OPEN LTR TO ALL SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Are You Becoming More & More Overwhelmed With All The New
Government Regulations That You Are Being Required To Keep
Up
With As A Smalll Business Owner!
Dear Small Business Owner,
Following is what the majority of my SB Clients are saying:
1. The one thing
that all of the small business owners are saying that I work with is that they are being overwhelmed by all the government
regulations that they are required to keep up with. If
you want your business to last, you have to follow the rules. Break a regulation here and a regulation there, and before long,
the fines become extremely costly. What makes it tougher is that governments – federal, state, local – constantly
pass new regulations. When, say, discrimination against trans employees or the problems of on-call scheduling become issues,
governments often respond with new small-business regulations. Knowing the rules is an ongoing process.
Licensing, business
permits, employment law, taxes, environmental legislation and consumer advertising.
Licenses and Permits: How You Operate
Lots
of businesses require a license to operate. At the local level, many city
and county governments require that any new company take out a business license. Restaurants need a permit showing that they
comply with health and sanitary regulations. Other businesses, such as bars, gun shops, radio stations, doctors and vets,
have to apply for a specialty license from the state or federal government. One source of information may be a local or state
chamber of commerce or industry networking group. But your absolute best
source will be to call an attorney who specializes in the area that you are calling about!
Remember! Attorneys are like doctors … they specialize so don’t
call Uncle Bob about your taxes just because he is an attorney! You would probably be better off calling me ... Ha!
Ha!
Employment Law: How You Treat Employees
There are no shortages of regulations, rules and U.S. labor
laws governing how you treat your employees. Federal regulations don't let you discriminate in hiring, firing or treatment
of employees because of their race, religion, national origin, age or gender. Some states add other categories, such as sexual
orientation, to the list.
Other government business regulations require many small businesses to pay
hourly employees overtime if they work beyond 40 hours a week. You also have to provide worker's compensation insurance that
will cover employees who are injured on the job. Other rules govern employees' rights to take time off for pregnancy as well
as the confidentiality of medical information. These are only a small sampling of the rules. Before opening your business,
you'll need to do your research to learn more.
Taxes: How Much You Pay
Paying taxes is a pain, but it's also a good thing. If you're paying sales tax, it means you're
selling your product, and if your company pays income tax, it must have income. The downside is that you also have to deal
with tax laws and regulations:
- Take payroll tax out when you pay employees.
- Collect and pay sales tax on your state government's schedule.
- Possibly
get an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS to identify your business the way your Social Security number identifies
you as an individual.
Environmental Regulation: What You do to the Planet
The state and federal governments have lots of small business regulations
to keep companies from polluting the air, the water and the soil. If you're in manufacturing, you'll have to follow regulations
when disposing of byproducts, waste and smoke from your factory. Some rules apply to white-collar businesses too. If you build
a new store or office for your business, for instance, there may be regulations controlling how much stormwater can run off
it.
Advertising and Marketing:
How You Communicate With Customers
Even
your advertising and marketing has to play by the rules. You can probably guess that making fraudulent claims can get you
in trouble. This is particularly true if you're promoting health products: You need science to back up any claims you make.
If you're offering loans of any sort, there are regulations for reporting the rates and interest accurately, rather than burying
them in fine print.
Sometimes, it seems like state
and federal government has forgotten that as small business owners, we are the backbones of our economy.
CONTACT US!