He continued: "Instead of focusing on clients' needs, we worry about health care regulation. Instead of seeing opportunities to move forward and create jobs, we have to reassess to see whether it will push us over the employer mandate thresholds."

To be successful in a small business, according to Dr. Sergio, you must be able to accurately identify, forecast and control your expenses in order to create profits - profits that you can in turn reinvest in growing your business. "From the beginning, it has been clear that no one seemed to even read, much less understand, what was in the ACA," he said. "Small businesses, their advisors, tax professionals, and even insurance companies are frustrated with the complications it has caused and all the unintended costs for the great amount of administrative time to evaluate options and process the invasive application for care. Job creators have been struggling to understand it and interpret it. Therefore, we cannot accurately predict or manage the costs associated with bringing in more employees."

Another specific problem: "Our businesses have exhausted many options in dealing with the requirements of the Act," he said. "We had to drop a traditional PPO plan for a high-deductible Obamacare-compliant program. As a result, our employees and our company are paying more for an inferior policy."

According to Dr. Sergio, "Common sense and a basic understanding of human nature tell you that you will always get what you incentivize. You get more of what you reward and less of what you punish. The ACA punishes employment growth. The incentive is to not grow."

And, "In short, the ACA has made building a small business more stressful and has caused many businesses like ours to pull back and stop growing."

He also noted: "I know of one small business personally that closed two of its multiple retail stores, because it was the only way that it could keep to under 50 employees."