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Non-Tech : Kirk's Market Thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kirk © who wrote (816)	3/12/2014 12:39:44 PM
From: robert b furman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26587

Hi Kirk and GZ, Just some real world input from a small business owner. At our Chevrolet dealership in Cleveland TX we operated a stand alone quick lube. It was fast and it was at the competitive rate of the local jiffy lubes and other stand alone quick lubes in our community. To be convenient we worked 10 hours a day and 5 hours on Saturday. This added up to 55 hours. To be competitive we had to have 4 workers rotate a schedule such that no one worked over 40 hours. To the degree that illness or absenteeism occurred we lost profit dollar for dollar when we paid an overtime premium of 1.5 the going wage. The operation had two managers one in the office and one overseeing the pit lube. These two people worked the 55 hours and were on a salary. Our quicklube was thorough and over the years we developed a large owner base of customers that would repeat their business with us .We checked tire pressures , all fluid levels,and topped off if needed No Charge.We would inspect tires and advise if replacements were needed and performed tire rotations.We checked fuel and air filters andswiper blades. In short if you wanted a thorough car check you could trust - we were where many went. In a good month we'd do 1000 quicklubes,plus many upsells of additional services. If my mangers went to a time and a half over 40 hours vs manager's salary do not think much difference in pay would result as they werewell paid. If my new worker with out experience went to 10.10 vs the 7.50-8.00 entry level - we'd lose it from profit. With all this activity a $1500 end of month profit was a good month.12 good month's in a row never occeurred. We did not do the business so much to make money - we wanted to stay close to our customers. Thus are the side benefits of competing in such a low margin business as retail car sales and repairs. When the government demands greater costs - they simply get passed on to the consumer. This is also true of taxes that get assigned to business. Obama has no business experience. Obama is just speaking out on a subject that appeals to his low income constituencies. Obama does not knoe the unintended consequences of the foolish policies he has created - our sluggish economy is very much a part of the proof. If one makes the system complex and burdened with regulation - there will be fewer competitors. Fewer competitors reduce competition for the customer and the price of goods and services go up. As a dealership with substantial resources ,we could out last the poor little guy who just had only a quick lube. Raise his costs and he might not make it. What does that tell you about income inequality. The little guy goes away and the better capitalized businesses end up with a bigger pice of the total pie. Sounds a lot like the big banks doesn't it. Moral of the story - Get government out of the competitive world of business. Let even the little guy carve out his niche. If a quick lube was paying more down the road to an employee - my employee would learn of it and bump me for a raise. That's how it should work - not a dictate from Washington DC. If you remember Bill Clinton played this card on minimum wage. Told a pizza chain CEO - just raise the price of your pizza a buck. The supporting CEO blew out of the Clinton support and chastised Clinton for his lack of business knowledge. rant over.LOL Quic