I have a question for small businesses across the globe

[malaise]

If they can't afford to pay a living wage, should they be in business?

I don't get it.

[Fumesucker]

1. Walmart isn't a small business and they don't pay a living wage to the majority of their employees

[Cleita]

4. In their case, they could do better I understand.

Some experts, whose names I don't remember, sorry, have said that if Walmart, McDs etc. paid better wages then their own employees could probably afford to shop there, increasing sales and gross profits. Net profits would go down actually giving them a tax advantage. But I'm not an expert in this so others need to weigh in who know better.

[Cleita]

2. No they shouldn't be.

If their business model doesn't allow for paying their employees and themselves a living wage, then they need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can do it or figure out that the business isn't a good business and they need to look into something else.

[malaise]

6. That's my view as well

It's freaking crazy.

[Cleita]

7. My DH and I ran a small restaurant for ten years.

We paid our help more than minimum wage, all of them, including the ones in the kitchen. I actually gave the kitchen help, the ones that didn't make tips little bonuses every quarter depending on our sales. We gave it up when our lease was up and the landlord tripled the monthly rent, but threw a net, net, net lease at us and the spoiler in that is he wanted 10% of our gross sales. We figured it would not be doable although the people who took over managed to do it, but I understand they fired everyone who worked for us and hired new probably cheaper help.

I get a feeling that those net gross sales percentage on the lease is one of the reasons businesses try to cheat the workers because they have to pay the greedy landlords, many who are billionaires and multi-millionaires instead. It's all those banksters again profiting.

[malaise]

8. That's a good point

re the net gross sales

[doc03]

3. Well if big business like Walmart and McDonalds can't afford

to pay a living wage why should they exist. As a matter of fact the main reason they do exist is they don't pay a living wage.

[malaise]

5. Walmart and McDonald's make the government and taxpayers subsidize

their poor workers. That is so wrong.

[bettyellen]

9. I just explained to a coworker how Walmart employees qualify for govt benefits.

She was shocked! A lot of people do not realize this.

[malaise]

10. And they're the model for business

That makes no sense

[bettyellen]

11. yeah, she was making fun of the Gap for going to 10$ and getting a shout out from Prez Obama....

what can I say, she repeats whatever idiocy she hears. She's an immigrant, who thinks we should be tough on immigration.

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. No, they shouldn't. But this issue has nothing at all to do with small businesses or SBOs.

The only party more unfriendly to small business than the republicans are the Democrats.

The Parties are all about preserving and perverting the business cycle in order to perpetuate their own jobs.