The Pink Zone - Where Small is Possible

One barrier to economic development can be the overwhelming and expensive process of compliance with regulatory requirements for small businesses. A Pink Zone — an area where the red tape is lightened — is the locus for implementation of lean strategies and improvements, and it identifies an area where new protocols are pre-negotiated and experiments are conducted, all with the goal of removing impediments to economic development and community-building. This paper provides ideas, tools, and strategies to create and sustain Pink Zones to foster entrepreneurship and small business growth.