Aleana Young was 30 years old when she quit her high-paying job and decided to open her own cheese shop. It happened two years ago. Today, her business is booming, and she has never been on the verge of bankruptcy, although she pays her employees $ 15 per hour. The woman shared her story.
Further narration will go on behalf of Aleana.
Business from scratch
I live in Regine, Saskatchewan, where I moved after graduating and falling in love with a guy. Prior to my adventures in entrepreneurship, I worked for eight years in the field of communications and project management in various fields. I am an ambitious and hardworking person, so I thought that it was the work of my dreams. I was wrong. A year later, I realized that I was unhappy. For several months I woke up at 4:30 to draw up a business plan for applying for financing for a novice businessman. In May 2017, I had $ 45,000 to open a gourmet store. By that time, I was studying for a doctorate, so this amount was large for me, although I could not buy a lot of things. Refrigerators cost more than $ 3,000, and glass display cases cost more than $ 8,000. Saskatchewan was on the verge of a recession. Although wages remained the same, rents unfortunately increased. Regina was also a city of meat, potatoes and dumplings with sausage, so selling cheese was too chic, but I took a chance.
Recruitment
All that remained was to hire at least one more person, because I myself would not be able to cope with everything. I had to decide how much I would pay my employees. It seemed to me that good staff needed to pay a decent hourly wage. I worked from 15 to 20 hours a week, earning above the subsistence level, but still making ends meet. I had to save, selectively buy products, pay utility bills. It was tiring.
Saskatchewan has the lowest minimum wage in Canada. In 2017, it was about 11 dollars per hour. The province itself is wonderful, but there is a high level of poverty and income inequality. I was told that paying staff above the minimum wage is a waste of money that could make you bankrupt. I paid $ 13, 14, and 15 per hour to my employees, and it didn’t cost me a loss. How can I sell a piece of cheese for $ 10 and at the same time pay the same amount to staff per hour? Therefore, in the first month of work, everyone earned $ 13 per hour. Gradually, I increased their salary.
Business prosperity
In two years, the number of my employees has grown to 5 people. They all worked hard, took the initiative. When I told my colleagues that I was paying staff $ 15 per hour, they perceived it with surprise, as if they themselves lost money. I was never afraid to lose my business due to overpayments to employees. Although this does not solve the problem of poverty in the province and does not lead to its economic prosperity, it will at least save my employees from this. The better my staff works, the more customers I have and the more business flourishes.