Working in a small company that is going through the ISO process, I would have to say that that ISO 9001:2000 is flawed when it comes to implementing it into a small businesses. We were originally asked to get ISO certified by our customer, but management saw a great opportunity to implement a solid QMS as well.
Our quality system is supported by management ( They have stated time and time again we want a system that works and not just a cert), their involved in every aspect of the QMS from approving documents to actually giving training, but the implementation cost, man hours, training are hard on a small business.
Our certification partner is great and is willing to work with us to ensure we're have a solid ISO system in place as well, our pre-assessment auditor is well versed in ISO 9001:2000 and looks at the system to ensure it's working based on objective evidence.
I think that someone should write an ISO standard for small businesses maybe title it: Mini-ISO 9001:2000