It is probably no surprise that many small business owners are not sure or don’t even know about the myriad of regulations affecting their business.  A new small business study from the National Small Business Association (NSBA) reported that 12% of small business owners say they don’t even know if the relevant regulations affecting their business are local, state or federal.

What do we mean by regulations here?  We are speaking of the Affordable Care Act, federal tax codes as well as industry-specific regulations.  According to the results of the NSBA study, nearly half of all small businesses said that regulations related to taxation and health care/health insurance are very “burdensome.”

The NSBA writes that the study “…provides quantitative support for the need to greatly reduce regulatory complexity, streamline the web of federal, state and local regulations, and adhere to plain language statutes.”

One of the main issues is that time-challenged small business owners must wear a number of hats, including regulatory experts.  Increasingly, regulatory expertise needs a law or accounting degree and most owners and entrepreneurs do not have immediate or affordable access to this level of expertise and consequently, “wing it” on issues of significant importance.  However, NSBA says  the small-business owner is the “…number one regulatory expert … and handles the bulk of federal regulatory compliance.”

The study concluded that small business owners spend an average of $12,000 to comply with various industry regulations and more than half of small businesses report spending more than $1,000 in DIRECT costs and another $1,000 in INDIRECT costs relating to state and local regulations — the cost of federal regulations is estimated to be 5x higher.  Many small business owners are seeking working capital to address these increasing regulatory requirements.

In terms of the time and labor spent on compliance with regulations, 44% reported spending more than 40 hours a year, while approximately one-in-three spend more than 80 hours each year.

Not surprisingly, the respondents described the process of navigating regulations as anxiety-inducing.  NSBA notes that this fear of bureaucratic regulations and the headache (not to mention time and money required to deal with regulatory issues) could represent a hurdle in terms of the number of entrepreneurs starting their own business. According to the NSBA, more than half of small businesses say “…they really started worrying about regulations within the first year.”

The NSBA cited that these worries, coupled with significant regulatory costs associated with a business’ first year, totals $83,019— resulting in lagging start-up rates in recent years.

On February 24, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing “each agency to establish a regulatory reform task force, which will ensure that every agency has a team of dedicated — and a real team of dedicated people to research all regulations that are unnecessary, burdensome and harmful to the economy, and therefore harmful to the creation of jobs and business.”

In a recent study, entitled Bank of America Hispanic Small Business Spotlight, approximately 300 Hispanic small business owners were surveyed from across the United States about issues ranging from their economic and business outlooks for the coming year to their views on lending along with over 1,000 non-Hispanic business owners.  With sweeping corporate tax changes promised by President Trump on the horizon, 2017 promises to be a year of tremendous opportunity for small business owners.

Although corporate tax rates, interest rates and credit availability remain a concern for Hispanic business owners, like their non-Hispanic counterparts, there is a strong sense of optimism.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the Study:

• 71 percent of Hispanic business owners anticipate revenue will increase in 2017
• 76 percent of Hispanic business owners plan to grow their business over the next five years
• 54 percent of Hispanic business owners plan to hire in 2017
• 62 percent of Hispanic business owners believe their local economy will improve over the next 12 months
• 48 percent of Hispanic business owners believe the national economy will improve over the next 12 months
• 46 percent of Hispanic business owners believe the global economy will improve over the next 12 months

Hispanic entrepreneurs also shared some of the biggest business challenges they face:

• 23 percent cited maintaining a work-life balance
• 19 percent noted finding qualified employees
• 17 percent said understanding business regulations and policies
• 17 percent mentioned access to loan funding
• 11 percent cited managing my business day-to-day
• 3 percent identified language barriers

In addition, Hispanic entrepreneurs also were concerned about credit availability — (55 percent of Hispanic vs. 34 percent of non-Hispanic small business owners).

Regarding access to lending and credit availability, some of the survey results were surprising.  Compared to their non-Hispanic peers, more Hispanic small business owners have applied for a bank loan at some point during the lifetime of their business (68 percent to 48 percent) and Hispanic entrepreneurs are nearly four times more likely to plan to apply for a loan in 2017 (35 percent to 9 percent).

At Imperial Advance, our lending programs in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $1 million are well-suited for all small business owners.  Business term loans, merchant cash advances, revenue based financing, lines of credit and other lending solutions are available to help entrepreneurs plan for a successful 2017.  Whereas traditional bank loans can take months to receive approval, not to mention tons of paperwork, alternative lending companies are able to approve and fund clients in as little as 24 hours.