How do you fight bureaucracy for others?

[Marco L]

I saw a report on the excesses of bureaucracy. It was striking how the bureaucratic problems brought people to the brink of despair. Some of them were entrepreneurs who generally took it a little more humorously, but there were also private individuals who couldn't grasp government requirements.

After thinking about the topic for a while, I realized how strongly people (myself included) react emotionally to (nonsensical) bureaucratic requirements.

However, where there is pain, there is also opportunity. Bureaucracy (not just government bureaucracy) seems to be an endless reservoir of customer pain.

I asked myself: What general strategies are there to reduce bureaucratic hurdles for others?

I have come up with the following so far:

- General advice
- Legal advice
- Tax advice
- Fiduciary services

What others are there?

 

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[Bounce Back]

Basically find any popular freely available legal form people have to submit and start a service filling it out for them (if it is legal). I see this all the time. Especially happens within the imigration space in the USA and I find it super sketchy and not an industry I would want to be a part of (instead of saying educating people that it is free and they don't have to pay for it but offering to help if they want, etc.).

 

[Jobless]

Almost every industry has specific regulations / laws that must be followed. Regulatory compliance is often an afterthought, but if you make a convenient service, companies may use it. It's like insurance, where until you really need it, it feels a bit like a nuisance. So to sell such a service it good to focus on safety, convenience and lastly, pointing out that according to the law, they NEED this type of service.

Regulations exist on a local, regional, national, EU, and global level -- plenty to choose from. Get specific -- Few will care about your 'general advice'. A good solution is often a digital service/product. A template etc. that you can replicate.

When bureaucrats create a new rule -- whether it is beneficial or not for society, it creates a hurdle for the entrepreneur / individual. This problem cannot be solved with the same type of thinking that created it in the first place. The solution is to innovate and out-do the bureaucrat at their own game (example: digital automation of paperwork/reporting), or to somehow bypass the rule through simplification (examples: offshoring, legal loopholes). If a company must comply, they may have to spend a lot on education for their employees (example: AML in banking) or for services that provide background checks (credit, criminal history, risk factors etc.). Large companies may lobby politicians to create hurdles for the competition, or to remove regulations etc.

Advice is not a solution. If you sell advice, you are in the sales game. If you sell actual solutions, it will sell itself.

 

[Marco L]

Regulations exist on a local, regional, national, EU, and global level -- plenty to choose from. Get specific -- Few will care about your 'general advice'. A good solution is often a digital service/product. A template etc. that you can replicate.

I would even go beyond only state wise regulations. Companies wrap consumers in red tap also a lot with their contracts.

 

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