Rant About “Poor” Business Owners

I have had loads of employers who sympathize that they know “how hard it is”. One employer frequently pretended to be humble… yet could fly anywhere in the world at the drop of hat if they felt like it. You know the types. And I am not even talking about the recession either, I am talking about years and years of having employers like this.

They pretend to be one of you… perhaps so you don’t ask them for a raise, because after all, they are suffering so bad. Of course the following week they are off to see the Musical “Cats” in New York. Ah.. but it must be tough.

In fact I cannot honestly say I have had an employer who was deeply honest about their economic status being higher than mine (or at least higher than what they think my level is). I suppose no employee wants an employer putting it in their face that they have way more money, whether it is in cash or assets.

But still.. those who pretend to be suffering, I mean really. If you are suffering so bad, and the business is suffering so bad, close it and get a regular paycheck type job. I know I did. Yup, I used to own my own business, started it from scratch. You see, none of my employers realized I was good with money, cut corners at home, and saved up. But, after three years of struggling, it wasn’t working, so I sold and moved on, going back to a regular pay check type job.

I am not saying that some business owners are not suffering, but heck if they are driving around new cars, then it cannot be that bad. My car was one I bought years before for $1. Its the ones who have the best of everything, the most of everything, and still get more, then complain about how hard it is for them to get by, and that they really are “just regular folk, like us”… it is those ones who crack me up.

If funds are really so short why don’t they sell their second home? If funds are really so bad, why are they buying their kids cars? If money is a problem, why did they just book a trip to Vegas?

Come on, get real, don’t pretend to be “just regular folk, barely getting by”, who do you think you are fooling. I don’t even care about the raise, this rant is not even written about my current boss (as you might think I am writing about being turned down for a requested raise – this is not the case). This is a rant against all those business owners who are a bunch of phonies.

If you are such a business owner who tries to pretend to be humble and just getting by, shape up. Your employees do not buy it. And if it is true, and you are just getting by, and are at par with your employees, you need to look at something and make adjustments. Because either you are a very good employer who is keeping their employees well looked after, treating them as well as you would treat yourself (unlikely) or your business is going under.

Even more of an insult is when the manager, or foreman, tries to relate to the lower work as though they are an equal. Nothing is more insulting to a lower wage earning than hearing somebody above them complain about how tough it is to barely get by on the wage. I once had a foreman tell whine “The more you make the more they take”. She was referring to taxes. I told her to ask for a pay cut if it was such a problem for her.

In short, do not insult people by pretending to be at a lower level than you are. I would not want to work for somebody who I deemed worse off than I was. It would give me a lack of faith in them as a professional person.