It is tough to run a business. I don't suspect many non-business owners are going to feel sorry for me, but if you've ever owned your own company, you will understand what I am saying.
First, there are the normal stresses of running a business: You need to sell a decent product or service, you have constant cash flow concerns, borrowing issues, customer service situations to deal with, etc. The actual process of being your own boss is not for the faint of heart.
Then you have the great joys associated with dealing with government regulations and requirements. Before I opened Consumers Auto Warehouse 12 years ago, I had to apply for a federal tax id number, a state tax id number, a state sales tax license, car dealer license, employee withholding license, tire tax license and on and on. Each month I am required to submit withholding tax every other week to both the state and federal government. I file a rental tax return each month and a sales tax return each month. Each quarter I submit a federal return, state return, federal unemployment return, state unemployment return, and tire tax return. Each year I must also reconcile all those returns and submit my local business license tax return, personal property tax return and my property tax return. I often wonder when I am supposed to have time to run my business!
Recently, however, my ire has been directed at three groups that might as well syndicate into the mafia -- the phone company, the credit card processing company, and the waste management company. I won't re-bore you with my dealings with Verizon, although I find it totally humorous that the recent news shows their employees on strike. You can't fix stupid I guess and I hope Verizon fires them all and starts with some new, less "entitled" employees.
Credit card processors have always been crooked. They change the terms of your contract, lock you into long term, auto renewing contracts and basically bait and switch you once you sign up. (One exception has been Farmers and Merchants Bank -- they have been perfect so far). I signed up with a company called Access Fleet last year because they offered my service department the opportunity to market to small businesses with a fleet card. It didn't work too well, but their processing was going ok so I did not worry. Then they sent me a notice that I was going to be charged $130 a year for PCI compliance. I won't bore you with what PCI compliance is, but it amounts to a 1 page survey about how you store credit card information. When I argued about the fee, I was told "read your contract". Well, I did and found that I could refuse the fee and cancel my contract. So I did.
Now they are still charging me, so I have to dispute that. And they are taking on a "non-compliant" PCI fee of $19.95 per month. They are worse than the mafia. How many small business owners out there, covered in government red tape, are actually reading their credit card statements each month? There are probably tens of thousands of businesses who continue to pay these junk fees without much notice each billing period!
Finally, the waste management companies -- what a ripoff these places are. They are notorious for long contracts and hidden fees as well. After getting stung by Allied Waste and an automatically renewing 3 year contract a while back, I refuse to sign up for a more than 12 months with any of these companies. My current company just tried to get me to pay a $12.00 monthly increase and told me my contract had automatically renewed again. Luckily, I keep all my paperwork, so I dug up my contract and faxed it in. Amazingly, I was offered a renewal contract at $20 LESS per month than I was currently paying. Wow!
So, if you are a small business owner, check your invoices every month. Look for hidden "regulatory" or "administrative" fees. It could be costing you thousands!
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