While small business owners have suffered under the pressure of taxes and regulations from federal, state and local government bodies, there is a trend that seems to making small business survival even more difficult – direct competition from governmental bodies, primarily at the state and local levels.

According to statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the number of small business startups outpaced small business closures from the early 1970s (when the SBA first began tracking these numbers) through 2008. However, since 2008, the trend has been reversing, with more small businesses closing each year than opening.

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau's BDS (Business Dynamics Statistics) cite similar numbers. According to that data, there were 482,000 small business "births" in 2000 and 408,000 "deaths." In 2009, the numbers were 410,000 "births" and 509,000 "deaths," and the number of "deaths" has outpaced the number of "births" every year since.