Why You're Not Worth Minimum Wage!

Have you ever walked through a shopping mall and thought to yourself; how do the small kiosks make a profit? My wife and I were recently in Dallas for a real estate convention and had the afternoon off, so we took a ride to a local mall. As we strolled through the mall, I couldn’t help noticing that every one of the small kiosk vendors were to busy, with their nose stuck into their cell phone, to address anyone walking past. One of my favorite comments I make to clerks to generate conversation is; “are they working you hard”? I stopped at one of the kiosks and looked over what they had to offer as the clerk paid no attention to my wife and me and I asked them; are they working you hard? To my surprise, they looked up from their phone, rolled their eyes and said; for what they pay me here, I’m not going to work hard and returned to their phone. They obviously knew I wasn’t interested in the product they were peddling and now the question comes to mind; why are they being paid minimum wage? I hear all the crying coming from our elected representatives, minimum wage should be increased to $15.00 per hour.  For our elected officials, it’s an open checkbook to pay their staff but for small business, it’s watching every penny to make a profit. I am all for getting rid of the minimum wage system and bringing out an incentive pay system. If a sales clerk wants a raise, sell something, make a presentation even if nobody is watching. We have all heard the question when at a fast, (convenient), food establishment; would you like fries with that or would you like to up-size? What would happen if there was a meeting before every shift and the manager advised the crew of a minimum goal and once they achieved that goal, everyone would make a percentage of the profit; would that be enough incentive to get them motivated to actually sell something or connect with potential customers? Some will say; you can do that with sales, but you can’t do that with office staff, and I would disagree. You can measure the number of calls, accuracy of paperwork and the overall profitability of the business.

To the surprise of many workers of the future, you will be fired because the current minimum wage you are being paid is far more than your worth as an employee. I foresee a bleak future for many college educated minimum wage people, you might actually have to put your phone down and go to work. Here’s a line taken from one of my favorite professional speakers, Larry Winget, “It’s called work for a reason”.

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