Spread The Wealth - Helaine Olen

Bracing for (Some Sort of) Regulatory Impact Washington is creating unprecedented uncertainty. How should you react?

- Helaine Olen

YOU ALREADY KNOW that being an entrepreneur means being nimble, always thinking one step ahead even while you ensure that your business prospers right now. But for many, doing business under the Trump administration is pushing this balancing act to extremes.

Thanks to the president’s flurry of executive orders and record-breaking use of the Congressional Review Act, which permits the repeal of new federal regulations, the rules governing health insurance, immigration, taxes, trade, and other policy issues are up for grabs. But what will happen to all of these rules remains unclear, as we saw with the aborted attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This makes it very difficult to predict how possible changes could affect your bottom line.

Some entrepreneurs welcome the uncertainty, sure that the administration’s determination to relax regulations will ultimately benefit them. “Abiding by inconstant federal rules has been time-consuming and costly,” says Charles Markman, co-founder of Galaxy Media, in Coral Springs, Florida.