Meet the Red Tape Worm, the ‘Shrewd’ Small Business Monster

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And 2 Tips for Fending Off this Monster


If you’re a small business owner, you know exactly what this monster looks like and the headaches it causes. The Red Tape Worm has been bugging small business owners since the invention of the “form”. And the advent of the internet has made this monster thrive. Let’s take a look. 

  • Have you completed an online form only to be asked to fill out another form that looks very similar to the last one?
  • Have you spent 10 minutes searching for a customer service phone number only to spend another 10 minutes listening to a phone tree (where the options never take you where you need to go), only to spend another 10 minutes talking to someone who puts you on hold again, and again?
  • Have you ever been to the IRS website?

Alas, you know this monster.


The Red Tape Worm has been prompting small business owners to pull out their hair ever since it first emerged. Its relentless winding intricacies often force its victims to spend several hours on a task just to wind up back where they started (except now they’re weeping).

Red Tape Worm: Typical Victim Profile

The Red Tape Worm preys off of persons involved in filing paperwork or paying taxes with state or federal governments. Small business owners and startups are its favorite victims, innocent to regulatory mazes, payroll, benefits, and other employee-related stressors and just all around how much disruption Red Tape Worm can cause. 

Victims may be seen screaming at their computer, falling asleep while on hold, or pulling their hair out.



Tips for Fending Off the Red Tape Worm

The Red Tape Worm dislikes small business owners who are excited about payroll, benefits, and compliance (which is about no one on Earth).So what can business owners do? Here are two ways to overcome Red Tape Worm’s persistent obstacles:

  1. Empower & Train Your Employees. You don’t need to be the only one involved in overseeing the “people stuff” for running a business. Hire an HR expert to oversee some of the “people tasks” or empower another team member to take over some of the paperwork eating up your time.
  2. Outsource Your Headaches. If hiring a larger HR team doesn’t make sense consider partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) to take over your compliance, payroll, and benefits administration headaches. Want to know more about what PEOs can do for your business? Check out this article: Why small businesses are turning to PEOs.

Fending off the Red Tape Worm and other Small Business Monsters is Decent’s specialty. Because we know the Red Tape Worm’s antics, we can anticipate what the monster throws our way, and fight him off swiftly and easily. Did we mention that by partnering with Decent, we also help our small business clients save big on payroll, benefits, and HR?

See how much you can save. Try our rapid quote or contact us at support@decent.com.

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