Hey y'all 1st time caller, long time…. Yeah.
Been working for almost 30 years now.
Almost always a worker, never a manager (at least officially titled).
Multiple fields. All to do with me doing work with my hands. BOH kitchens, bartending, blacksmith, machinist, beertender/retailer, auto mechanic; I been around.
I've had my good and shit bosses. And I've been taking notes…
I am giving serious consideration into buying the business I am at now, a specialty auto repair shop.
We do enough business to keep the lights on, have a LOYAL customer base, and have pretty low overhead. So I feel like, if I do this, and take the right steps, I can run an equitable business in the Capitalist Dystopia we call the USA.
Now, I've been a lurker here since almost the beginning… Well, begining of the pandemic.
So I want to reach out, and ask for some pointers on how I can be the best boss.
1) I want to begin equitable profit sharing. The shop can sustain and fit 2 employees plus me. I want to put profits into an escrow or investment account, and at the end of the year split that between my people, and the shop (gotta reinvest to keep it moving)
2) We are next to a BIG ivy league school, and that means rich kid $$. I'm not here to rip people off. I'm here to help. So I want to incorporate a sliding scale pay method.
I want to be in this business to help workers, so if I can get a bit more money out of a person that can afford it, I will apply that money to someone who really needs it.
3) I want what we all want. Comfort, safety, and love. So any advice to help gel my vision is greatly appreciated.
All we got is us! Solidarity Forever!