After years’ worth of complaints from city businesses, aldermen finally are doing something about the city’s permitting and regulatory process. What they are doing is not enough, however.

Last week the Special Committee on Job Creation, Job Retention and Economic Development voted to have city departments create a how-to manual or flow chart to help businesses navigate the maze of permits and regulations. Departments are to have the document ready within 60 days.

That step is long overdue. As the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce documented in a survey last year, many small-business owners are frustrated with the city’s regulatory processes. They say they have to go to multiple departments to obtain multiple permits before they can open, the departments given them conflicting information, and inspectors are inconsistent in what they approve and reject.

These complaints have been piling up for years. That the city is addressing them at last is welcome news.

Still, what the committee has proposed is only part of what needs to be done. Navigating the maze of regulations is only one part of the problem. The size of the maze is the other.

Aldermen need to review the city’s business regulations in full to see how they can reduce the burden on business owners. Manchester is not an island. Some businesses will open here because of the location, but others could set up in neighboring towns if it is easier to do so. Aldermen should make sure that it is not significantly easier to do so.