{"id":266400,"date":"2026-05-11T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/266400\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:00:08","slug":"dollars-sense-small-shops-big-stakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/266400\/","title":{"rendered":"Dollars & Sense: Small Shops, Big Stakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 From family-owned restaurants to independent retail shops, small businesses make up the overwhelming majority of companies nationwide<\/a> and play a major role in driving economic growth. According to the National Business Association<\/a>, small businesses continue to serve as the backbone of local neighborhoods, creating jobs and providing services that larger corporations often cannot replicate.<\/p>\n

But many owners say challenges including inflation, insurance costs, staffing shortages, and access to capital continue to put pressure on their operations. Business owners say resilience and adaptability have become essential to survival.<\/p>\n

National Small Business Week<\/a> is intended to highlight both the contributions and concerns of these businesses, while encouraging consumers to support local establishments that help shape the character of their communities.<\/p>\n

It comes at a time when many local entrepreneurs are navigating rising costs, changing consumer habits, and economic uncertainty, all while trying to keep their doors open and communities thriving.<\/p>\n

Last week, we spoke with our resident business expert CBS\u2019 Jill Schlesinger who shared her insight into what steps people should take when striking out on their own and even what tax implications should be when you work for yourself. Here\u2019s the full transcript of our conversation:<\/p>\n

WKMG-TV: With the job market stuck in neutral, more Americans are shying away from traditional careers and instead betting on themselves. This week \u2013 in honor of National Small Business Week \u2013 CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger<\/a> is here with what you need to know before taking the leap.<\/p>\n

Jill, what are some of the steps for someone thinking about going out on their own?<\/p>\n

Jill Schlesinger: Well, I love small businesses. I owned a company myself for 14 years, but a warning here. We don\u2019t want you to blow up your financial life until you create a plan. You can lean on technology. Analysts say we are seeing a surge in business formation right now that is likely being fueled in part by AI because AI can dramatically reduce the cost and the complexity of launching a company.<\/p>\n

Once you have your plan, just test the idea, hopefully with a side hustle, while you still have income from a full-time job. You wanna know, is this a viable business? And you going to know that before you give up that consistent paycheck.<\/p>\n

WKMG-TV: And presuming that the idea does work, what other considerations are there?<\/p>\n

Jill Schlesinger: I know when you think about the idea of owning your own business, you\u2019re dreaming about, Oh, this is so great. More flexibility \u2013 there\u2019s upside of earning more money. I\u2019m going to be a great boss. Okay. Yes. However, it is also important to determine what are you giving up? Remember when you work for yourself, there\u2019s a tax implication. You\u2019re on the hook for payroll taxes as both the employee, but also as the employer.<\/p>\n

Now, you also have to replace valuable benefits. Think about it, health, life, disability insurance, and access to a retirement plan that may have a matching component. It\u2019s not necessarily a deal breaker to give these things up but just know that before you start your journey.<\/p>\n

WKMG-TV: And Jill, what do people need to know about choosing a business structure?<\/p>\n

Jill Schlesinger: Well, this decision can affect your taxes, your personal liability, maybe even your ability to raise money in the future. So please seek the advice of a CPA or a certified financial planner. You want to discuss what makes most sense for you.<\/p>\n

Three of the most common structures that we see when people are beginning the process is they are looking at a sole proprietorship. It\u2019s very easy, but there\u2019s no protection if something goes wrong in the business. They can come after you personally. Then there\u2019s a limited liability company, an LLC. That can shield your personal assets from a business problem, and there\u2019s also an S-Corp. It can help reduce your self-employment tax burden. You gotta just see which one makes the most sense for you.<\/p>\n

WKMG-TV: Jill, sounds great. It\u2019s a lot to think about before taking that entrepreneurial plunge. You can see Joe regularly on CBS Mornings<\/a> and the CBS Evening News<\/a>. For more analysis, go to JillOnMoney.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 From family-owned restaurants to independent retail shops, small businesses make up the overwhelming majority of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[91635,76958,2159,139,141,140],"class_list":["post-266400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-dollars-sense","tag-dollars-and-sense","tag-money","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}