How Hard Is It To Start A Business?

We real estate investors are entrepreneurs. Every time we purchase a new asset, it’s like starting a new business. But if we’ve done it before, that new business is more like starting a new instance of a franchise than an outright new business. There are systems in place, designed to replicate and scale.

Our commercial tenants are entrepreneurs. Some are starting new businesses. Well, thanks to Simon Black, he put a new report on barriers to business on my radar. This 144 page report was published in February of this year by the Institute for Justice. The authors of the report examined the difficulty in setting up a new business.

To better understand the local regulatory barriers entrepreneurs encounter, this first-of-its-kind study analyzes the rules, regulations, and requirements to start a business in 20 cities across the country. This report identifies and quantifies the regulatory hurdles entrepreneurs experience, while pointing to specific reforms cities can pursue to make it cheaper, faster, and simpler to start a small business.

The number of regulatory steps involved in opening a business is truly shocking. In Atlanta it takes 76 steps to open a restaurant and 68 steps to open a barber shop. Boston requires 92 steps to open a restaurant and 81 to open a barbershop. Phoenix requires 21 steps to open a home based tutoring business.

Our businesses don’t need government handouts with another layer of bureaucracy to qualify for the money. Our businesses need government to get out of the way and let commerce actually happen unimpeded by red tape.

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Host: Victor Menasce

email: podcast@victorjm.com