Oh, really? The typical small business owner that comprises my customer pbase requires face-to-face contact and an on-site presence in order to properly asses their business methods and address their security issues. Most of them wouldn't dream of dealing with someone who isn't even local much less an American citizen. What I do cannot be effectively done via telephone or website quesionnaire. Oh, I didn't realize you were addressing "small business". In over ten years of trying I never found a means of constructively (and profitably) working with small business, so forgive me for assuming you were working with a different market segment.
In fact, now that I think about it, my customer base is largely multi-national/Fortune 1000 corporations.
However, my own business plan defines my job to provide that "local intereface" to customers, so that element isn't entirely missing.
Broadband satellite installations also require a physical presence. You can't offshore that, either. The follow-on services and products that the custoemr requires make for a profitable enterprise. No one's going offshore for that.
Well, that's only if your customer happens to be onshore. But as we all know the customer base is moving offshore, and when *they* need locals they won't be here in the US.
Do accept my wishes, however, that your enterprise is wildly successful. And personally I am all for protection of technology (and manufacturing) jobs here in the US because, quite frankly, I think there's more profit in it (and it's better for the country). However, if my profession is going to commit mass suicide by remaining unengaged in the political process then I'm not going to be one of the lemmings going over the cliff(!)
Thanks for the kind regards. I should add that I define small business as those operations employing 100 or fewer people. As I state in the intro to the commercial section of my website, approximately 75% of all businesses in America have fewer than 20 employees. For businesses with fewer than 100 employees, that figure rises to 89%, give or take a few points. It is also true that the most creative and entrepreneurial segment of America's business community - the small business owner - is either under-served or almost completely ignored by the majority of information systems and services providers. They're not worth the trouble, you see.
And that suits me just fine. These folks are happy to see me and happy to pay me. I deliver what they need and I do this at a price that they can afford. As these business operations grow, I'm the guy they call when they want to scale up. It's a great market with virtually no real competition.