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Blog Bling
Oct
29
How Small Business Friendly is Your Organization?
October 29, 2007 | Anita Campbell
Uh-oh. It could be bad news for small businesses in the lumber business that hire immigrants or aliens. They have to deal with two of the least responsive agencies in the U.S. Federal government for small businesses: the U.S. Forest Service and Immigrations.
The National Ombudsman Report (PDF) just came out for 2006. The National Ombudsman, Nicholas Owens (yes, there really is such a person), operates within the Small Business Administration and issues a report each year to Congress.
The National Ombudsman’s Office rates Federal agencies on whether their regulatory enforcement policies are small-business friendly. The agencies are assigned letter grades (A through F) in a variety of categories.
This year, Immigrations scored straight Fs — for shame! The U.S. Forest Service did better, but overall was rated C. All other agencies got overall grades of A or B.
The most instructive part of the report contains real-life stories about entrepreneurs having problems dealing with particular Federal agencies and the outcomes. In some cases the problems arise from a comedy of errors — except that to the small business involved it is no laughing matter, of course.
The report identifies five common themes that lead to most complaints by small businesses against Federal agencies:
- Confusing/Changing Regulations – Small businesses often struggle to interpret regulatory complexities and keep up with new requirements.
- Crossed Signals/Lack of Communication – Busy entrepreneurs and Federal regulators inhabit separate worlds, and some miscommunication might be expected. The trouble arises when misperceptions or misplaced messages seriously impact the vitality of a small company.
- Costly Agency Errors – Even minor mistakes in the regulatory enforcement process can produce a heavy financial or logistical burden for a small business.
- Costly Compliance Conditions – A rule that appears reasonable to regulators can result in costly and frustrating hurdles for businesses with small staffs and limited financial resources.
- Regulatory Overkill – Fines and inspections meant to foster good business behavior and protect the public good can result in serious financial setbacks to a small business.
Do you see any of these issues in your organization or business, say, in the way you communicate with small businesses or in your organization’s policies? Do you make it easy for small businesses to do business with you?
Comments
2 Comments so far
“. . . real-life stories about entrepreneurs having problems dealing with particular Federal agencies and the outcomes. In some cases the problems arise from a comedy of errors — except that to the small business involved it is no laughing matter, of course.”
I can certainly agree with that statement. These agencies are so large that the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The one who pays that price isn’t the agency. And you can receive contradictory information from the same agency depending on what department your dealing with. It’s amazing. But while your waiting for them to get it together. . .your business is suffering by jumping through hoops, making changes and spending endless amounts of time on the phone with people who don’t seem to know more than you did when you originally phoned!
I can so relate to this. Dealing with any Federal Agency can be ever so frustrating. I don’t know if it’s just waiting for them to get it together or…they just don’t care.