I'm as bummed as the next business person about the government over regulating the marketplace, mostly because it means higher costs for businesses, which translates to higher prices for customers.  Businesses generally can't survive unless they pass on those higher costs to their customers whether they want to or not.  But, being the glass-half-full kind of person that I am, I believe that every negative situation usually contains the potential for an opportunity that someone will take advantage of, and regulation is no different in that regard.

Recently, Diana Ransom of the Wall Street Journal wrote about six industries that she thought would actually grow because of new regulations ("Six Industries Poised to Grow").  Some of the most relevant to regulation were:

• Telecommunications: due to the National Broadband Plan to increase access.
• Hosted services: again a beneficiary of the broadband extension plan
• Health care: due to the dollars for infrastructure and digitization of medical records
• Clean energy: federal stimulus dollars have been attracting entrepreneurs to this sector.
   

However, Ransom missed one of the big opportunities that always come out of new regulations - the opportunity to launch a business around helping businesses deal with all the regulation.  After all, with reform bills weighing in at several thousand pages each, what business owner has time to reflect on what this all means?  Yes, your accountant may be able to help you deal with issues related to the IRS and accounting statements, but regulatory reform typically affects business strategy overall and your accountant may not have the broad expertise required to advise you.  

Before you get too excited and make plans to start a business focused on regulation or add that service to your existing business, make sure you have the time and resources to devote to understanding the ramifications of all the new regulations and how they might impact businesses in general and certain industries in particular.  If you currently own a business that provides consulting-type services, don't automatically assume that you should diversify your business into the regulatory guidance area.  Why?  Because one of the reasons you're successful (and I'm assuming you are) is that you've found a way to stand out from the crowd--you've found your unfair advantage over everyone else.  So your business is known for what it does.  Sometimes, if you take on something that is too far afield of your core business, you confuse your customers, and customers don't like to be confused. They see you as the expert in what you do.  So unless your current business is related to regulation or you're starting a brand new business focused on regulation, leave your existing business alone. You'll be glad you did.  

The bottom line: you can find opportunity in any situation and you should make it a practice to look for opportunity in every circumstance - just make sure it's the right opportunity for you before you leap.