I'm guessing you don't own a business, though I could be wrong and do see your point. I'm not asking the government for loans or any help. The point I was making is that it is not worth opening these small businesses the way things are. Having to be competitive on prices and looking at the risks, It just isn't worth trying for the very low profits that are projected.

so IF government sets laws that minimum wage is $20/hr, that you HAVE TO provide $500/month health insurance, unemployment insurance, have to contribute $5k/year to employees retirement plan, etc and on top of that, any money they make will be taxed at 50%, the business owners shouldn't bitch?

business owners will stop bitching as soon as government stops telling them how to run their business... :2 cents:

Same logic as your rent getting raised and saying 'fuck it, I'll just quit my job'.

No wonder you retards lost the election.

Isn't that what many people did? I know a few different people who will not work because they will not gain much difference than what the government will give them to sit at home :2 cents:

I'm not trying to get into a class warfare thing. Just explaining why raising taxes etc. doesn't help in small business.

Edit:
Truth is my income is somewhere around the middle class. Everything I have extra I put into trying to help other people. No I do not donate to charities often, except Good Will when my girlfriend cleans house...lol, But I always try to help friends that are having trouble. I even have the electric bill for a friend's house in my name and am paying for their cell phone. I'd rather give to friends and people who need help than give to the government to do what they choose with my hard earned money. If you look at the businesses I was opening, a big reason was to help give easy relaxed jobs to people I know. Of coarse I want to make a small profit, but that's not my only reason for trying to start these companies.

I do own a business, Hell - by 15 I was already working on finding ways to generate income on my own. I've always had a true entrepreneurial spirit. My "significant other" owns a business as well - and we're looking to move that to a brick and mortar soon.

There's two approaches I've seen people take with any business or money making venture. One is to see a market, know that a certain scheme makes money, and run that scheme. That type of approach makes money, and does for a period of time. However it eventually burns out (because the market changes). The blame in this approach is always placed somewhere else, on some change or unforeseen event that caused the business to fail. The second approach is to see a market, and want to conquer it. No matter what happens or changes in the market, the operator is so focused on the future they're prepared and ready to tackle that change. They see it as a challenge and thrive on figuring out a solution and conquering each new issue as soon as it arises. When something in this approach fails, the blame is understood that the person simply couldn't figure out that one problem. They learn with this, they see what they did wrong, they put that knowledge to good use next time and are able to better overcome new issues. This is the type of approach that I've always seen last and do the best. Sadly, a lot of people fall into the first scenario to which they eventually see their profits and business dry up.

They can bitch all they want. But that isn't going to raise their profit margins and solve their newly created issue. Eventually they need to quit their bitching and focus on solutions to the problem. If you're in a business that revolves around the .gov set minimum wage, then you damn sure better be able to crunch the numbers on minimum wage, know how it effects your margins, and know how to handle changes in it's requirement.

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Before even getting into an industry which is effected by minimum wage. The business owner should already fucking know the cost margins of minimum wage, how often it increases, what it increases by, and how those will eventually effect margins on the business. It's a part of that business for christ's sake.

Romney's firm Bain Capital specialized in destroying American companies putting American workers out of work for fun and profit yet Minte the champion of the American manufacturer and worker supported him. He also set up outsourcing deals to China while at Bain and invested in a Chinese company through his not so blind trust.

The American worker is in the same position as those small business owners on Main Street who can't compete with Walmart. It's puzzling though that there still are many American manufacturers making products in the USA and thriving - including Minte. Why not Apple then? And VictoriasSecret? And Nike? And .............

How much is health and work comp insurance going up next year? I just got off the phone with Sentry Insurance who has our business so I know the answer.

You will be surprised at the answer I have.

mainstream is boring

I don't need to know the answer. You can't complain about health care costs, because you're the one choosing to pay for them. If you think your insurance is too expensive, then shop around and find something that fits what you want to spend. There is a free market out there you know.

And are you covering your employee's insurance? Why not drop that? If you're covering 100%, only cover 90% and make them pay the other 10%. Don't cover it at all (legally you only have to provide them access to a group plan, not pay for it).

I shouldn't have to tell you how to run your business. If you think insurance is too much of an expense, then you have plenty of ways of minimizing it as an expense. :2 cents:

Your not telling me how to run my business. You are working hard at not answering the question.

Workcomp - Our mod rate dropped 3/10ths of a point. Our sales and payroll have gone up. The actual cost of workcomp will go up about 18%.

Healthcare - No one can answer that. I was told, at least 14%.but it could be twice that. It went up 11% this year when we renewed. Playing hardball with the people(direct labor) that make the money for our company is the perfect way to demoralize the workforce. Companies can either spend the money on decent benefits or be a revolving door for employees. Then they end up spending that money on constant training.

And I am not complaining about anything.

Do you guys actually read the tax codes and use the write offs they give you?

Hey Minte. I dont know how many people you have, but have you thought about doing a Self insured thing? Not sure if a company like yours can do that but I know a LOT of law enforcement agencies are now doing it.

Every year we look at it, but it's tough for a small company. The insurance companies have raised the rates on major medical so much that it doesn't make much sense if you don't have a lot of cash available to let idle.

I was talking with a guy from one of the Police Departments about it. They worked out a deal with a local hospital, local doctors and then the employees. Worked well for them and saved them a shit ton of cash. Also started pushing the employees about weight issues and things along those lines.

I understand you dont have the time to baby sit but sometimes its worth doing it.

Got a contact I can use,. Want to ask a question about the things you make.

I don't understand your issue then. I'm not going to argue insurance rates with you because it's completely irrelevant to the points I was making earlier. Saying your insurance will rise 14% is completely meaningless to any discussion because 14% to you means something to only you and no one else. For one business it could rise 30% but they could still turn even higher profits for the year, for another it could rise 3% and it could lower their profits for the year. It is literally irrelevant to any discussion because one number alone is not a set of metrics of any kind. Only you as a business owner can decide how an expense will be handled in your company. It is entirely up to you and only you.

mint at jefnet dot com

The point was not about arguing insurance rates. The point was doing the research and all of those things are only small tools that we can use. It's not like when raw plastic goes up because of some disastor somewhere that we can automatically raise prices to all of our customers. Even when we do raise prices it takes months before we begin to rebuild the cash on hand.

The real world of mainstream is not a whole lot like the business classes they teach in a college.
Maybe in fortune 500 companies there is a formula that they follow religeously, but not in smaller companies. It's a lot of gut checks and risk taking that goes into it.

The point is you shouldn't be operating your business where a rise in plastics would cripple the business or force you to push that cost onto customers. That's the whole idea behind running proper margins. That's what they're there for. Every business will have unforeseen costs, that's why they should already be figured into your margins.

Even the general public needs to figure in unforeseen costs. Take a car for example. Intelligent people know and understand that cars will have issues and eventually break down. They factor that into their budget when purchasing a car and living their day to day lives. If something happens they have the money on hand to deal with it. Then you have the not so intelligent people who have their fingers crossed nothing goes wrong and when/if something does they're screwed.

This all circles back to the idea that a business is solely responsible for how it operates. The price of plastic goes up, well if your business was dependent on the price of plastic I sure fucking hope you had planned for it - otherwise that was absolutely your fault (not whatever drove up plastic prices). If you're in a business that has really high workman's comp rates, so fucking what. Perhaps you shouldn't have gotten into a such a business.

And this isn't directed at you necessarily. I'm simply making a point. Business owners are responsible in and of themselves. The second they start blaming the government or other events they have failed as a business owner.

All I read is an excuse just like when I read excuses about piracy, tubes and everything else someone can pin their woes on.

My best years where immediately after the housing market crash when everybody else was at their worst.

Oh about unforeseen costs due to ObamaCare... I have been told by my friends that work for big corporations that starting next year they are being moved to PPO and their rates will be based on utilization, whether they are a smoker, their weight, etc. I know that Wells Fargo and JetBlue are doing this.

Rather than bitching about it, companies are figuring out how to work with it.

It seems like bitching has replaced finding solutions. When did America get flooded with so many whiny bitches?

The older generations like to pick on the teens and early twenty somethings of today but they sure as fuck don't bitch as much as some of the supposedly older and wiser folks found here and elsewhere.

He's saying that insurance is going to cost him more because of Obamacare. But he doesn't know how much. And the truth is it was going to cost him more next year anyhow because it goes up every year like clockwork.

Minte is also saying businessmen are not interested in investing or expansion because it's not wise to invest while we have a second term president with slow and steady growth because it's much better to invest with a new president who has yet to tell us what his plan might be.

Wasn't it already enough that you had to make a thread about my tax liability.
Do you have any idea at how stupid you are making yourself look?
I am going to ask you nicely, this one time.

Stop putting your words into my mouth.

This is all fine, I guess I must just be lucky now for 30 years. I would love to come and tour your facility so maybe I can pick up some tips. God knows I must need them.

You guys are right, Health insurance does go up every year. Can someone please tell me the last time it went up 30% in one year?

The layoff threats prior to the election were coming from companies that backed Romney. They were political publicity stunts.

Common sense is that if it takes 10 factory employees to meet order deadlines, you can't lay one of them off without missing deadlines. A more likely scenario is a slight price increase.

real world isn't that simple... many companies have very tight margins, so in some situations it may make sense to cut volume and work with 8 employees than to keep 10 on the payroll... :2 cents:

I have been saying this for many years.
Long ago, i had the privelege of being on Student council, and where i went to School. The School owned all the land, and leased it out to people in 99 year lots. Anyway, i voted against allowing Walmart in, a few years after i left, they were in though.

And of course many of the cool stores that people used to love are now gone.

translation:

That's how capitalism works.

They can't DO what he DOES. So they work for him.

Problem is that the likes of Minte want capitalism and a free market when it works out well for them.

However capitalism and the free market are now making it hard for his business because new players are taking advantage of their lower cost base.

That's a very hypocritical position. If you embrace the market you have to take the good with the bad.

:2 cents:

Well, you can still branch out into mainstream by hiring my writing services :) $5 buys you 1000 words. Copyscape-passed, high-quality engaging text.