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Sad news for scifi booklovers. Borderlands Books of San Francisco is closing.

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40hz:
But I did see that when he did have to clear payroll- the bottom line wasn't as flush as it was before.  And when one of the new "paid" help was caught stealing... the realities of dealing with people that he hadn't known for 15+ years became evident.
-wraith808 (February 03, 2015, 02:25 PM)
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You just hit on a very important point with that. You can't purchase a relationship. Something many business owners fail to understand. If you have one with an employee or customer, it's incumbent upon you to do everything you can to protect and keep it. That is something that pays dividends in trust and mutual concern that go far beyond simple financial considerations.

Going over to the theft part, most good employees have a very good sense of what they feel is fair compensation. And when their paycheck doesn't reflect that amount, they will get what compensation they feel is due them one way or another. Indirectly, by reducing the level of responsibility, service or initiative they exercise in the course of carrying out their duties. Or directly by cheating the clock, abusing sick time, doing personal work on company time, "borrowing" office supplies and things like photocopies, postage, and network bandwidth - or - in extreme cases, embezzling funds or committing theft.

To deal with that you need to do two things. First, hire good people. (And despite all the cynics out there, there are many good people to hire. Good people number in the majority.) And second, pay them fairly at the very least - and even somewhat generously if you're smart and the business can afford it. (Many times it can.) Unless the person in question is somebody who is in line to become a partner or co-owner, it's somewhat unrealistic to try to sell intelligent people on the "Every employee is a business owner here!" line of nonsense. Because they're not. And in most small businesses, they never will be. So it's wise to stop trying to kid them about it. And it's even more important that a small business owner to stops trying to kid his or herself. If the rewards are different for an owner versus an employee, it's mainly because (or should mainly be because) the owner takes on all the risks of the business. The average employee is talent for hire at a mutually agreed fair level of compensation. Most employees - even stellar employees - don't wish to take their jobs home with them every night and weekend. Which is something a wise business owner or major stakeholder usually does - because they damn well better.

You do get the occasional bad apple out there. But they're rare from what I've experienced. If big organizations see a lot of them, it's likely because they hire a lot more people than a small business. So the statistical odds are higher for hiring a bad employee. If a small business sees a lot of bad hires, it's usually because they're trying to bottom feed when hiring help. It's not that you can't get "good help" like many business claim. It's just hard to hire them at slave wages and expect them to be grateful for it over the long term.

Want good people? Then hire good people. And pay them. A Harvard Business School study showed that the single biggest employee motivator for performance and willingness to take on additional responsibility was a slightly better than expected salary or wage offer. Not "empowerment." Not "involvement." Not "the opportunity for growth." MONEY!

That was a very disappointing thing to learn for many businesses which hoped a weekly "quality circle brainstorming session" might be a cheap way to keep people happy, and let them think their opinions and suggestions really were being carefully considered by upper management. ("That's good thinking Jenkins! Y'know...I shouldn't be telling you this, but Mr. Big has his eye on you. Um-hm! Keep up the good work!")

Which brings us back to small bookstores. It's hard to get crackerjack people in for what most can (in truth) afford to pay. You get the occasional "book freak" (I was once one) who is so happy to be working in a bookstore that they don't care how little they're being paid. Or at least not until they're facing eviction for non-payment of rent.

It's sad to see the look (and working in a bookstore I have seen it) of absolute hurt and betrayal when these people explain their situation to the shop owner, and ask for a raise, only to discover that the "valued associate" designation they've been given amounts to little more than a line of text under their name on their employee nametag.

Yet another reality you'll find at small bookshops everywhere. :(

wraith808:
Which brings us back to small bookstores. It's hard to get crackerjack people in for what most can (in truth) afford to pay. You get the occasional "book freak" (I was once one) who is so happy to be working in a bookstore that they don't care how little they're being paid. Or at least not until they're facing eviction for non-payment of rent.
-40hz (February 03, 2015, 04:05 PM)
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And that's what all three of us were.  At the time, I was in my early 30s, so old enough to be stable, and contracting, so I to a large extent was just there to get stuff done, and could work my schedule around what he needed, usually covering 3 shifts a week.  The others were older, and more stable, and between them covered 4-6 shifts.  But he really didn't seem to get how much of an advantage that gave him.  And when he started nickel-and-diming me on the credit, and actually trying to reduce the credit to product ratio... that's when I bailed.

But looking at it from his perspective, he was bleeding money and looking for ways to cut the bottom line.  That just wasn't it, IMO.  He also cut it in customer service... and that was another nail in the coffin.  It was very sad... he had 25+ years in good will from the community (and there is a real community when you're dealing with niche hobbies, and you have to play to them), and he pissed it away as he became less and less enamored and more and more cynical as time went on.

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