Creating creative business

The US Chamber of Commerce currently has on its website 29 regulations recently proposed or finalized by the US EPA. Among them: regulating radon in drinking water, mitigating lead paint in public buildings, and standards for renewable fuels. Admittedly, that’s just a few, and there are many more on the list dealing with far more complicated and minute issues.

But the question is this: is fighting these regulations, in an attempt to preserve and protect business as usual, actually hampering the development of new businesses ready to help power a clean new economy?

These regulations might end up costing existing companies money, if they decide to fight and refuse to comply. But those same companies who refuse to adapt open the door for new entrepreneurs in the form of competing companies. And those companies who do with to adapt often spur the creation of supplemental companies working to help existing corporations adapt.

The argument here isn’t that regulation is inherently good or always drives innovation. But the knee-jerk reaction that regulation designed to protect consumers, the environment, and workers is bad for business is simply wrong. Instead of spending millions of dollars fighting regulation, spend those millions innovating to make regulation obsolete; this economic slowdown will be gone in a hurry.

So find opportunities. A shift to a green economy will take changes, many unknown. Jobs may change, but jobs will be there. While there’s a great amount of fear surrounding “job killing” regulation, just change how we look at it. Call it “entrepreneur creating” regulation, and suddenly it’s exciting.

Economic shifts have resulted in a boom to the American economy before. So let’s look at a shift again, one driving a green energy, local ownership of businesses, and an economy that truly values people. In that new economy, most of those regulations will be a non-issue. We could be at the cusp of one of the most innovative periods in our recent history. It’s time we seized that opportunity.