4 Small business owners explain what they want from government to navigate uncertainty

Small businesses have been dealt with a tough card set during a pandemic era marked by closures, labor shortages and other challenges. Axios Small businesses are navigating uncertain waters, according to recent reports, as prices skyrocket and labor and supply shortages are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

Latest on MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce small business index, 85% of SMEs say they are concerned about rising inflation. More than half (51%) believe it will take at least six months for their small business environment to return to normal.

However, although there are challenges, the number of applications to start new businesses has also surged. Over the past two years, entrepreneurship has risen to unprecedented levels, leading to the largest increase in new business applications in recorded history.

That is why the US Chamber of Commerce has published a set of five principles. Small Business Bill of Rights We call on our elected leaders to help small businesses, old and new, overcome challenges and uncertainties to grow and thrive.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means to be a small business owner, but the Small Business Bill of Rights does it,” said Lori Tapani, co-owner and president of Wyoming Machine in Stacey, Minnesota. I will.” The Bill of Rights asks elected leaders to create an environment in which founders and small business owners are free to:

• Employment and management of employees

• establish the conditions under which they do business

• protected from baseless lawsuits

• Benefit from your business and shape its future

• free from cumbersome regulations

“Lack of clarity hurts my business”

The first principle overburdens the ability of SMEs to establish their own employment policies or interferes with their ability to compete fairly for talent, including through the use of independent contractors and part-time workers. I am asking the government not to do this.

As a business consultant, Ronnie Slone, president of The Slone Group in New Orleans, Louisiana, said he needed to use independent contractors to meet his ever-changing mix of clients and scope of work. I’m here.

“Using other trusted consultants to build our business gives us the flexibility of services and expertise we need to help our clients,” says Slone. “Unfortunately, the lack of clarity in state and federal law about what constitutes an employee and what constitutes an independent contractor is hurting my business.”

‘Wage requirements act as a deterrent’

For Creature Comforts Veterinary Resort and Suites in Inman, South Carolina, it is important to establish the second principle of the Bill of Rights, the conditions for small businesses to do business.

Small business owners should be free to manage the day-to-day operations of their businesses, including establishing terms of service and signing contracts, without unnecessary government intervention, says the Bill of Rights.

According to Craig Lambert, president of Creature Comforts, a clear example of unnecessary government intervention in day-to-day operations is the minimum wage requirement.

“When the federal government sets a minimum wage rate, that requirement interferes with the employer-employee relationship. Federal minimum wage mandates limit what small business owners can talk to job seekers about.” says Lambert.

Furthermore, Lambert said, “mandating higher wages without acknowledging the qualifications and talents required for certain jobs leads to arbitrary price hikes to consumers necessary to meet increased wage demand. ‘ said.

“We have many stories”

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), the United States has the most expensive legal system in the world, with 79% of American voters viewing the number of “baseless” lawsuits as a problem. increase.

Frivolous, unnecessary and costly litigation can be devastating to small business owners. The Bill of Rights makes it clear that small businesses have the right to do business without fear of profit-based lawsuits that use the threat of litigation to extort payment.

Heleena Sideris, co-owner of Park City Lodging, a property management and vacation rental business in Park City, Utah, has seen her fair share of wrongful lawsuits.

“The property owner left our managed pool and his water heater broke a few months later and he sued us. A person sued us because the lender didn’t approve a loan to buy the property…and the list goes on,” Sideris says.

Recently, the ILR said that SMEs now face greater potential as they struggle to overcome the challenges posed by inflation, supply chains and labor shortages. Reported. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) hit hard.

Law firms are looking for ways to abuse the ADA, targeting small businesses with excessive ADA lawsuits. These lawsuits have prioritized forcing small businesses to settle millions of dollars rather than improving accessibility as the law intended.

according to court newsone San Francisco restaurant, Hon’s Wun-Tun House, announced in March 2021 that its dining table was not wheelchair accessible, even though it was only offering takeout and not offering sit-down service. sued.

‘Regulations don’t make sense’

The fourth principle of the Bill of Rights is that small business owners benefit from the business they have built and are free to decide the future of their business, including whether to sell it or leave it as an inheritance. says it should.

However, small businesses are often prevented from pursuing the avenues they want for their business because of regulations.

“We want to establish an employee-owned business, but the regulation of funding makes no sense. There are too many challenges to achieve this,” said Sideris of Park City Lodging. .

“Never-ending Rule Change Controversy”

Freedom from onerous government regulations will be liberating for small businesses that find themselves navigating new regulatory changes at every turn.

“In game theory, every time you change the rules of the game, the participants are forced to change the way they play the game. In this case, we are talking about small businesses in America, which account for over 60% of net new jobs. Flintlock Capital general partner Joe Shamess said during testimony before the House Small Business Committee at the June 2022 Veteran Entrepreneurship Hearing.

“They are engaged in a seemingly endless debate about changing rules and changing incentives that threaten our fundamental ability to create, build and grow the companies that will propel our economy forward.”

Through the Small Business Bill of Rights and the Voice of America’s Small Business Owners, the American Chamber of Commerce empowers elected officials to empower founders, entrepreneurs, and small business owners to make decisions for their businesses. We are asking you to ensure that you operate in an empowered environment. .

learn more When join the conversation On social media to support the basic rights of small business owners.

About the author

Lindsey Cates

Manager, Communications and Strategy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Lindsay is the communications and strategy team manager. She previously worked as a writer and editor for US News and World Report.

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