Laundromat Hiring Tip #3: Overpay your workers

 

I heard your objections to this tip as soon as I said it.
Let me explain.
Use McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot as a general guideline.
I know you are thinking “those are all big companies that can offer benefits I can’t.”
These companies will always be able to offer more money than you.
If these companies are offering $15 per hour you will have to offer at least that to get some good workers to notice you. If the money is equal but these companies offer healthcare or other traditional benefits, or even non traditional benefits like free soda while working, the scale tips in their favor and you lose.
Ten years ago the minimum wage was $7.75 and most job seekers were happy to get around $9.
Small business owners eventually had to offer $10 to compete.
As wages crept towards $10, small business owners had to offer $11 or $12 to get workers to come work for them.
If you haven't already, small business owners have put together an incentive where the worker could get $15 per hour in the next two months based on performance. Now as the pay nationally has shot past $15 per hour, be proactive and offer $20 per hour. 

You are probably adding up the increased cost for cleaners and thinking I’m crazy. I counter that by saying that you’ll keep your good workers. As soon as you get some good people you want to keep them as long as you can. They know they will get the pay they deserve somewhere else and have a way to make more just by leaving you to apply to another company, even another laundromat.  

What I'm reminding you of is whether a few extra dollars a day of expense is worth it to you to not have to go through the process of hiring someone new, training them, your time filling in for them, advertising, time spent waiting for the right person to apply and interview, drug testing maybe, uniforms...see how fast the cost of hiring ads up to more than the few extra bucks per hour you are offering? 
To pay someone $20 to clean your store, isn’t it worth the extra few dollars per hour if it means that more customers come to your store because it is clean?