Running a small business brings with lots of excitement, hard work, and even a little head scratching at times.
As anyone who has ever run a company knows, each day pretty much brings with it a new set of challenges, circumstances, and results. For those who seize the moment, the rewards can be endless.
So, what kind of business owner are you when it comes to money? When referring to money, it means paying your employees.
For many business owners, these last few years of a challenging economy have meant that worker salaries have either been frozen or even reduced. In many cases, new employees coming into companies are seeing offers that they would typically turn down, yet a struggling economy means many are taking jobs at lower salaries.
In other instances, some employees are seeing small increases in their current pay or job offers from a year or two ago, but it typically depends on the industry, the conditions that each specific employer is dealing with, and how much competition there is for each position.
Being a small business owner, are you increasing, decreasing, or keeping your respective employee salaries about the same from last year at this time? As the well-known saying goes, you typically do get what you pay for.
For example, take a look at the field of jobs that encompasses marketing, social media, content writing and other related positions.
If you go on Craigslist or some other sites that post jobs, it is not uncommon to see marketing, social media, and content writing positions (with experience) starting for as little as $10 an hour. While that figure may sound good to someone living at home with their parents, the same someone who has little college and/or related experience, someone else will balk at such an amount.
Avoid the Revolving Door of Employees
If you want to avoid a revolving door of workers in and out of your office, increase your salary offers so that someone has incentive to stay with your company more than just a few months, that is until something better comes along.
Secondly, you may want to consider outsourcing some of the work to contractors and/or consultant, those individuals with experience in the field, yet who are looking to work outside an office setting.
Should you choose that route, you avoid things like medical benefits, 401k plans, and having to manage one more person in the office. With that being said, make sure you get someone who is disciplined and organized enough to work on their own.
Lastly, offering salaries that barely allow someone to put food on their table and keep a roof over their heads opens you up to potential negative publicity.
In todayâs social media age, it isnât uncommon for word to spread quickly that your company is not a good one to work for, especially given that you are paying so little and asking for so much.
So, how do you as a small business owner go about setting your worker salaries? Have you gotten positive or negative feedback from applicants in recent years?
Would love to hear your thoughts….
Photo credit: ehow.com
About the Author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of financial topics, including payroll outsourcing.
