Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy reported that businesses with less than 20 employees spend 36 percent more on regulatory costs than large organizations. With many governments increasing fines and building in greater compexity around business compliance for SMBs, has anyone been impacted by this greater complexity? A few examples of local government changes are below, but please post more if you've seen them in your area!

·         Exponentially Increasing Fees: City officials in Lynwood, Wash. voted for a business license fee increase of almost five times the current rate – which, for one small business, meant increasing from $15.50 per employee to $85.00 per employee annually.

·         Changing Methods of Communication with State Governments: In order to save money on postage and paper, many state governments are now communicating with businesses electronically, putting the burden on SMBs to implement an auditable, secure IT infrastructure to accommodate the new form of communication.       

·         Revising Long-Standing Codes: Clark County, Nev. officials are proposing wide-ranging amendments to their county’s licensing code, which had not been amended since 1961, and increasing fees that had remained unchanged for more than 10 years.