Have you got a Disruptive Business Model/Challenger Business that was foiled by the system? That existing rules and regulations just can’t pigeon-hole?

If so, we want to hear about it.

14.09.12 Government has announced proposed changes to the regulation of Estate Agents as a result of this theme – NEW PROPOSALS TO BOOST SMALL BUSINESSES THAT SUPPORT HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS.

We understand that new business models – particularly those that involve doing things differently – may fall foul of regulations that were intended for another age, or for another purpose entirely. We want to ensure that our regulatory system is fit for purpose, and is not holding back disruptive new companies. That’s why we are launching this radical new Red Tape Challenge for Disruptive Business Models/Challenger Businesses. (To read our Disruptive Business Models/Challenger Businesses FAQs, click here.)

From November, the Disruptive Business Models/Challenger Businesses theme will be live on the Red Tape Challenge website for your comments. Working with Beth Noveck, we have designed a crowd-sourcing process that allows anyone, anywhere to flag up regulatory issues that may be holding back disruptive new business models. We want to source experiences from you – the entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses – who have run into problems setting up an innovative enterprise that does not replicate other established business models, or ways of working.

Once the initial window has closed, these issues will be checked out by a dedicated team of officials. Any specific regulations that are highlighted will be immediately put on probation, and will be scrapped unless the responsible department can justify or satisfactorily modify the regulation in question. This is a powerfully radical process that will help not only to reduce the overall burden of regulation, but also ensure that we develop better regulation too.

Here’s some examples of what we’re talking about: Zopa, a company that provides a platform for members of the public to lend to each other, who found that financial regulations simply didn’t know how to deal with a business that didn’t conform to an outdated idea of what a lender is… A number of businesses have tried to disintermediate estate agents by providing a platform for customers to sell directly to each other at low or no cost. But Estate Agency regulations treat them as if they are traditional Estate Agents, and place burdens upon them that make very low cost internet-enabled business models unviable… and as part of our wider efforts to increase lending to small businesses we have come across innovative business models which are currently difficult to fit into the existing policy and regulatory framework.

Government has announced proposed changes to the regulation of Estate Agents as a result of this theme – NEW PROPOSALS TO BOOST SMALL BUSINESSES THAT SUPPORT HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS.