Deafening Silence

For any business, but particularly a small business, a hiring decision is a big decision. Meeting Payroll is the primary stress of most owners I know. The caricature of fat cats is not one that resonates with my experience. Rational people will work at big Institutions where their contribution is amplified by the success of those who have come before. Most small businesses are in the survival period before significant growth kicks in. It is long term belief in potential growth that keeps the owner going. The most successful entrepreneur I have met said it took him 7 years post pulling the trigger to earn what he was getting as a salary man. And he was the definition of an outlier jumping over aligned stars. The rational approach is to be an underconfident overachiever and let someone else stress over payroll. A salary is like a bond. You are lending your labour to the owner in exchange for a predictable, consistent, income. But that income is normally pass-the-parcel. The owner has to get the money to pay you from the customer. To commit to the risk that the customer will be there. Even Big Institutions can over commit to how many parcels they can pass. Going to zero is a reality when the music stops. Silence is deafening.