- Joined
- May 7, 2010
- Messages
- 24,412
- Reaction score
- 10,441
- Location
- Upstate SC
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
When I was researching for a now-nixed business concept the main issues were costs for bringing buildings up to code: Pay for inspection, hiring a crew, purchasing the materials needed (etc). All this is cost related - and my store concept was retail, so things like air filtration systems and other high cost elements were at a minimum.
But imagine being a restaurant: higher restrictions in regard to materials used - things like 'the distance between the nearest food-prep area and dinning area' are regulated, too - as are the filtration standards for equipment.
In some ways some regulation changes are for customers safety and they really do make sense.
However, that doesn't mean they aren't costly - and business concepts rely on a balance of cost and revenue.
One small change here, one new addition to the registry there, one advancement in filtration here . . . and those costs add up.
They do add up, but do we have a shortage of places to eat? There are at least 30 restaurants with a one mile radius of my business, and probably over a hundred within a ten mile radius of my home. Obviously these expenses aren't preventing too many restaurants from starting up.
Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that regulations to affect business decisions, but they are supposed to do that. When I built my commercial building, I ended up making it one foot shorter than I had originally intended, so that I would avoid some regulations which were based upon sq footage. If I had been a little richer, or if my business would have been a little more successful, I would have likely not even worried about those things though. That's the great thing about the American small business owner, we are flexible and solve problems creatively.