Competitors and Local Code Enforcement
By Lance Winslow
If you are a small businessperson then chances are you have had a situation occur where another small business or larger competitor has used the local Government code enforcement officer to harass you. This is a common occurrence and it is unfortunate that they do not teach this at the SBA seminars.
The good old boy network that occurs in most cities is alive and well in the United States of America. This occurs both in large cities and small towns. Competitors know that if they can get the local code enforcement officer to come over and find a violation in your business that it will slow your business town and therefore give them the edge.
It is too bad that people do not have more integrity than that and too bad it competitors call in competing companies for violations. Of course if you are violating the law he should not be violating the law, but we know that many of the rules and regulations from the municipal level all the way to the federal level are quite onerous and this is unfortunate.
It is literally impossible to follow all the rules or for that matter even know all the rules. In my 27 years in business as a Franchisor, I cannot tell you how many times our franchisees just starting out in their local areas had to deal with competitors who called them into the code enforcement. Often they had done nothing wrong; except step on the toes of an existing businessperson, which was well-connected in the city.
Sometimes, a smart code enforcement officer will realize that the complaint coming in is from a competitor and simply make a visitation to the company or business involved in the complaint. This is an opportunity for you as a small businessperson to talk to the code enforcement officer and ask them if they can help you comply with all the rules.
This way they will explain what the rules are and which rules they are most apt to care about. Being on a first name basis with the code enforcement officer in a local municipality is a smart thing to do for any businessperson.
It is extremely important for you to realize that these things happen and although it may be personal between you and your competition; it is not personal between your company and the code enforcement officer. If you are breaking the law he will have to comply with the law and it behooves you to learn exactly what the law is and the intent so that you can remedy the situation without further problems from the code enforcement officer.
When a competitor makes a false complaint they actually end up hurting themselves and therefore it is unwise to turning your competitors unless they are ripping off customers, polluting the environment or doing something that you know to be harmful to others.
Simply turning in your competitors for a minor violation or infraction will only cause you to have a war with that competitor and just imagine all the different regulatory bodies that there are in our government and what you will do if each one of them comes to visit you during a one month period.
In fact it will be impossible for you to get any work done or make any money. So before you go in turning your competitors remember the Golden rule. Oh and one last thing; if a competitor turns you in for something that means they consider you a threat and that means you must be doing something right.