The big news for business this week is obviously healthcare reform. What it means obviously differs between various businesses; but, for the true start-up, the bill is clearly a very good thing. Healthcare reform will help startups in two specific ways: 1. Cash Flow 2. Enabling the start Cash Flow Startups are unique beasts – their problems virtually always come down to two factors, cash flow and time. While those two are substitutable for most businesses, they aren’t at startups. Anything a startup can do to minimize costs and take them out of the company is a good thing Healthcare reform will help startups improve cash flow by ensuring that the individual insurance market is affordable, or at least predictable, enough for founders to carry insurance on their own dime, rather than buying a corporate plan from day one. Enabling the Start As much as this blog will always be about “cash is king,” the freedom to start a business is by far the most important thing healthcare reform will bring to startups. Right now, that first step out of a “real job” is a doozy – losing your healthcare is a big part of that. These days, I see a lot of laid-off clients who have COBRA coverage, but, in other economic times, we want to enable individuals to choose when to start a company. Ensuring access to insurance could potentially allow many people who are worried about starting a business to get out there and do it. Economists have found a lot of evidence that labor market mobility is important to a healthy economy. Startups create jobs, and help American industry to evolve and respond to market changes. We need to make it as easy as is reasonable for people to move from a less-than-ideal job to starting their dream company. Healthcare reform does that. In the end, that’s good for all of us.