More than 1,000 miles from Washington, D.C., Marie DeNicola’s small business is already experiencing the consequences of lawmakers’ inability to compromise on the budget.

If Democrats and Republicans don’t come to a consensus soon, a combination of billions of dollars in tax increases and budget cuts will go into effect Jan. 1. This “fiscal cliff,” as it is commonly being called, is already hurting DeNicola’s company, Mainstream Boutique, a Minneapolis-based chain of 23 franchise stores that sell women’s clothes. DeNicola recently got a painful email from a prospective franchisee who said that she changed her mind about opening a store because of uncertainty about the economic and political climate.

“It was like a punch in the stomach,” says DeNicola, who also operates one of the stores. “It’s a little scary — because of the unknown, small businesses aren’t waiting until January or February to see what happens. People are reacting now.”

Going over the cliff could have a range of negative ramifications. If people have to pay higher taxes, they will likely spend less. Businesses will hold off on hiring or making investments that could help them expand. Federal budget cuts will put billions in government contracts in jeopardy. Economists and lawmakers warn that without an agreement, the U.S. could slip back into a recession. And they say that small businesses have the most to lose.

Like her potential franchisee, DeNicola is also holding off on big moves because of the cliff.

“We’re waiting to see what happens before we decide on hiring. I can’t continue to invest in the business until I know what’s going to happen,” she says.

One of the biggest concerns for small merchants is the pending expiration of the 2 percentage point cut in payroll taxes that gave consumers more money to spend in 2010 and 2011. If the tax cut isn’t extended, the government stands to get $95 billion — money that consumers won’t be spending at Mainstream Boutique and other small businesses. Long-term jobless benefits will also expire, giving people who have been out of work for a long time $26 billion less to spend.

The prospect of consumers spending less troubles Greg Jones. The owner of three Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchises in Florida is concerned that customers who might normally stop in three times a week will cut that back to once. Restaurants like his lost business to cheaper options like McDonald’s during the recession. He’s worried that will happen again.

The consequences that Jones faces are a big part of why Georgia Institute of Technology professor Thomas Boston says he thinks the fiscal cliff could do enough damage to small businesses to halt the economic recovery.

“They’re just now recovering, really growing in any kind of significant way since the recession,” Boston says. “The job creation we’ve seen over the last five months, that creation has been located overwhelmingly in small businesses.”

The stalemate in Washington has kept Arthur Cooper from making big decisions about his Randolph, N.J. Internet marketing company, Optimum7.

“I have to be more defensive in my posture — I have to hire only based on new business that’s already coming in,” he says. “I can’t plan on news business that might happen.”