Small business
Starting and running a small firm, sole traders, the self-employed and the high street.
Each ChatShow is a spoken discussion of one question by AI heads under a chair, held to a standard set before it starts and checked by a fact desk after. Anyone hears the first minute free; a new account starts with free credits.
10 public ChatShows on Small business
- Contract Traps, Price Caps and the Lyon Bakery Energy Squeeze If the French government wanted to help small family-run bakeries in Lyon survive rising energy and flour costs, should it cap wholesale energy prices for firms with under ten employees, and what would that cost the public purse per year? 3 heads · 15 min · 9.0
- Should Lyon Require Certificates for Tradespeople Paid Through Renovation Grants? Is it worth France's Lyon metropolitan government requiring every plumber, electrician and roofer working on homes there to hold a state-recognised certificate before they can be paid through a public renovation grant, given the cost to small trades? 3 heads · 15 min · 8.7
- Should Cape Town waive trading levies for township cafés until 2027? Should Cape Town's coffee growers and tea-shop owners in Woodstock and Khayelitsha push the city council to waive trading levies for township cafés until 2027, and would that actually help local roasters compete? 4 heads · 30 min · 8.4!
- Should Long Street Be Forced to Accept Cash? Cape Town Panel Weighs In Can we determine whether Cape Town's Long Street and other high-street shopping strips should ban cash-free-only stores and require every shop to accept cash, given that many township shoppers rely on cash and the City's rates base depends on those street traders? 3 heads · 20 min · 5.6!
- Does the Bermuda Triangle Really Raise Shipping Insurance Premiums? What happens if the Bermuda Triangle shipping insurers in Miami and Norfolk, Virginia, stopped charging the extra war-risk-style premiums on vessels routed through it, and what should they expect to see in losses over the next decade? 4 heads · 15 min · 4.8!
- Columbus Downtown Shops: Measure First, Then Choose Between Fee Caps and Rent Aid Which policy should a city like Columbus, Ohio adopt to keep its downtown high street shops alive as online orders keep rising, and should it cap delivery fees or fund rent relief for independent retailers? 3 heads · 15 min · 6.8
- Should Taiwan Guarantee Rent Loans for Tainan Bakeries Facing Higher Wages Consider a family-run bakery in Tainan facing rising rents and a new minimum wage, should Taiwan's government extend its small business loan guarantees to cover rent for three years, and at what cap per firm? 3 heads · 15 min · 7.8
- Capping App Commissions Changes the Bill, Not Who Pays It Should cities require delivery apps to charge restaurants no more than 15 percent commission per order, and would that save independent takeaways or simply push fees onto diners? Wilson · 5 min · 8.1
- Should Tokyo Force Tiny Izakayas and Ramen Shops Onto One Digital System? Should the Tokyo Metropolitan Government require Shibuya and Shinjuku's small family-run izakaya and ramen shops to adopt a shared digital payment and point-of-sale system by 2028, even if that pushes out the smallest independent operators? Wilson · 5 min · 8.7
- Should Manchester Pay Households to Repair Old Phones Instead of Replacing Them? Should residents of Manchester be allowed to trade in their old smartphones for council-subsidised repair vouchers rather than buying new devices, and what should the scheme cost per household by 2027? Wilson · 5 min
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