Minimum Wage Increase: Perfect or Horrible?

I was listening to an interesting discussion today about the increase in the minimum wage. Is this the perfect timing for the increase, or is it the worst possible time they could have picked?

If you think about the fact that there are many people that will be getting $0.70 per hour more, that could mean millions of dollars being pumped into the economy. Might I also add that those millions wouldn't have to come from the government. I am sure that many families and individuals are glad for this wage hike since it may loosen up their budget.

On the other hand, there is an ugly side to the equation. How many businesses are on the brink of shutting down? How many of these will "kick the bucket" when they need to pay their employees more? When a business shuts down, jobs are lost, and the employees are in worse shape than they were before they got their "raise".

There's something else too. Take a pizza shop, for instance, that employs quite a few people at minimum wage. It could cost the owner around $15,000 per year more just because of this wage hike. I think we could all assume that pizza shop owners don't make enough money to just write off $15,000. So what happens? The owner jacks up the price of the pizza. People buy less pizza at his establishment. The owner doesn't have work for all his employees anymore. The employees get laid off. Back to square one.

So, while there are some pretty good arguments for the increase, I'm gonna say that they could have picked a better time to do it.

The Bizfisher

Mysteries of Marketing

I usually get a bit of a bang out of trying something that I'm not experienced at. Partly because I like to learn new things, and partly because I enjoy the challenge of blazing through new territory. Right now, marketing is one of those new territories. There's so many things to consider. With a very limited budget, what gets you the most traffic for your dollar? Which areas have more potential customers for your business? Is your business relevant to the interests of the residents in the area that you're targeting? Can you get more circulation for less money if you shop around a bit?

As I said, I really do enjoy the challenges that new experiences create, but sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the options and all the loopholes that you need to be aware of. All this to say that I would definitely welcome any advice from all of you marketing gurus.

The Bizfisher

Tired of Listening to Your Boss?

Something random just entered my mind today. Have you ever thought about the fact that the employees are always the ones complaining? You hear it all the time, "Can you believe what the Bossman just did?" or, "If I were the Boss, I wouldn't do it like that." Or on the radio you might here, "Tired of hearing the boss? Tune him out and tune us in." Why is it that employees find so many things to pick on?

It makes me wonder if a boss gets together with his friends and talks about his employees. I think I should start a boss-friendly radio station. "Are you tired of putting up with your employees? Are you sick of them not doing what you want them to? Tune them out and tune us in."

I would like to take my hat off to the employers out there including my own. Though we may sound like complaining little children sometimes, we really do appreciate the jobs that you've created for us.

The Bizfisher

Help Me Become Efficient

Tell me, what do you do when you have a day that you feel like you're taking 1 step forward but about 20 back? Today just happened to be that kind of a day. I got up this morning, knowing that my day held almost more than I could handle. I had hopes that things would go well enough that I would be able to get everything done. Soon after I arrived at work I saw those hopes come to a screeching halt. It seemed that every corner I turned there was one more thing keeping me from getting done what I needed to get done.

Before too long I had too many things on my mind and couldn't even think about the job at hand. Now I would like to ask a favor of you. What do you do when you have a day like that? How do you keep from coming to the end of the day and having 20 things on your mind when you go home? What methods do you have to make sure that those 20 things get done the following day when the following day is already packed full too? Or is my situation just hopeless?

The wonderful thing about a day like this is that it gives you much more appreciation for the fun you can have with your family when you get home. Two kids running at you when you climb out of your truck is the perfect way to get your mind off of work.


The Bizfisher

Cheap Payback

How do you go about rewarding your employees when there's just no money to spare? If you can't afford to be handing out bonuses or gift cards whenever one of your employees does a bang-up job, what do you do? Do you just decide that once things get better, you'll give them a raise. Or do you do nothing at all? If you're the latter, shame on you.

There are ways to reward your employees without breaking the bank. There are really two paychecks that your workers take home. They're physical paycheck is the one that you're aware of. Sometimes you're painfully too aware of it. However, what you may not know is that each of you're employees also takes home a mental/emotional paycheck. This is the one that you need to work on when the money's not flowing freely.

If an employee goes out of the way to do something for the good of the business, it's amazing how far a bit of recognition can go. Just simply recognizing his/her good works will be a bonus on the mental paycheck, but if you really want to make them feel good, give them some public recognition. If you do it in front of their co-workers, it may inspire them to go out of their way too.

You can also take the opportunity to find out more about your employees. Take them out to lunch or coffee and talk to them about their dreams, visions, etc. If you go this extra mile, you can expect that your employee will be flying high for quite a while. I'm sure you can think of some ways that you can reward them in your own special way, but whatever you do, please don't make the mistake of just not doing anything.

The Bizfisher

Bright Side of Recession

As a business owner, you may be experiencing some high levels of stress right now. You might look at the title and wonder if there is such a thing as a bright side. For those of you who consider yourselves to be entrepreneur's, there is a bright side.
If you take a look at some of the past recessions, there are some big companies that were started right in the middle of them. Towards the end of the Great Depression, in a garage in Palo Alto, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard used $538 to start up an electronics manufacturer. This manufacturer has become well known as Hewlett-Packard, or HP.
Do you like pancakes? If so, you can be glad for the Eisenhower depression. The first IHOP opened its doors during that time period. IHOP started franchising just 3 years later, and now there are more than 1,300 locations across the US.
So, you see, a recession can end up having a bright side. These are only two of many examples. If you got laid off, and feel like you have an idea for starting a company, don't just sit there! Get out there and get things rolling. Maybe next time we have a recession, we will be reading about your company, and how well you blossomed during a tough time.


The Bizfisher

Fantastic Things About the West

I'd like to start by saying that us boring easterners just don't have a clue how to have fun. This picture doesn't come close to doing justice to the hilarities that we experienced at this donkey basketball game. It was a fundraiser for the local high school. The players couldn't pass or shoot unless they were sitting on the donkey. If they got off to go get the ball, they had to drag their donkey with them. You know how bull-headed donkeys can be. Truly hilarious.



This is just me trying to board down the unbelievable sand dunes. Or rather just trying to keep my feet off of the scorching sand. It was so hot that I actually got blisters on the bottom of my feet from walking across. The sand dunes are definitely something to see. Mountains of nothing but sand.


This is just part of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range sticking up above Lake Deweese. Not far from this view, further down the valley, is a buffalo/horse ranch that I plan on owning sometime. It's probably around 55,000 acres of the nicest looking land you can possibly get.
Tomorrow we leave this beautiful country to head back home. Two days of nothing but driving.


The Bizfisher