Chambers of commerce exist for one sole purpose – protecting the interests of businesses within their coverage area. These interests are often at odds with other community stakeholders and regulatory bodies (both governmental and non-governmental regulators). This is why lobbying is a key function for most business chambers. In this article, we will demystify these lobbying efforts and how they are expended to promote entrepreneurship.
Lobbying to Cap Prices From Service Providers
While all businesses differ in terms of their industries and their specific supply chains, some service providers deal with most (if not all) businesses within a locality. This usually covers utility companies such as electricity suppliers, water companies and internet service providers. All of these are essential for the operation of most businesses, and represent a significant portion of the running costs experienced by small business owners. A business chamber gives all companies a single powerful voice that can be used to negotiate lower rates.
Lobbying for a Reasonable Tax Regime
This lobbying occurs at the level of the chamber’s coverage. For example, the national chamber of commerce can lobby the central government effectively. In contrast, local chambers mostly deal with local governments and municipal legislative bodies. Having lower – and manageable – tax rates allow businesses to be competitive both domestically and internationally. These savings are usually passed on to the consumers, like how users benefit from the Unibet no deposit bonus. Since governments (across all levels) are always looking to increase their tax revenues, tax rate lobbying is still a continuous function.
Ease of Doing Business
The legal and regulatory framework that governs a region also determines the ease of doing business within that locality. For business owners, an ideal environment is one where there are few (if any) obstacles to setting up and operating their businesses. Chambers of commerce have to lobby aggressively to reduce the barriers such as multiple licenses, a constricting legal framework and bureaucratic red tape placed by regulators. They have to fight for policies that support and protect them while resisting efforts to disrupt their businesses through legislative efforts. While there are some ethical concerns about the influence that special interest groups (such as business chambers) have on the legislative process, failing to do so would result in unfriendly, and outrightly debilitating, legal systems being in place.
Having a Say in the Government Budgeting Process
Public participation is a crucial tenet in the budget-making process in most established democracies. Chambers of commerce go through budget proposals and try to lobby for increased allocations to projects, programs and infrastructure developments that would benefit local entrepreneurs. For example, a business chamber can press for the expansion of a local business programme in the education budget to get better access to qualified personnel.