Tips for Untangling the Hairball of Regulations that Apply to Your Specific Trade or Industry

From the moment you start up and throughout the life of

your business - hiring your first employee, formalizing your business structure,

and so on - you'll need to understand and comply with a host of government laws

and requirements. But for many business owners, there's a parallel path of ever changing

trade- and industry-specific government regulations that must also be

navigated.

The federal government alone has more than 25 regulatory agencies who are

responsible for enforcing legislation that impacts how and what businesses

manufacture, distribute and sell, as well as how they manage the health, safety

and welfare of their employees. Add the industry-specific regulatory

requirements mandated by state and local governments, and the potential

hairball of compliance that the small business owner faces becomes even more

daunting.

So how do you untangle the hairball and make sense of what

regulations apply to your specific industry? Here are a couple of resources that

can help:

1. Make the

Most of Government Web Services

Going straight to the source is usually your best bet when searching

for the specific regulatory requirements that apply to you. For example, if you

produce, distribute or sell organic produce then you almost certainly need to

observe the regulations posted by the USDA, in

particular its National Organic Program. And, if

you sell organic food in a store or restaurant then you will also need to take

a look at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Web site

for guidelines on food labeling and food safety, not forgetting the Department of Labor site for fair labor and wage requirements. And

the list goes on.

Relying on individual agency Web sites will connect you to the

information you need, but only if you know what regulatory bodies and regulations

exist and where to get more information. The good news for business owners is

that the government has actually done the work of pulling that information

together for you.

The U.S government's "official Web site for small businesses" - Business.gov-  brings

together small business resources from all

levels of government, so that business owners no longer need to visit multiple

Web sites to find government programs, forms, and guidance with laws and

regulations.

In addition to information on how to start a business, finding loans,

managing finances and more, the site also includes "Industry Guides" that provide resources that help small businesses

in highly regulated industries comply with laws and government regulations.

These guides also provide information on training, financing, and business

growth strategies. For example, the "Manufacturing Industry Guide" includes

information on traditional and non-traditional financing sources, advice on

"lean manufacturing", as well as an overview of free and low-coast in-person

training programs to help small manufacturers expand and grow.

2. Trade Associations

Another way to keep your finger on the pulse of the

regulations that pertain to your trade or industry is to leverage trade

associations or organizations. For heavily regulated industries in particular,

such as the restaurant industry, trade associations can help you navigate the

tangled bureaucratic and regulatory environment with Web-based information and

assistance on legal and risk management issues.

Finding the right association will require some research (and there are

too many to list here), but as a rule associations either function at a

national level, for example the National Association of Realtors and the Building Trades Association, while others, such as restaurant associations,

operate at a state-level and can provide specific guidance into both national

and local regulatory policy to help you comply with trade and industry laws.

Additional Resources

If for some reason you feel your business has experienced excessive or

unfair federal regulatory enforcement actions, such as repetitive audits or

investigations, excessive fines, penalties, threats, retaliation or other

unfair enforcement action by a federal agency you can file a complaint or comment with the National Ombudsman whose

primary mission is to assist small businesses in such instances.