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How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

lectronz.com

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581–590 of 1001 posts

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#581

Post by eptcyka »

cm2012 wrote: post #444
jollyllama wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that comforting? The phenomenon is entirely negative.

Because if it's just a few evil people making the world bad then that's fixable. The truth that it is it's an extraordinarily complex stew of incentives means its harder to fix.

Sure, cynically, you can use the argument that we can’t just limit the influence of megacorps because the problem is more complex than that. Sure, but limiting them will still help.

Why not do the obvious thing that can still help? There are some simple things we as a people or a conglomeration of peoples can do to curb the enthusiasm for state level corruption. It is doable. It will not solve everything - but surely we can still do it.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#582

Post by cm2012 »

george_max wrote: post #427

I run a small hardware startup, InfiShark Tech -- we sell affordable battery-powered cybersecurity hardware worldwide. Europe has been by far the hardest market for us. The costs in this article are understated for products like ours. This is not just for packaging -- they have separate compliance schemes for electronics (WEEE). If selling products with batteries, you must comply with separate battery regulations. If…

Thank for sharing so many fascinating details!

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#583

Post by thinking_cactus »

I think in the future we should think less about fine-based regulation, and more about easy access to education, and assistance in compliance. It's much better for the environment (and the economy) that someone doesn't pollute, for example, than that someone pollutes than pays (a potentially large) fine.

So if you want to make a product, there should be readily available, easy to read and follow, guides to make your product compliant. For products with large sales volumes or higher risk, the procedures of course should be more thorough, allowing some more complexity. I think even free consults offered by governments could be a great idea, much better to have consultants before violating a law, than waste money with a lot of inspectors. Also stimulating people to solve problems (many times using technology) is another benefit.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#584

Post by roywashere »

eptcyka wrote: post #576
rwyinuse wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, if you want to fix electronics more often than not China is the only place you can buy spare parts. I don't think buying spare parts to devices counts as "stupid shit".

If you were to interpret the comment you’re responding to charitably, you’d understand that electronics components are a minuscule minority of all of Chinese exports.

Sure! I understand that everyone buying stuff on Temu and Shein is horrific. At the same time, me paying $$$ for ordering electrical components from China is rough for me. And also, I find it mind-blowing and ridiculous that Ali offered free shipping for small orders for so long whereas if I'd buy local I need to pay up for shipping, and if I'd start a small business in the Netherlands, shipping to the rest of the EU for small parcels is prohibitively expensive, not even taking into account PPWR

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#585

Post by worik »

philipallstar wrote: post #284
radicalbyte wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked on the inside: this is by design. You know for 100% that Pepsico and Coca Cola unleashed an army of lobbyists to make sure the laws were written in a way where the single market only worked for large business.

Lobbyists don't do this. Regulators/lawmakers need to be corrupt and/or incompetent for lobbying to do this.

> lawmakers need to be corrupt and/or incompetent for lobbying to do this.

Not really

Lobbyists get to talk into the ears of the powerful. It is literally their job. They make very sensible arguments for their point of view. So it seems very sensible, for the legislators, to make laws that aid the powerful and impede the weak.

The legislators are very busy with pressures from all sides. The cognitive load of considering views that you do not hear is enormous. It is not "incompetent or corrupt" to fail.

The system has the corruption baked in. It is one of the mechanisms, of many, that wealth and power concentrate in "democracies "

I have seen this process from the inside, good people making terrible decisions

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#586

Post by Kudos »

throw-the-towel wrote: post #548
shimman wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They want the lifestyle of Europe but do not want the rich to pay more taxes to support it.

But don't Switzerland or the UK have similarly comfortable lifestyles with less absurd taxation?

That's a leading framing, but comparing an individual country and a 27 member trading bloc in that way makes no sense even if it wasn't.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#588

Post by anigbrowl »

A simpler solution (which the author doesn't seem to consider) is just putting hte cost on the packaging vendors, who will of course pass it on to their customers. So the price of a padded bag or whatever will rise perhaps 20 cents, but the person mailing goods from their micro-storefront doesn't have to worry about that.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#589

Post by sjsdaiuasgdia »

tengwar2 wrote: post #299
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunno about that. I live in the US. I can start a small business today and the only thing I'd have to do differently is file an additional form on my taxes next year. Yes, that's a simplification that doesn't apply to every situation, but it is still completely accurate.

That's pretty much the situation in the UK if you are a sole trader. If you set up a limited liability company, that's a separate entity and has its own tax reporting requirement, but nothing onerous. I am a sole trader, and manage a small company separately from that. One thing I have heard of in the USA is the need for a "business licence". I'm not sure what that is or whether it applies to all businesses, so I'm n…

It's a term sometimes colloquially applied to one or more things that are not actually a "business license".

Some jurisdictions require "Certificates of Occupancy" if the ownership of a commercial property changes. This is more about the state of the structure and modifications made to it.

Some jurisdictions require registration with a state or county tax authority. In my state this is called a "business registration". Depending on jurisdiction, you may not be allowed to legally operate a for-profit business without this registration.

So there are frequently government-issued documents that are not called a "business license" but may be required to legally do business.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#590

Post by bluecalm »

petra wrote: post #392
bambax wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I used to sell objects on Amazon in Europe. You can sell from just one country, but then each sale outside of that country is an "export" that triggers high fees. For sales to be "local", products need to be stored in warehouses in each country. But that in turn means the owner of said products (the seller) has to be registered for VAT in that country, and submitting annual reports in each country's language. I…

Let's say I'm a German small business owner. Tomorrow Europe becomes a single market. How do I compete with a similar business but from a country where business costs are significantly lower ?

You specialize in things that are more difficult to make in poorer countries - you use your advantages they use theirs. Afterall this is what happened to a lot of Polish industry after we got our EU membership - it died under pressure of already developed competition from countries like Germany.
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