Raise Your Employee's Wages

Let me start off by saying I did not watch the State of the Union speech.  I had other more important things going on.  It was pack meeting tonight for the Cub Scouts and I had a home teaching visit with the Taylor family.  No disrespect to the office of the President of the United States but I really don't care to listen to what our current President has to say. 

I did see a quote that he said something about employers raising their employee's wages.  Did he really say we need to increase minimum wage?  Let's just say that if the minimum wage is increased it will only mean that I would now make that much more less than minimum wage.  When people ask how things are going with the business I usually throw in a comment at some point in the conversation that if I can get to where I am at least making minimum wage it will be a good thing.  That usually gets a laugh and I think most people think that I am kidding.  No, not kidding.  If there was a need for an extreme poverty poster child I could throw my hat into that ring. 

Increase minimum wage, everybody deserves more.  I understand that and it all sounds great but there is a problem.  Most people think that those of us who create jobs for other people are loaded.  It simply is not the case.  We are not sitting on a cash cow and we did not come into it with a ton of start up capital.  We started it by a shoe string and have worked very hard with little to show for it.  The cost of being in business is up there and I often feel like we are in business to simply make money for other people.  Costs go up constantly from food to the utility bills to marketing expenses. We have never really been in front of that. 

Not looking for a pity party here.  I am simply pointing out the fact that if we had to increase minimum wage we would likely be forced to close our doors.  Our prices would go up such that people would no longer pay.  When we have to take all the risk and then we open the doors and have to maintain the insurances and have to pay the taxes and have to do everything else so that we can have an employee, an employee who just starting out at the current minimum wage makes more then what I make.  It doesn't make sense to continue.  I am certain we are not the only ones who are in this type of a position when it comes to operating a small business. 

When it comes to minimum wage, truly there are companies who can afford to pay there people more then what they do.  There are companies out there with very deep pockets and wonderful opportunities.  I had the pleasure of working for a company a number of years ago who paid extremely well.  They could have chosen to go at minimum wage but they didn't.  They were in a position to afford to pay more and they did.  They also provided 100% insurance for both the employee and their families.  Well, I am at a rambling stage.  I am tired. I think people, that there are entry level jobs and there should be an entry level wage.  Increasing that entry level wage to $10 per hour sounds great but it is a death nail for many of us little guys just trying to make it.