According to the latest annual National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index, the greatest problem facing small businesses is poor sales.

The NFIB survey asked 11,000 small business owners to choose their single most important problem from a list of ten factors, such as taxes, inflation, or government requirements and red tape.

The reported results indicate that inventory investment levels are at historic lows, capital expenditures are on hold, and businesses are contemplating additional layoffs. But to me, the real news is that a third of participants cited poor sales as the greatest problem facing their business right now (an all-time high for this category).