Policy matters: if you run a business and you ignore public policy, then public policy is going to run your business.

Does that sound like an exaggeration to you? It's not.

If you're like most microbusiness owners, you have created management systems that make your business seamless and easy to operate. So maybe you think that, as a non-employer business, you don't have to worry about laws and regulations -- most of them don't apply to you anyway.

And you'd be right ... a lot of them don't. But, you'd be surprised at how many of them do -- especially if you do business online.

Bill sells marketing products and services online. One day, he finds that a customer purchased a digital product but never received email delivery of the product because the customer's ISP flagged Bill's email as spam. Bill attempts to connect with the ISP to resolve the issue but finds them unresponsive. Meanwhile, Bill has been paid for the product but hasn't delivered it -- acts that are referred to in some circles as fraud and theft ...

Janice offers consulting services to small businesses around the country, conducting most of her consultations by telephone or email. Of course, she is not required to collect sales taxes on any of these transactions. What Janice doesn't know is that this could change, and soon, thanks to legislative proposals making the rounds in Washington right now ...

Another consultant, Tom, communicates extensively with both clients and prospects by fax. Tom is a busy guy and doesn't realize that recent legislation has charged federal regulators with the job of writing new rules concerning business faxes, like who he's allowed to send a fax to and under what circumstances. But violations will cost him $1,000 per fax message sent ...

These are just a few examples of the ways public policy can intrude into your business operations. Lawmakers at the state and federal level are constantly writing and re-writing policy that can impact everything from how you communicate with your clients to how your relationships with your independent contractors are viewed by the IRS.

All of these operational disruptions will effect your bottom line. Whether it means that you spend more money to run your business or pay more money in taxes, fees or fines, this stuff can cost you.

There are three things you need in order to manage the impact on your business:

1. policy intelligence, so you know what's on the table
2. political analysis, so you know what's likely to happen
3. policy strategies, so you know how to make policy changes work for you

That's where I can help.