3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: July 11

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Small-business financing continues to be a problem. Cash flow issues continue to plague a significant number of America's small businesses, according to the 2012 Small Business Access to Capital Survey by the National Small Business Association.

Of the 300 survey small-business owner respondents, 43% said they needed funds at one point in the last four years and were unable to find any willing sources, whether that was loans, credit cards or investors.

"Not only have small-business owners been unable to find new credit over the last four years, nearly a third had their existing credit slashed and one in ten had their loans called in early," NSBA president and CEO Todd McCracken said in a press release. "What's worse -- 19% of those whose loans were called in early were given less than 15 days to pay the full balance of their loans."

Another unfortunate reality -- among the small-business owners who reported changes to their credit terms, 60% stated that the reason given was the bank's internal risk assessment, with another 15% saying they were given no explanation for changes to their credit.

2. Obama signs off on executive actions to bolster small businesses. The White House outlined four proposals by President Barack Obama meant to help small businesses. According to USA Today, the new rules "will accelerate Federal payments, reduce paperwork, and make it easier for small firms to access loans and tax credits," citing a White House statement.

The executive actions come on the heels of President Obama's plan to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for those making more than $250,000 -- an issue infuriating many small-business owners who use their personal tax statements to declare business income.

The executive actions include: temporarily accelerate payments to small-business subcontractors; support for capital investments expensing up to $250,000 in 2013; and increase access to capital with a re-launch of SBA's Small Loan Advantage (SLA) 2.0, which "raises the maximum loan amount from $250,000 to $350,000, streamlines the loan process, and makes it easier for lenders to extend loans to small businesses across America," according to USA Today.