Bureaucracy: Bureau-crazy

In my efforts to find some statistics I need for a publication I'm creating, I surfed the web and got stuck at a portal for public relations professionals in Germany. It seems like everything in Germany is so bureaucratized that even to become a member of this group of professionals you have to go through an admission procedure. They want you to prove that your business has been successful for over three years, and that your agency makes over €1 million a year (tax statement!). You also have to prove that your offices are representative of your success, that you have all the administrative support you can handle (secretaries, assistants, etc.) and that you have successfully completed big projects in promotions, events, etc. The portal also acts as a brokerage for their members to get access to more new customers/new projects. So no surprises here - only the big agencies get a chance at the big ticket customers. What surprises me is that the sober small agency (=does not reach the above limits) is not allowed to join this elite group (they'll argue that you can become an "associate" or something like that. Whatever that means.) Do the folks there really think that a small agency would take on a program that they obviously do not have the capabilities to carry out? Ok. So next question: why would a "big" agency (=fits the criteria) want to take on small (Small Office / Home Office) customers? They have so much to do taking care of their big-ticket customers, they certainly won't put much effort into caring for a SOHO customer. Yet the SOHOs need all the help they can get. With all the Ich-AGs being started in Germany, all the unemployed turning into self-employed, there is a lot of work for the grasping coming from just this group. Think about it: these SOHOs need to get business announcements out, set up their event at local trade shows, want to see their company name in print in the local papers, etc.etc. This is job creation! It is the SOHO that is a growing market for the PR professional. My call to the PR SOHO and freelancers in Germany: unite! Support the other SOHOs! Give your SOHO customer the VIP treatment they wouldn't have a chance at if they went to these elite agencies. And watch while these bureaucratic-crazy institutions shoot themselves in the foot.