To: My Valued Employees
Date: Today
Re: The Future
Good morning everyone!
There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company and, more specifically, about your jobs. As you know the economy has changed for the worse and it presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: the economy doesn't pose a threat to your job! What does threaten your job, however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Let me share with you some little tidbits which might help you decide what is in your best interests.
While it is easy to spew rhetoric that pits employers against employees, that is a waste of time. The truth is you and I have to work together to get our product out the door and new orders in. You already know your side of this arrangement but you have to understand that for every business owner there is a ‘Back Story.’ This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you’ve seen my Mercedes parked outside and you've been to my house for Christmas parties and barbecue’s. It’s a big house and the decorator my wife hired was very good. I'm sure that all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life, but what you don't see is the ‘Back Story.’
I started this company 28 years ago. At that time I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for three years. My entire apartment living room was converted into an office so I could put 100% of my effort into building a company which would, by the way, eventually provide you with a job.
My diet consisted of Ramen noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission that two of you will remember. I didn't have time to date. Often times I stayed home on weekends while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact I was married to my business. Hard work, discipline, and sacrifice describe my early years exactly.
Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made $50K a year and spent every dime they earned and borrowed as much as they could. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item I was trolling through the discount and thrift stores extracting any clothing that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury.
I did not.
I put my time and my money and my life into a business with an understanding that some day I would be able to actually afford those luxuries my friends were running up credit card debt for.
Still today, while some of you arrive at the office at exactly 9:00am and manage to mentally check in at about noon and then rush out the door at 5:00pm sharp, I don't. I’m here to unlock the door in the morning and I’m the guy that turns out the lights after the cleaning crew finishes at 8:00pm. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office on Friday you are done and you can have a weekend all to yourself.
I do not have that freedom.
I eat and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest - there is no weekend - there is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a one-year-old special-needs child. You only see the fruits of the garden: the nice house, the Mercedes and the vacations, but you never realize the Back Story and the sacrifices I've made. Yes - business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.
Now the economy is falling apart and the guy who made all the right decisions and saved his money (that would be me), is being forced to bail-out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I’ve earned and sacrificed three decades of my life for.
Unfortunately for all of you the cost of running this business (and subsequently, of employing you), is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit to me, and let me tell you why:
I am being taxed to death and the government still thinks I don't pay enough!
I have State taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it now occupies more of my time that the business itself. On Oct 15th of this year I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes.
You know what my "Stimulus" check was?
Zero. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Zip.
The question I have is who do you think is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people a year with a flourishing business, or the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, the government feels the latter is the economic engine of this country.
The fact is that if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit! You wouldn't work here and why should you? That would be nuts. Who wants to get rewarded for only 50% of their hard work?
Well, I agree! But that's why your job is in jeopardy.
Here is a fact some of you don't understand - to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what drives the economy. What drives the economy? Its very simple: middle-class Americans buying goods and services from companies that employ other middle-class Americans. That is where the vast majority of wealth is generated and held. All the money owned by the very rich wouldn’t come close to the amount owned by the middle class.
Had our government suddenly told me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what I would have done? Instead of forking over that $288,000 to the black-hole that is Washington, I would have spent it! I would have hired more employees who could have served even more customers and that would have generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have shared in that tax cut in the form of promotions and higher salaries! But you can forget that now.
When you have a comatose man on the verge of death you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? You defibrillate his heart! Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it not kill it. Apparently the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you do not want.
So where am I going with all this?
It's quite simple.
If any new taxes are levied on me or my company then my reaction will be swift and simple: I will fire all of you. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV and your child's future. Frankly, it won’t be my problem any more. I will close this company down, move to another country and retire. You see I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed and with it will go my citizenship. Why in the world should I stay? Is it patriotic to wait for the politicians and their myrmidons to take all the money I‘ve worked 28 years for? That would be insane!
So if you lose your job it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that has swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach somewhere south of here. I will be retired and having fun and I will have no employees to worry about.
Good luck with that!
Signed,
The Boss
