A Day In The Life Exploring the ups and downs of life as a small-business lobbyist

Politicians are far from the only folks doing business onCapitol Hill. Behind the scenes, scores of lobbyists labor toprotect and promote the interests of the disparate groups theyrepresent. We wondered what it would be like to walk a day in theshoes of one such lobbyist--one who works on behalf of smallbusiness, naturally--so we turned to James Morrison, anindependently contracted senior policy advisor with The NationalAssociation for the Self-Employed (NASE). What follows is a journeythrough Morrison's experiences on the day of April 23,1997.

7:30 a.m. Morrison's day begins at his homebasedoffice with a computer printout of small-business-relatedinformation pulled from an online clipping service.

8:20 a.m. After dropping his daughter off at school,Morrison catches the subway for the office. "As I'm ridinginto Washington, I scan all those clippings and generally at leastone newspaper,' he says, noting his daily goal of readingthree to four newspapers.

9 a.m. Morrison arrives at NASE offices. The first orderof business is a final check of the testimony that NASE is givingto the House Small Business Committee later that day. The oraltestimony pertains to The Home-Based Business Fairness Act.

10 a.m. Morrison attends a meeting of The SavingsCoalition of America. "This particular coalition focuses onexpanding eligibility for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) andimproving the nation's savings rate,' he says."There was a discussion about some of the IRA legislationpending on Capitol Hill.'

10:30 a.m. Time to attend the House Small BusinessCommittee hearing. "These kinds of hearings also serve as aninformal get-together of small-business advocates on CapitolHill,' Morrison notes.

11:45 a.m. Morrison goes to a meeting of the BusinessCoalition for Affordable Health Care. "The meeting centered onmedical savings accounts," he says, "[which is] somethingNASE supports.'

12:45 p.m. Morrison joins Rep. Marcy Kaptur
(D-OH) and a couple other folks for lunch. Lunch-time conversationrevolves around an amendment Kaptur is introducing on the Housefloor that day seeking to exempt small businesses from having topublish patent applications before a patent is granted. Afterlunch, Morrison checks his messages and returns calls.

2 p.m. At this point, Morrison meets with the SenateSmall Business Committee to discuss tax legislation.

2:45 p.m. Morrison next talks about patent billamendments with an aide in the office of Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA)."It's far more typical to meet with an aide than to meetwith a [congressional] member,' Morrison explains."An aide can spend a lot more time [with you].'

3 p.m. Morrison convenes with fellow small-businessadvocates to observe the debate on the Kaptur amendment. "Wegathered in an office to watch it on television," saysMorrison. "From there we could make phone calls, and if we sawthey needed [additional information about the amendment] on the[House] floor, we could write it up and send it down.'

5:45 p.m. After several hours of congressional debate,Kaptur's amendment passes by a margin of less than 30 votes."That was a tremendous and unexpected victory forus,' says Morrison. "People were cheering and jumpingup and down--it was quite a scene.'

8:30 p.m. Following some taking-care-of-businessconversations at nearby congressional clubs, Morrison boards thesubway for home. On the way, he reads papers and materials hedidn't get to earlier.

"It was a long day--but not atypically long,' saysMorrison. "It was kind of a fun day, too--capped by winningsomething we didn't think we were going to win. We do winsometimes.'

And now it's on to the next day, the next meeting, the nextbattle. . .

Heat Wave

Mixing business with pleasure this summer

The joys of summer captivate us all, so why should entrepreneursbe excluded from the fun? In fact, entrepreneurship and summertimego hand in hand--witness that venerable summer institution, thelemonade stand. Here are some ideas to make your summer abreeze:

• Green grass, blue skies, lucrative contracts . . . there isperhaps no better way to mix business with pleasure than to set upa golf meeting during your summer travels. Executive Golf Services(EGS) Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland, can help by arranging tee timesat any of about 1,300 golf courses nationwide. You tell EGS whereyou're traveling to, and they'll recommend the best coursesin the area. Once you've made your selection, EGS takes care ofthe tee-time booking, makes payment arrangements, and faxes you aconfirmation. "We're the eyes and ears of the businesstraveler,' says Pete Malphrus, EGS' founder. "Weknow the new and exciting courses and can book tee times at certainprivate clubs.'

For a fee of 12 percent to 17 percent of the total booking, EGSprovides the unbeatable: your client's undivided attention forfour hours. "A wonderful golf experience gives you a betterchance to close business deals,' says Malphrus. Call (800)551-1955 for more information.

• If you want to slip out of the office and head for the beach orpool, watch your back: Unless you want to deal with raw,lobster-red skin the next day, remember that the sunburn also risesin hard-to-reach places. Sun Mate, a sunscreen lotion applicatorfrom Southern Exposure USA Inc. in Panama City, Florida, helps younot feel the burn.

The notion was born from the painful memories of Sandy Mandigo,a beach-goer frustrated by the strip on her back that wasconsistently getting burned. Not finding any practical, economicalsolution, Mandigo patented a plastic, collapsible wand with a softhypolene pad on one end and succeeded in placing the product in herlocal Wal-Mart. Priced at less than $5, Sun Mate is now availablein select stores nationwide, and not a moment too soon: Here comesthe sun.

Survey Says

Just how much do your benefits cost?

No matter how you slice it, employee benefits are costly--but doyou know just how costly? A recent survey of 864 companies by theU.S. Chamber of Commerce found that benefits accounted for 32.8percent of small companies' payroll costs in 1995.

The good news? That was a 1.7 percent drop from 1994, whenbenefits consumed 34.5 percent of payroll for firms with fewer than100 employees. Martin Lefkowitz, director of special projects forthe chamber, attributes the drop in part to small businessescutting health-care costs
by participating in purchasing co-ops and generally buyingsmarter.

Knowing what percentage of your payroll is devoted to benefitscosts is important, especially when deciding to hire, Lefkowitzsays. Knowing your costs can influence whether you hire a full- orpart-time person, have current employees work overtime temporarily,or use a temporary staffing service.

The chamber offers a software program, Benetracs ($95), thatenables you to evaluate benefits costs for each of your workers.For more information on the survey or Benetracs, call (800)638-6582 or, in Maryland, (800) 352-1450.

Read All About It

What are business owners reading these days? The top 10business books at press time (based on net sales) were:

1.Success Is a Choice, by Rick Pitino, $25(Bantam Publishing)

2.Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Truth AboutWealth in America, by Thomas J. Stanley and William Danko, $22(Longstreet Press)

3.Wall Street Money Machine, by Wade Cook, $24.95(Midpoint Books)

4.Stock Market Miracles, by Wade Cook, $24.95(The Lighthouse Publishing Group)

5.Ernst & Young Tax Guide 1997, by Editors,$14.95 (John Wiley & Sons)

6.The Dilbert Principle, by Scott Adams, $20(Harper Collins)

7.What Color Is Your Parachute--1996, by RichardNelson Bolles, $14.95
(Ten Speed Press)

8.Financial Accounting: An Introduction toConcepts, Methods and Uses, by Clyde Stickeny, $81.25 (HarcourtBrace & Co.)

9.Investing for Dummies, by Eric Tyson, $19.99(IDG Books Worldwide)

10.Personal Finance for Dummies, by Eric Tyson,$19.99 (IDG Books Worldwide)

Painting The Town

Take This Entrepreneur's Advice: Never Judge An Idea ByIts Source.

After seven years running a gourmet chocolate business, myhusband, Tom, and I have learned the best ideas come from the mostunexpected sources. In our case, that source was Dirty Larry.

Allow me to explain. A few years ago, Tom and I were searchingfor an idea to enter in the "Brown-out," a localfund-raising event where attendees feast on chocolates donated byarea businesses, and the businesses vie for awards.

Our first year participating, we won the People's Choiceaward. The second year, we won the People's Choice and MostDelicious awards. We were approaching our third year when DirtyLarry came into our shop.

Tom lovingly refers to our dear customer and friend as"Dirty Larry" because Larry is always inviting us to dooutrageous things like go skinny-dipping in the river. We politelydecline. Not our style. But fun-loving Larry never gives up onus.

Tom and I asked Larry what we should contribute to the Brown-outin our third year. "You have to go for the MostDecadent," Larry said. "So I'll go naked. You paintmelted chocolate all over my body. People will lick it off. Andyou'll win!"

"We'll win--and get arrested," I said.

We politely declined. Not our style. But Tom began asking whenwe were going to introduce Chocolate Body Paint. "Noway," I said. "Can't we be normal and just sellbonbons?"

"But, Sally," Tom replied, "this is sex. Sexsells."

So it went for several months until a Rotary meeting atTom's club. Tom made a batch of chocolate dessert topping,labeled it "Chocolate Body Paint," and presented it tothe president: "It's great on ice cream, too," Tomsaid. "Follow the directions precisely. Heat to 98.6 degrees,apply liberally and let your imagination run free."

The president, a mild-mannered, well-respected dentist,graciously accepted the gift. At the next meeting he gave hisreport:

"My wife and I tried the Chocolate Body Paint," heannounced. "We followed the directions precisely. We heated itto 98.6 degrees, applied liberally and let our imaginations runfree.

"When we were done, my wife said, `Oh, darling, let'sdo that again.'

"I replied, `I'd love to, dear, but . . . we've runout of ice cream.' "

The club howled. And Tom's badgering increased. Finally, Iagreed to let him test-market it in our shop. But the first day ithit the shelves, I saw "her" approaching the store.

An older lady, she didn't look like the stereotypical BodyPaint customer. As Tom scurried toward her, I cringed.

"Ma'am," Tom said, "we're coming out witha new product. It's called Chocolate Body Paint,and--"

"Chocolate Body Paint!" the lady cried. "I musthave this!"

My eyes popped open as the lady grabbed the jar and startedspilling intimacies to Tom. She and her husband were taking theirfirst overnight trip in 20 years, and she had come to town to buy anegligee. "But if you give me this jar of Chocolate BodyPaint," she said, "I won't need a negligee!"

"Keep it," Tom said. "It's yours.Enjoy!"

As I rang up her purchase, she asked, "So . . . how isit?"

"It's great on vanilla ice cream," I replied.

"No, I mean . . . how is it?" she asked.

"Oh. Uh . . . I don't know," I replied.

She looked straight at me and asked, "Dear, is everythingall right with your marriage?"

Today, the Body Paint is our bestselling product. It's wonawards and been featured in publications from The Wall StreetJournal to Playboy Magazine.

Am I glad I let Tom talk me into selling Chocolate Body Paint?You bet. For on that fateful day, I learned two things: Never judgea book by its cover, and never judge an idea by its source.

Answer In The Affirmative

How the government plans to amend its affirmative actionprograms

Attempting to walk a balance beam between its promises tominority contractors and its obligations to the Supreme Court, theClinton administration recently announced its plan for handling thevery big, very sticky issue of federal affirmative action programs.The ambitious approach involves an industry-by-industry review,spanning nearly 80 industries, to determine which areas still needaffirmative action to level the playing field and which sectorscould do without it.

The plan, which will affect the awarding of federal contractsworth approximately $200 billion annually, responds to two forces:the Supreme Court's 1995 decision in the now-infamous Adarandcase and the president's commitment that affirmative actionshould be amended rather than ended. "We've done a fairamount of study and believe that affirmative action is stillwarranted, but that's just the first part of theanalysis," says a Justice Department official. "Thesecond step is to try to target affirmative action to those placeswhere it's needed."

While the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a)set-aside program for socially and economically disadvantaged firmsis a separate program from the one the Justice Department isstudying, it is expected to be directly affected by the findings.The plan is set up to provide benchmarks for the SBA administrator,who can then consider how to limit the use of 8(a) in certainindustries.

"We have to fix these problems," says the official."But strict scrutiny is not easy. That's the Adarandstandard--it's a much tougher standard, and it requires thegovernment to jump through more hoops if it wants to haveaffirmation action. But this administration remains committed topreserving affirmative action where it's appropriate to do so,as opposed to abolishing it outright."

Not all share this optimism for a more level playing field."The Clinton administration's alleged reforms are strictlywindow dressing. I see this as much ado about virtuallynothing," says Michael A. Carvin, a partner with Washington,DC-based law firm Cooper & Carvin PLLC and a former deputyassistant attorney general for civil rights. "As far as I cantell, the only thing this [plan] does is tie the goals toparticular industries, but it doesn't in any way eliminate thepreferences that are still there. This doesn't even address theproblem, much less solve it. It's much more of a politicalexercise than one calculated to reform the programs in anyreal-world way. It gives the illusion of change without any actualchange."

Meanwhile, other analysts applaud the effort. "It makesconstitutional and policy sense to move in this direction,"says Christopher Edley Jr., a civil rights specialist at HarvardUniversity Law School in Boston. "No one can predict howserious the impact will be until all the analysis is complete, butthis is a good-faith effort. It's based on principal, notpolitics."

Edley's concern is not so much with the review itself aswith the aftereffects once the rule is finalized late this fall."The simple fact that somebody within the system is gettingopportunities doesn't necessarily mean the effects ofdiscrimination have been eliminated, even for thatindividual," says Edley. "The danger is that the programmay be eliminated in a particular sector, only to have the doorslammed shut and the old-boy networks regain control of theprocess. Old habits die hard, and the goal here is not to pretendthat problems have been solved when they haven't."

Contact Sources

Executive Golf Services Inc., (800) 551-1955, (301) 229-5511,fax: (301) 229-1523;

GE Capital Small Business Finance, 635 Maryville Centre Dr.,#120, P.O. Box 419025, St. Louis, MO 63141;

The National Association for the Self-Employed, (202) 466-2100,http://www.nase.org;

National Small Business United, (202) 293-8830;

Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, 409 ThirdSt., #7800, Washington, DC 20416, (800) 8-ASK-SBA, (202) 205-6533,http://www.sba.gov;

Harry S. Smith, 106 N. Washington St., Winchester, VA 22601,(540) 465-9121;

Southern Exposure USA Inc., P.O. Box 27246, Panama City, FL32411, (800) 787-2872, (904) 230-0404;

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC 20062.