making do in this unpredictable economy.
Ask Izzy Schechner, a member of Plexus, the LGBT chamber for Cleveland, Ohio. He owns D&I Restaurant Group, a corporate catering company that's closer than most small businesses to the banking crisis—one of the cafeterias D&I runs is for a commercial bank.
"A lot of my customers in the cafeteria are either cutting back their orders drastically or bringing food from home," says Schechner. "That has impacted our business by about 25 or 30 percent."
In addition to dropping customer orders, Schechner has stopped cashing his own paycheck while making some painful cuts to his business.
"For the first time we've been going to discount wholesalers like Sam's Club and Costco to get the same products we normally have delivered. We've had to lay off a few people and we've stopped giving vacation pay this year for the first time ever," he says.
Marci Bair, a financial planner and employee benefits consultant in San Diego, has only gotten busier.
"The majority of my clients are small business owners coming in for advice on how to cut costs and restructure their employee benefits," says Bair. "We primarily look at all the aspects of the business where we can cut costs; a significant cost is in the health insurance area."
Bair, who belongs to the her local LGBT chamber, the Greater San Diego Business Association, says that business owners for the most part want to keep as many options open for their employees as possible.
"Now is not the time for employees to be without insurance," she says. "Some owners are going for a higher deductible plan, while others want to 'hang in there' with their current plans" in anticipation of better times.
And making sure to do business in the community is key to bringing those better times back, says Sam McClure, executive director of Twin Cities Quorum, the LGBT chamber of commerce for Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"We're seeing relationships among LGBT businesses grow even tighter since this economic crisis started," says McClure. "We're talking about how important it is to do business in your community again, even more than usual, and that's something that we haven't really talked about since the late 80s."
McClure also points to individual measures businesses can take, and that her chamber has consistently pushed, such as maintaining a high credit rating. "Planning strategically for growth is crucial now, because I don't think businesses are going to have as much flexibility as in the past," she says. "So being part of the community has taken on a higher level of importance."
Bair too is doing her part for the LGBT community and members of the LGBT chamber. She's helping LGBT couples and individuals maneuver through complicated financial and health care decisions as they face layoffs and office closures.
Schechner says that he feels supported by fellow LGBT entrepreneurs as well as he maneuvers through this difficult economy.
"It's comforting to have a sounding board from our chamber of commerce, just to bounce ideas off of and to help with cost-saving strategies, networking, and to help utilize our resources to the max," he says.
McClure suggests LGBT entrepreneurs practice an "economics of conscience."
"Whenever we earn or spend a dollar inside of our community we are flexing our considerable economic muscle. I would say to every gay and gay-friendly business owner, choose thoughtfully where you buy your next cup of coffee, where you have your next lunch meeting, where you invest your retirement funds, where you go for happy hour.
"Every choice is a new opportunity to drive our economic power for change."
