Oh, those benefits of running a business. You know, like working more hours than everyone else, putting your own money on the line, being the last to get paid. Here's some hard facts:
1. Most businesses are small businesses
2. Most people are employed in small to medium businesses
3. Most businesses fail because they lose money
If you push for more and more requirements of businesses to fulfill, only the biggest corporations will be able to survive, because those are the companies that can deal with all the regulation, all the legal risk, who figure out all the tax loopholes, who have the best standing with banks, etc.
You'll eventually kill all the competition from the bottom. There won't be any more artisan bakeries or coffee shops, there will be McDonalds and Starbucks. Everywhere. No more innovative software startups, only Facebook, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Apple.
> Anyone who doesn't want to play by those rules can go solo or work for someone who does.
Good jobs don't fall from the sky. Big corporations also happen to be really good at making people redundant.
The financial resources required to buy and run an McD franchise are pretty hefty, so it's not exactly going to first timers, or people who don't already know how to run a franchise.
What would you change to encourage, empower small businesses?
As we build and refine our society, it's entirely up to us to determine how best we want to put businesses to work, to improve society.
Anyone who wants the benefits of owning a business can be subject to those rules. Anyone who doesn't want to play by those rules can go solo or work for someone who does.