Entrepreneurs now have a step-by-step handbook for fighting City Hall.
The free “Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide,” released by the Institute for Justice, instructs entrepreneurs on how to actively oppose onerous laws that hurt competition.
The Institute for Justice is a nonprofit libertarian law firm that defends the financial freedom of small businesses, and its survival guide features the real experiences of people who have stood up to the government to protect their businesses.
One example in the survival guide tells how New Orleans food truck owner Rachel Billow successfully fought local vending laws that allowed only 100 street food vendors in the city and prohibited food trucks within 600 feet of a restaurant.
“While people sometimes assume that their voices will not be heard by government officials,” Billow said, “grassroots efforts are often successful in serving as the catalyst for change.”
Billow organized food truck owners to get New Orleans to drop its ban on food trucks near restaurants, create new areas for food trucks and increase how many food trucks could legally operate.
“Our goal with the ‘Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide’ is to give small business owners the strategies they need to organize, change terrible laws and, most importantly, get back to work,” said Christina Walsh, director of activism and coalitions at the Institute for Justice, in a release.
“Entrepreneurs have the right to earn an honest living, and it’s protected by the U.S. Constitution. But far too often, government-imposed barriers to economic liberty stifle entrepreneurship, especially for those on the first rungs of the economic ladder.”
Information in the survival guide includes:
- How to create and develop groups and coalitions from the ground up
- How to establish and maintain a successful profile on the Web and in social media circles
- How to elevate awareness about a cause
- How to hold public demonstrations and influence support for governmental reform
