Blizzard Threatens Main Street
Flurry of paperwork places undue stress on small businesses

It’s a good thing that money isn’t the primary motivator for the nation’s small-business owners. The personal satisfaction they gain from building their businesses and the ability to control their own destinies inspires them far more than cold, hard cash.

Although visions of wealth and success offer some incentive, very few entrepreneurs can claim incomes of anything close to $48.72 an hour. But that’s the estimated average cost they pay to dig out from the blizzard of paperwork and record-keeping tasks dumped on them by government agencies.

The costs vary depending on the subject, according to a recent poll conducted by the NFIB Research Foundation. Tax-related items top the mark at more than $74 an hour; financial matters run the clock at $62-plus, while licenses and permits ring up nearly $50 for 60 minutes-worth.

Small-business owners most frequently shovel themselves out of the drifts of licenses, purchasing and customer-related paper, but they usually rely on professionals to prepare financial and tax-related items, tax-related help being the most expensive.

While the survey indicates that technology has somewhat eased the paperwork demands of small firms, this is not a burden that can be entirely solved by computerization. The requirements are greater than just filling out electronic forms, tucking them in their proper cubbyholes and storing them in safe places.

Such chores further tax small-business owners by forcing them to spend precious time and energy trying to understand the information needed, acquiring it and determining what to keep and for how long. Buying efficient computer equipment with the necessary software and hiring trained people to operate those systems imposes additional costs.

Asked to pinpoint their gripes about government paperwork, poll respondents fired a barrage of complaints. A major headache they face is the lack of clarity of the instructions and being able to understand exactly what information public officials want. Nearly one-third said government instructions were the most difficult part of the paperwork ordeal, while almost one-fourth ranked the volume of paperwork to be completed as the biggest problem.

Almost as long as there have been small businesses, there have been government bureaucrats itching to regulate them. The cost of such regulations and the never-ending stream of required forms and records are felt significantly in terms other than dollars. Hours that could be spent building a small business are consumed. Aggravation drains the entrepreneurial spirit. Opportunities are lost. Dreams are deferred.

Small-business owners can find a little comfort in the knowledge that some in government are heeding their pleas. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy recently launched its Regulatory Alerts Web page to help them cut through the confusing federal regulatory process.

Now, if someone can show Congress how to turn off the regulatory snow-making machine, small-business owners might be able to put away their shovels and use that energy to realize their American Dreams.

Jack Faris is president of the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's largest small-business advocacy group.
editorial@lanereport.com

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