CROWDFUNDING

"This will really open the floodgates to a whole new arena of entrepreneurs who are trying to help other entrepreneurs finance their dreams," says NASE CEO Kristie Arslan. "The great thing about crowdfunding is that it allows people to choose; you're putting your business idea out there and asking people to invest in you and your idea. The good ideas will hopefully rise to the top."

Partisanship in Washington has risen to an all-time high and “politics as usual” has come to mean complete gridlock, where the most basic legislation falls flat because of political gamesmanship. That’s why the bipartisan jobs bill headed to the president’s desk for approval is such a breath of fresh air.

The idea has wide bipartisan support in the House as well as President Obama’s backing. And small business advocates including SCORE CEO Ken Yancey and NASE CEO Kristie Arslan tell me they support crowdfunding legislation.

Kristie Arslan, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Self-Employed, says crowdfunding could be a godsend for the 22 million Americans who are self-employed and who often struggle to raise capital. “The smallest businesses have the most limited choices when it comes to accessing financing,” she says. While crowdfunding would not be the right option for every self-employed individual, it could help many who can’t get traditional bank loans, she notes.

Arslan points out that 78 percent of the small business population is comprised of self-employed people. “They don’t need large sums to start or grow, but traditional lending institutions don’t look at them as moneymakers.” Crowdfunding, she says, is a way individuals with business ideas can “fund their dream in an easy way.”