Hi Friends,
When conversations about business policy come up, it’s easy
to feel pulled in a dozen directions- headlines, sound bites, opinions, and
advice that may or may not reflect how your business operates.
We want to offer a different starting point.
Before thinking about laws, regulations, or systems, we
believe it’s worth pausing with something you know deeply: your own business
and the values that guide it.
This isn’t about having the “right” policy stance or
becoming an expert in legislation. It’s about grounding yourself in what
sustainability, respect, and alignment actually look like in practice, so when
you do engage with systems, you’re doing so from a place that’s clear and
rooted.
Many of the challenges microbusiness owners experience
aren’t individual or isolated; they’re shaped by systems that were designed with
very different kinds of businesses in mind.
One helpful way to understand this is through the FSG Water
of Systems Change framework. It reminds us that what we see on the
surface: policies, regulations, and formal rules is only one part of the
picture.
At the surface are policies and practices: tax structures, compliance
requirements, incentive programs. Below that are resource flows, including who
has access to capital, technical assistance, and visibility. Deeper still are
relationships and power dynamics whose voices are present in decision-making
spaces. At the deepest level are mental models: assumptions about what a “real
business” looks like and who is considered worth investing in.
For microbusinesses, misalignment often shows up in subtle but persistent ways.
Programs that require more time than a solo owner can spare. Policies that
assume consistent payroll or rapid growth. Definitions of “success” that
prioritize scale over stability. These patterns aren’t about individual
shortcomings, they’re about systems that haven’t been designed with
microbusiness realities at the center.
Understanding this doesn’t mean you need to solve it. It simply gives context.
And context can be grounding.
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Reflect: Starting With Your Own Business
Every business already operates with policies and practices, whether they’re
written down or not. How you set prices. How you communicate boundaries. How
you pace your work. How decisions get made.
These choices often develop over time, shaped by necessity, habit, and external
expectations. Pausing to notice them without judgment can reveal where your
values are already present, and where they’re under strain.
We invite you to begin with a few gentle questions. You
don’t need to answer all of them. You might sit with just one.
If one of my company values is respect, what would it look like for my
internal policies (pricing, timelines, boundaries, payment practices) to
consistently embody that value for me and for the people I work with and
serve?If one of my values is empowerment, how might my day-to-day practices reflect
that in real ways: for myself, my team (if I have one), and my
clients, especially around decision-making, communication, and how I
position my work?What would it look like to pursue this year’s goals without relying on urgency,
overwork, or sacrifice? What internal rhythms, supports, or policies would
need to be in place for that to feel possible?
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[NEW DEPTH]
These questions are about noticing where things feel aligned, where compromises
are happening, and where additional support (internal or external) would bring
your vision, mission, and values more fully into the center.
Clarity doesn’t begin with solutions, but with naming what’s
true.
Orient: Widening the Lens to Policy and Systems
From that grounded, lived place, you can begin to look outward- toward systems,
policies, and the broader environment your business operates within.
Taking a moment to refocus on your own business and what helps you live into
your values and vision, it becomes easier to notice how external structures
interact with your business. Some policies may quietly support the way you want
to work. Others may introduce friction or limit what feels possible.
This isn’t about labeling policies as “good” or “bad.” It’s
about understanding impact.
What would it look like if laws and regulations supported my ability to run my
business in a way that aligns with my values?Are there existing systems that make it harder to operate with sustainability,
care, or respect for myself or for others?Are there current or proposed policies that seem to better support how
microbusinesses operate and how they contribute to the local economy?
You might notice, for example, that a tax policy affects your cash flow timing
in ways that increase stress. Or that eligibility requirements for certain
programs don’t reflect how your business is structured. Or that a proposed
change could make it easier to invest in tools, childcare, or support without
taking on additional risk.
These observations are valuable, not because they’re
perfectly articulated but because they’re based in lived experience.
Lived Experience as Knowledge
Many microbusiness owners underestimate the value of what they know simply
because it hasn’t been formalized or translated into policy language.
But navigating inconsistent income, balancing care
responsibilities, managing capacity, and making values-aligned decisions with
limited resources all generate insight. That insight helps reveal which systems
support sustainability, and which ones quietly undermine it.
You don’t need policy expertise or formal credentials to engage in these
reflections. Trying to run a values-aligned business in the real world already
gives you information that systems often lack.
When microbusiness owners name these realities whether in conversation,
feedback spaces, voting, or collective settings, it helps broaden how “business
needs” are understood. Over time, that can influence how programs are designed,
how success is measured, and whose experiences are taken seriously.
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What This Makes Possible
Starting with your own values means engaging with the systems around you with more clarity and confidence.
It can help you:
Decide which policies or conversations feel worth your limited time and energy
Articulate your needs more clearly when opportunities to share input arise
Recognize when a policy aligns with your vision, even if it’s imperfect
Stay anchored in what sustainability looks like for you, not just in
theory
This kind of grounding supports thoughtful participation; whether that’s staying
informed, sharing feedback with policymakers, or simply making sense of what’s
unfolding around you.
And even when engagement is quiet or indirect, this process matters. It
reinforces that microbusiness owners are not just recipients of policy, but
participants in shaping the conditions that allow local economies to function.
Using your values as a compass helps keep that participation rooted, humane,
and aligned.
That, in itself, is meaningful leadership.
In Partnership,
Tricia + Chandra
Collective Agency
