Start Small.....It's Not What You Think

In the war for wage equality, livable wages, work-life balance and benefits that promote it, many of us look to the biggest brands to make a change. These are large firmly established businesses; many of them titans within their respective industries. Some examples would be Amazon, McDonalds, Apple, and Walmart. When society identifies an employment issue, these are the brands that are often the target of scrutiny and protest. And for good reason.

But are these companies the right place to start?

I think we need to put pressure on SMALL BUSINESSES FIRST. All big businesses were a small business at one time. They started small, often times with few or no employees, and over the course of their history grew into the big businesses they are today. During that growth period, their company cultures were developed, employment benefits defined and all operations built around the profits enjoyed from the labor of their teams. Once those companies made it to big-business status, their operations and employment protocols are cemented.

Large companies have the ability to rewrite the narrative of bad press. They are resistant to change when it could have an impact on their bottom line. Stock holders don't respond well to increased costs and reduced profits, further complicating the likelihood of change. Extremely wealthy C-level executives are reluctant to take pay cuts or cough up benefits they so very much enjoy.

So are these the companies we could see the most benefit from protesting against?

I think not.

According to the US Small Business Administration, there were 31.7 million small businesses, which account for 99.9% of all businesses in the US, as of 2020. Those 31.7 million businesses accounted for 47.1% of the US workforce which amounts to 60.6 million employees.

(Credit: https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/04144224/2020-Small-Business-Economic-Profile-US.pdf)

As many of my fellow small business owners are aware, customer feedback and scrutiny play a large part in their growth strategy. Because small businesses have smaller customer counts and are more commonly hyper-local, consumers have a larger impact on them. Unlike big business, a loss of customers, no matter how small it may be, is often times felt in the pocket book. If a large consumer base opts to discontinue business with a small company, it can and has resulted in companies closing up shop.

So here is my point. For all of us that are demanding a higher minimum wage, a comfortable livable wage, wage equality and additional employee benefits, we should start focusing our efforts on small business owners. Put the pressure on local small businesses to make positive changes before they grow into the mammoth companies that have the spending power to bury bad press in their own news cycles. Small businesses are much more likely to make positive changes demanded by their customers because they understand that a loss of customers could ultimately result in closing their doors for good.

I'm a small business owner. Although I want to see my fellow small business owners and my companies grow and succeed, I also think that we have the potential to make a big difference in the realm of wages and benefits. And because small businesses make up such a large portion of the economy, we have the potential and the POWER to make the big businesses at the top of the food chain respond. Small business supplies big business and big business supplies small business. If small businesses make a concerted effort to fix the issues so dear to many of us, we can pressure our big business counterparts to follow suit.

So as with most things in life, including business, start small. Reach out to your local businesses and ask them how they are trying to make a difference. If they don't have anything to report, make suggestions. Push us small business owners to make the right decisions before we become too big to change.

I think if we all do this, we will make a lot more progress than beating a dead horse with big business.