Contracts have stalled, regular orders are not coming in and small business owners are worried about how to pay employees and their bills. The hurt from the federal government shutdown of 2013 is very real, and could get worse.

“Several companies have reported that they are receiving stop work orders from their closed federal customers,” Larry Allen, contracting consultant, wrote in a recent blog entry.

However, in some cases, those orders ought to be interpreted as “wait until we get back” notices, with work to resume after the shutdown is over, Allen added. (Web link: http://goo.gl/i31FvJ)

Some contractors anticipate furloughs for their workers.

“Sixty percent to 70% of our work comes from federal contracts. As far as I can tell, most of that is going to stop,” Stacy Robison, owner of CommunicateHealth, a small vendor, told the WashingtonPost. “Potentially we’ll have to furlough half our staff, which is just a really hard process.”

Navy inspector furloughs were negatively affecting Dante Valve Co. in Los Angeles.

Lisa Papini, vice president, said the company has about $100,000 worth of valves for the Navy that cannot be inspected or shipped. “We’ll be at a stop,” she told CBSNews.

Congress in the past has not reimbursed contractors for time lost without pay during furloughs, Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, told BusinessWeek: “That truly is lost time and lost wages that can never be made up,” Chvotkin said.